Make Dad feel extra loved with a hand painted puzzle piece picture frame. Father's Day is this Sunday, June 20, and we wanted to share a gift idea little ones can make for fathers, grandfathers, uncles, and father figures. It also makes for a special just because gift to make anytime! Handmade gifts are always nice to receive especially when they are created by the little hands you love. This one is simple, the kids really enjoyed making it and works as a great alternative to a store bought gift.
Here’s how your little ones can make this puzzle piece picture frame and turn it into the best Father’s Day gift. You just need a few materials some of which you may already have at home. All you need are puzzle pieces, paint, glue and a wooden frame.
The picture frame was made using puzzle pieces that were painted, then glued along the edge of a wooden picture framed and finished off with a wooden "I Love You to Pieces" sign. You can also skip painting the puzzle pieces and still create a beautiful frame. Remember, this can be as elaborate or as simple as you and your little ones would like.
First, we estimated about how many puzzle pieces we will need by laying them on the frame and placed them in containers. We then poured the paint colors of choice in small plastic containers for our little ones to paint the puzzle pieces inside of.
After painting a few pieces in the containers they realized they preferred to paint the puzzle pieces directly on the table. They also enjoyed painting on the paper covering the table and mixing all the colors. While choosing puzzle pieces and colors to paint, we practiced counting and color recognition. Anytime we work on a crafting activity we also try to make it a learning opportunity.
After painting the puzzle pieces, we let them dry overnight. The pieces were glued on the wooden frame using Aleene's Tacky Glue, which worked great because it dried quickly after each piece was set. They first glued a foundation layer all around the frame and then overlapped a few pieces. After all the puzzle pieces were glued on the frame, we added the small wooden plaque saying "I Love You to Pieces."
Once your puzzle pieces and "I Love You to Pieces" sign are dry, add a photo of your little one to the frame.
We love to see the excitement and smile of our little ones' faces when they finish their project. They were so happy with how these picture frames turned out and are looking forward to sharing them with their dad.
Father's Day "I Love You to Pieces" Picture Frame - What You'll Need
- Picture Frame - we used wooden frames with wide edges that come in a pack of 3 (linked here).
- Puzzle Pieces - we used some from an old puzzle but you can buy pieces for craft projects. We found puzzle piece blanks (linked here) that work for crafting.
- I Love You to Pieces sign - we used these engraved wooden signs from Little Owly but you could also write it on a piece of cardstock or small wooden plaque
- Glue - we used Aleene's Quick Dry Tacky Glue (linked here) which was easy to use and dried quickly
- Paint - (linked here) is the set of paint we've been using for our projects. It brings an assortment of 18 colors.
- Paint Brushes - we used foam paint brushes (linked here). They come in a pack of 25 and are great to have on hand for other arts and crafts projects.
- Determine how many puzzle pieces you will need by placing them around the picture frame.
- Paint/decorate puzzle pieces using colors of choice. You can paint them anyway your little one would like. We chose a combination of few colors.
- Lay the puzzle pieces flat to dry.
- Once the pieces are dry, you can begin to glue them on the picture frame. We glued a foundation of puzzle pieces all around the frame and then began to overlap pieces.
- After all the puzzle pieces are glued on the frame, add the small wooden plaque saying "I Love You to Pieces." If you don't have a wooden plaque, you can write "I Love You to Pieces" on cardstock paper instead.
- After all of your puzzle pieces and "I Love You to Pieces" sign have dried on the picture frame, add the photo of your little one.
Have fun and share with us! #LOCreativeCircle #mylittleowly
*Please note, this post contains affiliate links.* I will earn a small commission if you make a purchase through these links.