Jun 06 2010
Quilled Puzzle Piece Magnet
I really appreciate all of the feedback I receive from my newsletter subscribers and blog readers. One request that I hear quite often is for more quilling projects made from recycled materials, which is great because I enjoy creating them!Several weeks ago, I stopped by a local thrift store and found a handmade cookbook from 1971. You know the kind — the recipes were all typed with a real typewriter then the pages were mimeographed and bound with a metal prong file clip into a book for the club members. It was awesome and all for only $0.50. What a bargain.
Along with the retro cookbook, I have had an old children’s puzzle in my supply stash for quite awhile (ever since the all important “last piece” went missing). When I looked in my inspiration bin and saw the cookbook and puzzle pieces, I knew I had the ingredients to cook up this week’s project — a quilled kitchen magnet.
Since your materials will differ (we are trying to use what we have, remember), I offer these general instructions as a guide for making your own Quilled Puzzle Piece Magnet.
You will need
Chipboard puzzle piece
Background paper (scrapbook paper, old wallpaper, etc.)
Recipe (from old book, newspaper, magazine, etc.)
Quilling paper, 1/8″ wide
Basic quilling tools (discussed earlier)
Spray adhesive
Sandpaper or emery board
Permanent fine-line marker, black
Distress ink (I used Tim Holtz’s Tea Dye)
Cotton swab
Magnet
Spray acrylic sealer (optional)
General instructions
- Turn your puzzle piece so that the plain chipboard side is facing up (this will be the front of your magnet) and place it onto your background paper (right side of paper facing up), trace around the puzzle piece and cut out. Spray the front of the puzzle piece and the back side of the cut-out background paper with spray adhesive and adhere the two together.
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Tear the recipe to fit the puzzle piece and glue in place. Clean up the edges of the puzzle piece by sanding them with the sand paper or emery board.
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Dab the cotton swab on the ink pad and highlight the edges of the puzzle piece and torn edges of the recipe. Using the permanent marker, make stitch marks around the edges of the puzzle piece.
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You are now ready to add the quilling. Here is where you can get creative matching the quilling to your chosen recipe. Since the one I selected was “Cherries in the Snow,” I added ripe red cherries with green leaves. This design would also work well with a cherry pie or tart recipe.
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Spray the puzzle piece with an acrylic sealer (optional), glue a magnet to the back, and you’re done.
Quilling Tip
If you want THE gift for a special holiday that is sure to touch the recipient’s heart, make a copy of a handwritten recipe from a cherished family member and use it on the magnet, matching your quilling to the recipe. If your family is anything like mine, be ready for a big hug and have an extra tissue handy.
….
While looking around the web for St. Patrick’s Day craft inspiration I ran across 
I must have had the lucky penny handouts still on my mind when I went to bed because I woke up thinking how fun it might be if the children could pretend that they were the king or queen of the leprechauns handing out the pennies. That, of course, meant that they would need a crown — a crown decorated with quilled shamrocks and precious jewels! The one I made, using 3/8″ wide quilling paper with a gold edge, is for your inspiration only. A child would do a much more creative version. Throw in some crayons, markers, and glitter and this crown would truly be fit for royalty.
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When Jen asked me if I had made the pumpkin yet, I knew I needed to take another look at the possibilities. And then it hit me — I could quill real features for the pumpkin, just like a Mr. Potato Head!
