As you might recall, I had that BRILLIANT idea of doing a home-made Christmas with my family. Here it is, the middle of June, and I've FINALLY gotten all of my Christmas 2009 gifts sent to their respective recipients. When I hatched my BRILLIANT plan of making all of these Christmas presents, the responsibility was being shared with someone else. I got my part of the presents largely done before or slightly after Christmas, while I (im)patiently waited for the other person to do their part. Ish happened, and suddenly I was wholly responsible for getting everything done. So that's why it's taken THIS LONG to get everything done.
So, my young, impossibly adorably cute nephew loves Thomas the Tank Engine, as any sane little child ought to. Because, really, Thomas is awesome (I'll admit to watching some Thomas well past the "appropriate" "intended" age of consumption). I'm also a fan of gifts for kids that don't involve batteries or those that zap the creative imagination of childhood. I remember really really really really really really really loving board puzzles when I was a kid, and I decided that I would make a board puzzle for my impossibly adorably cute nephew.
I took some 1/4" Masonite/hardboard and cut it down to a rough 9"x11" rectangle.
I found a nice picture of Thomas, and, using standard craft grade acrylic paint, I transferred the image onto the Masonite. I think I painted two layers of paint, and then an acrylic pen to make an outline of Thomas.
I slathered Thomas with several coats of Modge Podge, and then used my trusty scroll saw to freehand puzzle shapes. By Christmas, the puzzle was ready to ship out.As the months after Christmas wore on, I started to feel really guilty about sending a single puzzle out. And then I remembered that my favourite board puzzles were those board puzzles that were on an actual board. So I decided I would make a board for my Thomas puzzle.
Using more Masonite, I cut a board about 1/2" larger on all sides than the original puzzle, and then cut 1/2" strips of Masonite. I glued those strips onto the perimeter of the board, and clamped them until everything was dry. After a light sanding, I spray painted the board with a white satin paint. Marvelous!
And then as the months continued to wear on, I decided I should (and could) make a second puzzle. Knowing my sister in law's love of the Denver Broncos, I decided to paint the logo into another board puzzle. I used the same steps as the Thomas puzzle, but instead of Mod Podge, I went over it with some varnish (it'll probably turn the white paint yellow over time, but it's a more permanent solution than Mod Podge).
After the puzzles and the boards were ready, I realized that they might be a bit difficult for a two-almost-three-year-old. So I traced the shape of each puzzle piece on the white board using a permanent marker. This is the Broncos board:
After the puzzles and the boards were ready, I realized that they might be a bit difficult for a two-almost-three-year-old. So I traced the shape of each puzzle piece on the white board using a permanent marker. This is the Broncos board:
And this is the Thomas board:
And this is Thomas the Tank Engine, assembled on his board.
And this is the Broncos logo, assembled on its board:
All in all, I'm pretty darned proud of how the puzzles turned out. I think I'll make more in the future. Just not for Christmas 2010!
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