Quick Craft: Craft Stick Puzzle

   

This is the cutest and easiest little puzzle idea! I've seen it in a couple of places and decided to give it a try. You may have the supplies already on hand: craft sticks (I used the wide ones), acrylic craft paints (or paint pens), brushes, masking tape, and a marker.



For my pictures, I searched online for Fall clipart image and printed out a few.



Line up 7 craft sticks tightly together and tape diagonally across the back.


Turn it over. Now you can either paint a background color, or leave the background natural and trace your shape with a marker.

The fun part: painting! I went with larger, simpler pictures since I didn't have a fine paintbrush or paint pen to work on small details. For younger children, you probably want pictures with more obvious detail (jack-o-lantern face would be easier than plain pumpkin). I outlined them with a black permanent marker again when they dried. My daughter could hardly wait to test them out after breakfast.

Wouldn't these be great for kid favors or busy activities at the Thanksgiving table? Or tuck a set in your purse for entertainment at a restaurant or appointment.
My kids saw the turkey pattern and are begging for it on a puzzle...I'm off to find a smaller paintbrush!

Organization Booster: Drowning in Puzzle Pieces?

My kids LOVE puzzles.  I love puzzles.  I would much rather have my kids sitting at the table working on a puzzle than sitting on the couch watching TV or making a mess somewhere with glitter.
However. Does anyone else want to have a frank discussion with the people who design puzzle boxes? First, you must use a knife or scissors to rip them open.  This normally results in a jagged-edged mess and a half-torn box.  Some puzzles are better than others, but it doesn't make sense (to me) to store tiny puzzle pieces in a box that never fully closes.  Not to mention the fact that our puzzle shelf normally ends up looking like this:

This mess was really starting to bother me.

So, I did the only thing I could do. I put all the boxes on the floor, grabbed my trusty scissors, my stash of storage bags and freezer bags, and started transferring all the puzzles into baggies.  For each puzzle I used one bag (large or small), and I cut out the image on the front of the puzzle box.  When I was done I had a large pile of boxes (kindling!)

Next, I used this lovely ice container (that I found on clearance two months ago) to store the baggies nicely on our shelf.  Not only does it look better, but now the kids can tote all the puzzles, bin and all, when they are ready for some puzzle time.  I did keep several of the normal, non-ripped boxes in tact.

So far, I am very happy I took the plunge to rid our toy room of the toppling tower of puzzles!