Childrens Christmas party idea

 

Today I am making party favors for Rylan's class party. I am making puzzles. I wanted something cute and inexpensive and also something that everyone else won't already have seen. (I like to pretend that I am Martha Stewart on the weekends lol) I already had all of the supplies that were needed for this project. I needed Popsicle sticks (you can get over 100 for a dollar at the dollar tree usually) regular school glue, and print outs. I was thinking that if you didn't have access to a printer or copier you could use magazine cut outs too and I bet that would still be super cute.  First I searched the web looking for cute free clip art to print. I found a Rodolph and an elf that I loved so I copied them onto regular white copy paper. I used a slicer paper cutter that I have that

 makes straight edge cuts easily. You could use

 scissors if that is all you have I just thought this

 would be quick for me. I got out my craft Popsicle

 sticks, that is what will be the puzzle pieces. I read

instructions online that say you should cut the paper

before gluing them onto the sticks but for me I think

 it will be easier to glue onto the sticks then use an

 exacto knife to slice each one into separate pieces.

 First I tried making glue lines on each stick and placing the paper on top. I did not like it this way, it was not that easy I found that putting the glue on the back of each square and then laying it on the straight sticks was very easy. I pressed them down lightly to make sure the glue was all over since these papers are going to be cut into small strips later. I let them dry for over an hour before I started cutting them. I was not sure exactly what I was going to use to cut them since this was quite spur of the moment.  I found a pocket knife that was quite sharp. Once they were dry I bent them before cutting each one because some of the glue soaked through and made the sticks stick together.

 Bending them also gave them a little gap so it was easier to fit the blade in for

 straight cutting. Once I cut the first one apart I realized that the children would

 not have a box or any pic to know what the puzzle was supposed to look like

 so I decided I would number the sticks on the back in case they are not sure if

 they are doing it right. I found it was easier to do this before cutting them apart. I took 100 calorie ziploc bags and wrote on the bag what kind of puzzle was inside for example "Elf Puzzle" then stick the pieces inside. I made 20 puzzles, 2 for each of the 10 children in the class. I got elf hats and Reindeer headband antlers from the dollar tree for them to each choose from. This party should be pretty cute. The week of the 14 of Dec. I will be making the cake and I am planning to blog all about it so stay tuned........ Oh and by the way, this project of 20 puzzles took about 3 hours. Now, before you go OMG!! That time includes browsing the web for the perfect pics and printing and figuring out if I had enough sticks to make 20 or not and figuring out the hard parts and what was easier, I even took time in the begining to blog about it lol I decided to just finish tonight after I was done since I was turning into a 5 year old with glue all over my fingers.