Puzzle Pieces Ornament

To make this ornament I selected four pieces of a discarded puzzle; I chose a children's puzzle because the pieces are slightly larger and will display the motifs more effectively. To begin, I painted the pieces in primary colors using metallic acrylic paints; I used four different colors, but if you wanted a less playful and more sophisticated effect you could paint all four pieces the same color.

When the paint had dried, I punched holes for hanging using a heavy-duty punch (I used one made for metal, as the little paper punches are not strong enough to punch through the thick layers. If you don't have a suitable punch, you can use a nail to make the holes). Then I linked the four pieces together using jump rings.

As I punched the holes, I varied the angles of the pieces a little bit so as to add some visual interest to the ornament, but if you wanted a more uniform effect you could select pieces with a similar cut and position them all so that they hang in the same orientation.

For the motifs, I used flat-backed 1" button-badges. Because I wanted the ornament to be two-sided, I needed 8 buttons -- two of each image. I used GOOP to glue these in position on the  puzzle pieces (one button on each side). 

When the images were in place and the glue was dry, I added a bit of sparkle to the puzzle edges using glitter glue in coordinating colors -- red on red, green on green, gold on gold, blue on blue. Once the glue/podgy/ glitter is dry, you can hang the ornament with a loop of string or a hook.


If you don't have badge pins, you could substitute flattened metal bottle caps with 1" images glued to the inside. The fluted edges are pretty and provide a frame for the image. (You can find simple instructions for flattening bottle caps here.) Or you could use any of the following to decorate the puzzle pieces: confetti spangles in various shapes, flat-backed rhinestones, interesting buttons (with shanks removed), discarded pieces of costume jewellery, game pieces, or old watch pieces; or you could decoupage small images directly to the puzzle pieces -- stickers, pictures cut from Christmas cards or calendars, or small cut-out pictures of family members or pets -- just about any little motifs or trinkets you have on hand will work, as long as they can be glued onto the puzzle pieces.

If you prefer, you could leave off the images entirely, and simply paint the puzzle pieces with metallic paint, and then sprinkle them with glitter or sequins for a bit of sparkle. If you like, you could also add beads between the puzzle pieces for extra pizzazz, or dangle a jingle bell from the bottom.

Of course, as with the other designs on the site, you can use this idea to make ornaments with other themes. The four-color puzzle pieces would be perfect to make an ornament featuring the four houses of Hogwarts, for example, or the different badges of Star Trek (command, medical, science, engineering). You could also feature characters from the Simpsons, Peanuts, Calvin & Hobbes, or even the Big Bang Theory.