Chasing Cheerios

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Animal Puzzle Blocks

These animal puzzle blocks are a recent handmade Christmas gift that I've made for my girls. 





To make these puzzle blocks you need: 9 blocks (1.5 inches square), scrapbook paper, sand paper, stencils, scissors, mod podge, and a pencil.

I've been thinking about how to make these blocks for a VERY long time...I originally planned to stencil them using paint, but then decided that it would look much better if I cut the animal shapes from scrapbook paper and glued them to the blocks. I really enjoyed working on this project, and I love how the blocks turned out. I hope the girls like these blocks as much as I do!

When making these puzzles, I started by sanding the edges and corners of the blocks. 






Here's what I did next...
chose my animal stencils
traced the animals stencils on the back of sheets of scrapbook paper
drew the graph of blocks over the stenciled animal shape
cut out the squares
then cut out each animal shape from the squares (does that make sense?). 







I glued each animal part to the blocks using mod podge. 







After letting the blocks dry for a few days, I painted them with a layer of protective mod podge.


















24 comments:

  1. We had a set of Curious George blocks (9--just like yours) that fit right into a ziplock box that we used for *ever*. All three kids played with those (although I bought mine--your handmade ones are *absolutely* darling!!)

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  2. Those are adorable! We have a set of Chinese blocks that are similar, but I've never considered making my own.

    Where did you find the blocks or did you cut them from a bigger block of wood?

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  3. Those puzzles are beautiful !!
    Bravo !

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  4. That came out so well! I am totally making these - the possibilities are endless! :)

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  5. I love those puzzles! ... so beautiful! :)

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  6. Melissa, thanks so much for sharing these BEFORE Christmas!! I am hopping excitedly around the room thinking: I have got blocks! I have got scrapbooking paper! I have got stencils! I have got scissors and glue!

    Ok, I am turning off the computer right now now I can concentrate on making these on time for Christmas!

    Thanks again and well done, I think you might have guessed from my enthusiasm that I LOVE your work!

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  7. Brilliant. Thank you for sharing. Do you have a favourite place to buy those stencils?

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  9. What a great idea!! :) And plenty of time before Christmas to make a set for my little ones!! Thank you for sharing!!

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  10. I am absolutely going to do this!

    For S1 who will be 4 in January I plan to make them the Thomas and Friends characters = )

    And S2 will love the animals... sooo cute = )

    (I talked hubby into cutting the blocks for me on his night off this week.)

    I plan to follow a similar tutorial that actually placed the blocks together snugly first, glued the image to the blocks, then cut down into the spaces between each block with an exacto knife. But I absolutely love the paper and shapes you chose.

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  11. These are totally gorgeous! So colourful and inviting. Where did you fint the templates for the animals? Well done!

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  12. i LOVE those!! i don't think i can make them before Xmas but def before her birthday in june! lol

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  13. I got linked here from Mod Podge Rocks.

    You can bet I will be sending a passive aggressive email to my husband (who is also crafty) that he should make a set of this for me as a gift.

    Great job!

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  14. these are so pretty! i have a box of blank blocks, and now i know what to do with some of them! this will make a great activity for a cross-country plane ride we have coming up.

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  15. I just saw this on Crafty Crow - looks beautiful! I am working on a set using color copies of 6 pages from favorite picture books. Hoping to finish for Christmas. Thanks for the tips!!!

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  16. Did you download the stencils from somewhere? They are adorable.

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  17. I know this is from last year, but I'm so excited that my friend pointed this out because it's exactly what I was looking for for Christmas this year. Thank you!

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