Guest Post From A Heart for Home: Make Your Own Puzzle

Today I am so happy to have Allyson from A Heart for Home doing a guest post. Allyson is a busy Mom of 4 little ones under the age of 5 – my hero!! Allyson is a former 5th grade teacher who now spends her spare time sharing crafts, recipes, reviews, and inspiration with us. Check out her super cute craft below then head on over to her blog to see more goodies. Don’t forget to let her know you are visiting from Living Life Intentionally!

You’ll need the following materials:

tape
craft knife
jumbo craft (popsicle) sticks
old greeting cards, calendars, printed pictures, drawings, etc.
glue Mod Podge (optional)
paint brush, we use a 1 inch foam brush (optional)
adhesive magnet strips (optional)

Instructions:
1. Line up jumbo craft sticks side by side on your work surface, and tape them together to hold them in place while you work. A strip of tape across the top and bottom works well. Turn the sticks over.

2. Trim a picture to fit on the craft sticks, and glue it to the center of the sticks. Smooth out any bubbles and let the glue dry.

3. Once the glue is dry, remove the tape from the back of the sticks.

4. Use the craft knife to cut the picture apart where the sticks meet. It’s helpful to use a straight edge to make sure you’re cutting straight. I just used the edge of another popsicle stick.

5. For more durability, apply a coat of Mod Podge to the top of each picture strip as a sealer. Allow the strips to dry.

6. If you want to make your puzzle magnetic, simply cut two small squares of the adhesive magnet strip for each popsicle stick. Peel the paper backing off and press the sticky side onto the top and bottom of the back of the sticks.

7. Place them in a small zip top baggie. Once you’ve shown your little ones how to put these puzzles together they can enjoy working with the puzzles at the table or on the refrigerator (if you added the magnets). Our little ones also enjoy putting these puzzles together on metal cookie sheets (which also make this a good travel activity).

To make the activity work for older children simply mix up the pieces of several puzzles and let them sort the pieces before completing each puzzle.

Thanks Allyson, that turned out super cute! I love the idea of making the puzzle magnetic & using it with a cookie sheet. I am definitely planning on making that before our big road trip this year!
Here are some of my favorite posts from A Heart for Home: