A Hand-Made Christmas

I was caught a little off guard when I realized how many of my gifts I was actually making this year, it was a very pleasant surprise. I've always felt that there is so much more love and thought put into a handmade present. So, I wanted to share a few of them with you in case you still need a little something for that particular someone... My dad is hard to shop for. Not because he's picky, but because he always tells you to get him the same thing no matter what the occasion-a good book or movie and a can of peanuts! BORING! And my hubby is hard to shop for because he buys everything he wants or it's so crazy expensive, it just isn't going to happen! Therefore, I have to think very hard... My hard thinking came up with this: 

My girls LOVE to play board games with their dad and grandpa so I combined the two into a

Photo Tic-Tac-Toe Board!

I started with this:

A 12x12 inch shadowbox frame

{I bought mine at Wal-mart for $10}

9 3x5 inch pictures of my girlies

{I changed all the coloring to sepia and added their names

and the year to the pictures on Picnik, then printed them out on my printer.}

I cropped and cut my pictures down to 3x3 inches each. Then went to work on the frame.

Open the packaging and turn the frame wrong side up. Pop up the small tabs that hold in the backing. Remove the backing and paper insert. Pop out the side bars that are holding the glass in place. {4 black pieces next to the frame.} They are held in place by a small piece of double-stick tape and come out easily. Using a pair of pliers, pull out the remaining small tabs from the top edge of the frame.

You should be left with the bare frame and glass pieces. Set them aside.

With a paint brush and black paint, paint the backing piece and the edges of the pictures.Once the backing is dry, mark out your grid with painter's tape. 

You need a 1 inch border all the way around your board. And 1/2 an inch between each picture.

Mod Podge your pictures into place, remove the tape and apply another layer of Mod Podge over the entire piece. Set aside to dry.

Make your X and O markers next.

I used cardstock, Mod Podge, and clear glass gems found at the dollar store.

Print out 5 X's and 5 O's onto heavy cardstock. Lay a gem over each letter and trace around, staying close to the gem. Cut out each letter and adhere it to the bottom side of the gem. Apply one more coat of Mod Podge to seal the paper. Set aside to dry.

Make the pouch to hold your pieces while everything is drying.

You'll need a strip of fabric that measures 36 inches long by 8 inches wide and some hook and loop strips.

Fold the fabric in half length-wise. Sew a seam down each of the long sides then turn the fabric so the seams are now on the inside. Fold in the edges of the open end and sew shut.

 Press your seams.

Fold up the bottom 6 inches to form the pouch, pin in place. Cut a 7 inch piece of the hook and loop velcro and pin it into place on the pouch pocket and the top flap. 

*Be sure you only pin through one side of the pouch pocket.

Undo the pouch pins and sew down velcro pieces.

 Refold the pouch and sew the two side seams that form the pocket.

Fold down the top flap and your pouch is done.

Put everything together!

Place the backing board back into the frame, be sure the glass is clean first. Run a line of strong glue around the edges to hold the backing in place. {I use e6000, hot glue would work too.}

Glue the pouch onto the back side of the frame, once dry add your playing pieces and your very person gift is ready to go!

Tomorrow, I'll show you what I made for my lil'sister.

Happy Crafting!

Linking to these great sites!