Missing Puzzle Pieces

Have a few puzzles that don’t have quite all of their pieces? We’re going to do some upcycling in this pair of projects!

 

…crafting offline? Download a PDF of the instructions here

Supplies: 

Puzzle Piece Friends:

  • Puzzle pieces (big ones work great)
  • Opaque paint and brushes
  • Craft or hot glue

Decorating supplies:

  • Yarn
  • Bling
  • Permanent Markers
  • Googly Eyes

Puzzle Piece Initials:

Steps to Make It

Puzzle Piece Friends:

  1. Paint your puzzle pieces on the cardboard side with a thin layer of paint and let dry.
  2. If you have a puzzle with shiny backs you may need a 2nd coat
  3. Glue on googly eyes with hot glue or craft glue
  4. Glue on some yarn hair
  5. Decorate your friends with paints, permanent markers, and bling

Puzzle Piece Initials:

  1. Either use one of our letter templates (cut off the extra and glue it down to the cardboard for easy cutting) or draw out your letter shape on your cardboard.
    1. Make it BIG (at least 6 inches)
    2. Make it HOLLOW (there should be plenty of room inside the strokes of the letter)
  2. Cut out your letter shape
  3. Paint your letter with a thin coat of paint so the cardboard color won’t show and let it dry.
  4. Glue down a row of puzzle pieces along the strokes of the letter.
    1. Try to cover the cardboard MOST of the way but don’t worry about gaps.
    2. It’s probably easiest to glue them picture side DOWN, but if you are using a dark color paint then you can glue them picture side up if you want.
  5. Paint each layer of pieces with a THIN layer of paint as you put them down, then let dry before gluing the next layer on.
  6. Glue a second row of puzzle pieces on top of the first row to cover most of the gaps
  7. Paint your second row. 
  8. Pick up your letter and make sure there are no weak spots (where the letter bends easily). If there are, make sure to start your third row by covering those weak spots.
  9. Fill in the third row however it looks good to you.
  10. Paint a thin layer of paint onto your puzzle pieces.
  11. Let the paint dry and then add another THIN layer.
  12. Keep adding layers until you are happy with the color.
  13. Add bling once your paint has dried!

Want to craft live with us? Catch our next Craft-a-long on Twitch!

See our streaming schedule here!