Its hard to visit a garage sale or thrift store without noticing the scores of forgotten puzzles that someone once enjoyed. Alas, pieces were lost and the puzzles were forgotten and tossed aside until someone decided to de-clutter and exhile all those sad lonely puzzles to the nearest pile of unwanted stuff.
Bu there are so many ways to reuse these sturdy, embellishable, perfectly sized treasures for all kinds of fun stuff!
1. Puzzle piece gift tags- I created the puzzle piece gift tags above using larger pieces I found and covered with scrap patterned papers. Smaller pieces (from another set) were glued to vintage images wrong side down and edges cut to even up with a craft knife. Combining the pieces gives a lovely layered look perfect for tying onto gift packages.
2. Puzzle Piece Wreath- This super cool puzzle piece wreath was created by Martha B. from the blog Nibs, My Point of View, she adds, "This offers an opportunity for a Christmas wreath that uses these incomplete puzzles and it is simple to make. Cut out a wreath shape from cardboard, foam core, or mat board. Then get out your glue gun and start gluing the puzzle pieces down. You’ll need to overlap the pieces in order to cover the cardboard. Within a half hour, you have yourself a Christmas wreath. Just remember, this is for indoor display only." I love the black and white presentation of this wreath, so chic!
3. Puzzle piece jewelry- rings, brooches, pendants and earrings are just some of the cool works of art you can make from recycled pieces just as Smullis did and featured on her blog Dragonfly Dreams. She explained some of her process, "This was my first time using Distress Crackle paint and I did learn that the thicker the better with this stuff. If you put on a regular paint layer, it won't really crack that much. I ended up using the brush to dab instead of stroke. It self-leveled and had a really cool pattern...so definitely dab!."
4. Puzzle Piece Ornaments- Trees, snowmen, candy canes and Santas are just a few of the dazzling yet puzzling ornaments you can make from recycled puzzle pieces. The World of Whimm has a step by step tutorial showing how she made these colorful tannenbaums.
5. Puzzle Piece Magnets --While putting her two year old to bed, Lindsey of Inspiring Creations said "I was sitting on the floor in her room and I noticed a puzzle on the floor that has been there for like 2 weeks now. The puzzle was missing some pieces so I immediately thought....wow I could make those into magnets! I was so excited about the idea that I started making them immediately and I haven't been able to stop!!!!" She kept going and made all these amazing magnets, aren't they cool and wouldn't they make terrific gifts?"
Have you made something fabulous with recycled puzzle pieces? I would love to see your creations. Leave your photo or link in the comments section and I will share it (if you want me to (:)
Live Life Creatively,
Excellent ideas. Thanks for featuring some of my work...it's always nice to know someone is watching. :-)
Posted by: Smullis | December 6, 2010 at 07:52 PM