by Debbie Chapman
Jump to Instructions
This post may contain affiliate links. Read our disclosure policy.
This I love you to pieces picture frame is SO CUTE! Use letter beads and puzzle pieces to make a fun DIY picture frame for Father’s Day, birthdays, or any other special occasion.
Tell Dad you love him with this easy craft that’s perfect for kids of all ages. This love you to pieces craft is low prep and low mess, and it’s made with simple supplies you can find at the dollar store!
This post contains affiliate links. If you use these links to buy something we may earn a small commission which helps us run this website.
DIY I Love You to Pieces Picture Frame
This "I love you to pieces" picture frame is such a cute and EASY craft that makes a great homemade gift for Father's Day and Mother's Day!
Author: Debbie Chapman
Materials:
- Wooden picture frame (4 x 6, or size of choice)
- Letter beads
- Dollar store puzzle
- Tacky glue
Check Out The Video Tutorial:
Looking for more Father's Day crafts? Here's a few of our favourites:
Superhero Father's Day Gift
Dad String Art
DIY Sharpie Mustache Mugs
Father's Day Pop-Up Card
Instructions:
Step 1: Find what you need
Gather your supplies and materials.
Step 2: Arrange and glue on the beads
Arrange the letter beads on the frame to spell out "I love you to pieces Dad".
We recommend doing this before you glue the letters on to make sure everything fits and is spaced properly.
Add a dot of tacky glue to the letter beads and press them into position on the frame.
Continue gluing on the beads until all of your letters have been added.
Step 3: Glue on the puzzle pieces
Add a thin layer of tacky glue to the back of the puzzle pieces.
Press the puzzle piece onto the picture frame. You can start in the corner and slightly overlap each puzzle piece. Or you can space them out more. It's up to you!
Continue adding puzzle pieces - overlapping them slightly as you go - until you reach the bottom of the frame.
Try to use different shapes beside each other and add the pieces at different angles.
Continue the same pattern on the other side of the frame, or experiment with different colour blocks!
Allow the glue to dry (about 30 minutes).
Add a picture, and your I love you to pieces picture frame is complete!
Helpful Tips:
- Sort out some of the puzzle pieces ahead of time so it’s easy to find the colours or the shapes that you want on your picture frame.
- Check the back of your frame to make sure the stand is at the bottom and your frame is the right orientation before you add the letters and puzzle pieces. We forgot to check one of ours and had to modify our frame slightly to make it work!
Where can I get an inexpensive jigsaw puzzle to use for crafting?
We bought our puzzles at the dollar store for $1.50! The quality is pretty good, considering the price, so you can have fun making the puzzle and then use the pieces to decorate the picture frame.
If your dollar store doesn’t sell puzzles, look at local thrift stores! There’s usually a few good options you can find there – plus if you’re using it for a craft you don’t have to worry if the puzzle is missing a piece or two.
And if you don’t want to use real puzzle pieces for this craft, simply cut puzzle piece shapes from cardboard! You can find puzzle piece templates online if you don’t want to draw them yourself.
Where’s the best place to get a wooden frame?
We bought our frames at Michaels, but you can also check the dollar store! If you want to shop for a wooden picture frame online, there are a lot of options on Amazon.
I don’t have letter beads – what else can I use to spell ‘I love you to pieces’?
You could use a paint pen to write your “I love you to pieces” message directly on the frame, or buy small wooden letters at the dollar store and paint those. You could also use Scrabble tiles or letter stickers!
Or, leave off the letters entirely and take a picture holding a sign that says “I love you to pieces”! Add that picture to the frame for a fun personal touch.
How else can I arrange my I love you to pieces picture frame?
As you can see from our photos we made three different versions of the same craft, each using the same simple technique (glue the pieces and the letters to the frame!).
You can choose to place individual pieces on the frame to emphasize the puzzle piece shapes, or you can cover the whole frame in layered pieces and glue the letter beads on top of the pieces. It’s all up to you!
What does I love you to pieces mean?
Basically it’s just a fun way to say that you love someone a lot! “To pieces” can mean “completely”, so saying that you love someone to pieces is just telling them that you love every bit of them.
Plus, in the context of this craft, the phrase is also a pun, or a play on words, since the frame has puzzle pieces on it. It’s the perfect Dad joke to include on a Father’s Day gift!
We made our love you to pieces craft for Father’s Day, but these picture frames would also be a great homemade gift for Mother’s Day or Valentine’s Day!
These are an especially fun present for puzzle lovers, but all parents and grandparents will appreciate the love shown with these colourful DIY picture frames.
Here’s even more Father’s Day craft ideas:
Superhero Father’s Day Gift
Dad String Art
DIY Sharpie Mustache Mugs
Father’s Day Pop-Up Card
Our bookLow-Mess Crafts for Kids is loaded with 72 fun and simple craft ideas for kids! The projects are fun, easy and most importantly low-mess, so the clean up is simple!
Where to buy:
You can purchase Low-Mess Crafts for Kids from Amazon, or wherever books are sold:
Amazon |Barnes and Noble | Books-A-Million | Indiebound | Amazon Canada
More from One Little Project
About Debbie Chapman, the Author of this Post
I'm Debbie Chapman, founder of One Little Project and author of the book Low-Mess Crafts for Kids. I love creating fun and easy crafts and cooking up delicious recipes for my husband and 3 kids.
More by Debbie Chapman
Filed Under: Holidays, Just for Kids, Kids Crafts and Activities, Other Holidays and Occasions, Valentine's DayTagged With: beads, Father's Day, mothers day, picture frame, puzzle pieces, tacky glue
Love to cook, bake, craft, create?