Puzzle Pieces

As thrift store shopping addictions go, sometimes you buy a lemon and there's nothing you can do about it. I recently bought a puzzle that was missing one piece. I also bought a puzzle that was really cheap and doesn't fit together well. I was thinking to myself, surely there's a way I can re-purpose these puzzles so they don't go to waste... enter Google.

If you'll have a look at the pictures below, you'll see that people have some very creative ideas for what to do with old puzzles. Magnets, pins, and even completely altered puzzles have been the top crafts that I've seen, as well as some other kichey kids crafts.

http://www.inspiringcreationsblog.com

http://www.momtastic.com

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http://balzerdesigns.typepad.com

http://www.oopsicraftmypants.com

Too cool! I like to think I'm creative, but I'm not definitely not this artistic! I've got most of the supplies that I would need on hand already, but wow, do I have the time and skill to make mine look as good as these?

Depending on what you want to make, you find a few puzzle pieces with a naturally pleasing design, or you can paint it or use newspaper, gift wrap, or scrapbooking paper to cover the puzzle pieces. If you cover with paper, you must file the edges with an emery board to tidy it up.

Next, you let your imagination run wild and add embellishments which seem to range from a variety of notions, hardware supplies, and even hand drawn art. Finally, you attach a pin at the back, or a magnet. Totally amazing! What a really neat homemade gift.

I'm going to give it my best shot because at the very least I'll have fun doing it. I may have to pick up a better, faster drying glue though. If you never hear another word about it, it's because they turned out really hokey and I don't want to embarrass myself by posting pictures of crafts that look like a grade school student made.