Sliding Photo Puzzle Coffee Table

I don't entirely recall the conversation previous to how we came up with the idea for this project, but you are welcome to call us geniuses, if you wish. Remember those hand held puzzles, in which the picture was all scrambled, and you had to unscramble it by sliding the pieces around?

Well, this project is like that, but on a larger scale. We (Bryan and I) decided to make one the size of our coffee table. However we forgot to measure the size of our coffee table before going through with making it, so the puzzle hangs over the edges of the coffee table a bit, ho hum.

Here is the picture we decided to use. It is actually a Background image that extends across three computer screens. If you have ever seen Bryan's computer set-up, you'd understand.

The plans Bryan crafted for this project. It helped greatly that Bryan has Photoshop and Illustrator knowledge. I may keep him for these reasons alone, to assist me with crafting.

After the plans were drafted, we had to buy the supplies. We headed to both Lowes and Home Depot for this project. In which, we bought fiberboard for the base, balsa wood for the trim, and tiles, lots of tiles.

The most time consuming part of this project was printing off the individual squares (4.5 in x 4.5 in) from the original photo. This is really where Bryan's knowledge came in handy. After printed the squares were cut carefully with a paper cutter and Mod Podge-d onto individual tiles, much like the process done when I made Tile Coasters.

To created the frame for the puzzle, Bryan constructed the frame by cutting the balsa wood at a 45 degree angle in order for the corners to meet. He created a 45 degree angle by folding a perfect square in half diagonally and marking a line on the balsa wood before cutting it with a hand saw. So glad he did better in geometry than I did, I would have never thought of such an easy concept for creating a 45 degree angle!

 Before the frame was assembled, the individual pieces were painted black. I was scolded for "messing around" while painting the fiberboard. So serious!

 The balsa wood was attached to the fiberboard with wood glue. Books and tiles were used as extra weight as the wood glue dried since the balsa wood ended up bowed, and refused to stick by itself!

Once the wood glue dried, Bryan spackled any gaps in the framing and touched-up the paint.

By removing one tile, the picture can easily be scrambled to created a photo puzzle or can be left alone as a unique piece of art.

Since the tiles are 8 x 3, it adds to the difficulty of the puzzle, but it can be done. A square would be the ideal shape for this project, but I am extremely content with the results of this project. Plus, we will never run out of coasters!

If you would like a photo puzzle yourself to document a special occasion, please contact me for pricing!

DIY Chalkboard

I had some left over fiberboard (apparently plywood is not the correct term) from a coffee table project. I had always wanted to create a chalkboard to see if chalkboard paint is all that it is cracked up to be. It is.

Here is what you need:

•  Surface to paint (mine is fiberboard)
• Chalkboard paint (Bought at Home Depot)
• Paint Brush
• Newspaper to protect the dining table

According to the paint instructions, two coats are needed with a 30 minute drying period between each coat. Paint the chalk board paint on like you would any other paint except make sure your lines are long, covering the whole surface in one swipe. After the first coat:

Of course Dante (my dog) had to include his two cents by shedding, luckily I was able to remove it before the first coat dried!

 Due to the board, it soaked the paint up like sponge, so I ended up having to do a third coat. So lesson learned, if using fiberboard, more coats will be needed. After the second and third coats:

 Also according to the instructions, once the two coats have been painted, it should be left alone for three days, however I'm an impatient person and drew on it the next day and it seemed fine to me.

I wanted to add a boarder to the chalkboard since the way it was seemed incredibly drab. My parents had some left over tile from their bathroom remodel. I really hope they didn't need it for anything, because for a lack of a better word, I stole it.

 I cut the tiles apart into their single form, with scissors, in order to make the framing for the chalkboard.

Here I made a huge mistake! Hindsight is 20/20, right? I didn't space the tiles out first before hot gluing them to the chalkboard. I know I'm an awful person. The tiles ended up uneven on two sides and were hanging off too much on one side. There were huge gaps between edges of tiles.

 However, luck was on my side when I was able to knock off the tiles with a flat screwdriver and hammer without tearing off any of the paint. For the second time of applying tiles, I did space them out first. The boy, Bryan, drilled a shallow hole into the back of the fiberboard so it could be hung easily on a nail.

Completed project:

I added a cheesy quote, one because Bryan would hate it and two, the chalkboard is now hanging in our bedroom. Lesson learned, spacing tiles before hand really does complete the project!

"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard." -Winnie the Pooh

I found white and colored chalk on sale at Micheal's, all Crayola products were 50% OFF!! To clear the chalkboard, a damp paper towel works perfectly!