DIY Valentine Photo Puzzle with Printable Label

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I love Valentine’s Day. I’m not a big “get all dressed up” and celebrate type of person but I love using the day as an excuse to tell my family that I love them with fun little gifts or a card. Ever since my boys were little I made up a small little goodie bag with treats. It’s the only holiday that’s really stayed small and simple and everyone loves it that way! Since the DIY Valentine Photo Puzzle is one of the most popular posts on my blog I thought I’d make it even easier for you to create one for your family by including a printable label.

I always like to include handmade items into gift baskets but sometimes I’m short on time (ok a lot of the time) so an easy, cute DIY project is usually my “go to”. After making this little photo puzzle, I keep it easy on the rest of the gifts and just go with store bought. When I was picking up my most favorite cup at Walmart (in this amazing blue color) I spotted these Hallmark Signature Valentine’s Day cards. They are supercute and look homemade! I really loved this travel themed one that has REAL stitching in it and the building block one is perfect for my boys. (Right now you can pick up an in-aisle coupon offer – $2 off a 2 card purchase (min $2 purchase required), expires 2/15)

My husband is going to be out of town for Valentine’s Day for work so as I was coming up with a fun little gift idea to mail to his hotel I thought I’d put together some inspiration for you. A gift basket doesn’t have to be complicated or include many items to be meaningful, try to include items you know your recipient will use instead of lots of little things they can’t do much with. For this gift idea I included a gorgeous metal wall hanging, my favorite mug (seriously, the water stays cold even in my car in the summer…in PHOENIX) that I personalized with a little vinyl, tennis balls for my friend’s dog, 2 cute little paper mailboxes with cookies in one and chocolate covered strawberries in another (here’s the simplest way to make those), the DIY photo puzzle with a message on the back and the super cute stitched Hallmark card that can totally be used to add to a scrapbook page later on!

For the treats in the boxes, I just lined them with some parchment paper first to keep the boxes from getting ruined before it got there.

Tip: if you’re mailing a gift package, buy a little bit bigger of a box and wrap everything in a fun fleece blanket!

HOW TO MAKE THE PHOTO PUZZLE:

To make this size photo puzzle you’ll need large craft sticks, decoupage glue or clear drying sealer, a foam brush, washi or masking tape and a 5″x7″ photo.
Lay 10 craft sticks next to each other tightly and as evenly as you can.

Apply the tape across the sticks to hold them in place.

Next, add a thin layer of adhesive decoupage medium to the back of the photo making sure to cover all of it.

Turn the craft sticks over and place the photo on the center of the sticks pressing down all along the way (you could also use a stronger adhesive for this step).

Now, layer the top of the photo and the entire surface of the sticks (taking care to get all the edges) with the decoupage medium.

Allow to dry completely. Once dry, turn over, remove the tape, add a message to the back if you wish (or you could do another photo) and cut the sticks/photo apart with a craft knife.

The puzzle is done!

For the cute wrapping, just pick up a pack of pretzel rod bags and print out (then cut) this free printable. Place the sticks in the bag, fold the printable in half and staple to the bag.