I just had to do something like that at Christmas time for a blanket that my wife bought. She didn't realize until it was too late that the security tag was still on it. It appears if you have a really really strong magnet you can beat most of these yourself at home. I have some pretty powerful magnets from old hard drives, but they still couldn't do the trick. I had to use my lineman piers and get the pin cut. All while trying not to damage the blanket, so I truly understand your struggle!
The magnets they use in store are electro magnets I think - so not sure how strong a normal magnet would need to be! The problem I had was forcing the pieces far enough apart to get the pliers in.
All's well that ends well though :)
Yeah, I think that's where the two forks come in handy. Not super hard to make an electro magnet if you know what you are doing, but I get it.