Kids Artwork Jigsaw Puzzle

Hello again.  Janet here with a fun idea for preserving your child's art work. I've included a tutorial for making a jigsaw puzzle from a hand drawn picture, one that's been photographed or scanned, and then saved on your computer.  This drawing was made by my daughter when she was at primary school and we love how it includes a beloved family pet.  It is a great way to preserve fond memories. The same method can be used for favourite photos too.

What You'll Need

Silhouette Chipboard
Quality Printer Paper
Spray Adhesive
Strong Liquid Adhesive
Printer



How to Make a  Jigsaw Puzzle


STEP 1: Prepare the File

Open the puzzle file onto a new tab in the Silhouette software and group it (select all, right mouse click, Group).

Shrink it to 200mm square (open Transform panel, in Scale tab change the dimensions, and click apply).

Step 2: Bring in the Image

Select Merge, navigate to your saved image and select Open. Merging the file ensures the image opens in the same tab (File > Merge > navigate to picture > click Open).

Select the image and, using the same Scale tab again, reduce the size of the picture to a little bigger than the puzzle and send it to the back (select, right mouse click, click Send To Back).

Fine tune the sizing (select one of the corner grab handles, and holding down the shift key, move the handle in or out until the picture is the size that you want it).



Step 3: Crop the Image 

Draw a rectangle of the exact dimensions of the puzzle, centre it on the puzzle, then move the puzzle away. Select the square, and the picture, and select Intersect.

Bring back the puzzle and centre it with the cropped picture (select both, open the Transform panel, Align tab, click on the Centre icon).

(Optional) Add text ensuring that the line colour is anything but red.


 Step 4: Prepare the Print & Cut

The Page Settings will depend on the size you have chosen for your puzzle, mine required A3 paper and an A3+ printer. If yours is smaller it will fit on A4 paper and can be printed on a regular-sized  printer. To find out about large sized Print & Cut refer to my earlier post.

Step 5: Print the Puzzle

Print the puzzle onto printer paper and adhere the paper to a sheet of chipboard using spray adhesive (this ensures that there is glue over the entire back side of the image.


Step 6: Cut the Puzzle

Attach the the chipboard-backed image to a cutting mat and cut out the puzzle pieces, selecting Cut by Line, and choose to cut just the red lines.

Select the Chipboard cut settings, but do carry out a test cut first. I was able to reduce both the blade setting and force although I did have to carry out additional passes for the pieces to cut all the way through.

Step 7: (Optional) Strengthen the Puzzle Pieces

If you would like a stronger puzzle, cut a second set of puzzle pieces from a blank piece of chipboard, and adhere the individual pieces from two sets together with strong liquid adhesive.



Step 8: (Optional) Make a Backboard and Frame

Design a frame to fit around the exterior of the puzzle (I used part of the Love Doodle Square Borders by Rivka Wilkins to decorate it). Insert an outline of the puzzle pieces in the interior. Carry out a Print & Cut, cutting the interior as well as the exterior of the frame. Cut a piece of backing board the same size as the exterior of the frame. Adhere the outline puzzle directly to the backing. Adhere the frame to a piece of chipboard cut to the same dimensions.

This is a really fun way of preserving your child's artwork and fun activity to do with the kids, or as a gift for a child, or for grandparents. You could use the same technique to make the puzzle into a large-sized fridge magnet using Silhouette Printable Magnetic Paper.



Bye for now,

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