These Spring Flower Puzzles are soooo cute! They are small enough and simple enough to give to little kids. They make great party favors for birthday parties. This project can be done on the Maker or the Air machines with some minor changes (see below). They are similar to the Halloween Puzzles found here, but I have updated the cutting procedure.
I did these puzzles with normal copy paper and my Xyron Sticker Maker. It is easy to use and a tool every crafter should have. The assembly is easy. Cutting the Spring Flower Puzzles is the hard part. But I will give you so tips.
What you will need
- Chipboard (I used the back of a pack of cardstock)
- copy paper and printer
- Knife Blade or Deep Cut Blade
- Liquid Glue
- spatula or brazier tool
- Xyron Sticker Maker
- Scissors or an exacto blade to clean up cuts
- Download File
Paper Selection For the Spring Flower Puzzles
The chipboard I used was the back from a cardstock pack I bought. You can also use cereal boxes. Recycle the chipboard and use it for this project. The flowers are print then cut images on regular copy paper. If you need help with print then cut, there is a tutorial as part of my tutorial series “Design Space – There is nothing to be Scared of” Beginner Topics.
Cutting The Spring Flower Puzzles
Each flower puzzle picture prints on its own sheet. Print all the flowers then I suggest cutting one puzzle at a time. The puzzle parts are stacked on top of each other in the Design Space File. Hide the other puzzles while you cut one design. Rearrange the chipboard cuts so that the puzzle pieces are on the bottom before cutting anything.
First cut out the flower piece. Then run it through the Xyron Sticker maker. The sticker maker I have is 5 inches wide and the puzzles top is 5.2 inches so you may have to spread a little liquid glue on one edge. Hold on to this piece until the chipboard cutting finishes its first cut.
Press pause while the sheet it cutting the second pass of the top circle from chipboard. Then take the sticker backed flower picture and place it over the first pass of the puzzle on the bottom. You should be able to see the cut marks on the chipboard. Take a spatula and smooth the sticker down completely. And then restart your Cricut.
Cutting the Chipboard for the Spring Flower Puzzles
Depending on the type of chipboard you selected at the beginning, your Cricut will make either 12 or 24 passes, re-cutting the chipboard in exactly the same place. After about 8 or 9 cuts test it to see if it is cut through the chipboard. One of mine took 9 cuts the other took 10 and one took 12. You can cancel the cut after it cuts all the way through.
There will be a lot of little slivers of paper cut out too while cutting. Just wipe them off with a t shirt or rag. (If they get on the mat, wipe it with a baby wipe until they come off after you are finished.)
Air Cricut Differences for Cutting the Spring Flower Puzzles
Assembling the Spring Flower Puzzles
First, separate the ring and the puzzle pieces. The piece cut on the top is the backing. With liquid glue, glue the outside ring onto the backing. Make sure you center it before the glue dries. Finally put the puzzle back together.
If there are some places where the blade didn’t cut completely through these spots can be trimmed with scissors or an exacto blade.
And your Spring Flower Puzzles are done. Kids love them.
Fun Facts About Puzzles
- Around 1760, John Spilsbury mounted a world map to a sheet of hardwood and cut around the country borders with a handsaw.
- The term jigsaw comes from the special saw called a jigsaw that was used to cut the puzzles.
- During tough times, puzzles were a great distraction, both in the past and now.
- One place to see a staggering array of “preserved” puzzles is The Puzzle Mansion in the Philippines, which is recognized by Guinness World Records as having the largest collection of jigsaw puzzles in the world.
- Studies show that people who do jigsaw puzzles have longer life spans with less chance of developing memory loss.
- These days, you can play online on sites such as Jigsaw Explorer, which provides puzzles that even a beginner can do.