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Home » 1 Hour C.R.A.F.T.'s » C.R.A.F.T. #92: DIY Puzzle Cube

C.R.A.F.T. #92: DIY Puzzle Cube

December 15, 2011 By Jamie Dorobek 30 Comments

Puzzles and games have always been a thing in our house. Canasta, scrabble, words with friends, connect four, Cranium, Tripoli, Cribbage,  memory, and Pictionary are a few of our faves. Although no one will play Pictionary with my sister and I because we’re kind of awesome and perhaps a tad obnoxious and a lot competitive! I’ll play any game that does not involve singing, and that is only because I would big time lose, and what fun is that? (Humdingers in Cranium are as close to singing as I’ll get to singing, and still there is an 80% chance I either will not know the song or have no idea how to hum the tune!) My youngest brother, Steven, taught himself the Rubicks cube a few years ago (with the help of youtube videos), and I know he would enjoy this DIY puzzle cube…
easy homemade gifts
Here’s what you need to make a 3D puzzle cube:
  • wood glue
  • q-tips
  • paint
  • wooden cubes
The best deal on craft cubes I’ve found is at Hobby Lobby. Each pack has 72 individual cubes, each 3×3 cube needs 27 individual cubes. (insert nerd voice) According to my calculations, if you bought 3 packs (72 x 3= 216 and 216/27=8) you could make 8 cubes! A few more calculations tell us that each 3 x 3 cube costs only $1.12 a piece to make.
easy homemade gifts
Here’s what I did to make my cube puzzle…
easy homemade gifts
Let me explain:
  • Step 1: Count out 27 cubes
  • Step 2: Build your 3×3 cube so you have something visual to work with…
  • Step 3: Use a q-tip to carefully start gluing your cubes together. It gets kind of tricky.
  • Step 4: A few times I glued only 2 cubes together so I could  keep the 3×3 cube shape, and better see what I’m working with.
easy homemade gifts
Here are my 5 puzzle pieces (picture them not yet painted)…
easy homemade gifts

Now, it’s time to paint… I picked an Americano theme only because those are the Plaid paints I had on hand 🙂 I don’t suggest painting with q-tips… I tried since the Q-tips were out and I didn’t want to dirty a paint brush… trust me on this one, it’s not worth it  🙂 Not to mention why I tried to paint and glue on a magazine, another dumb move…  I could have at least opened the magazine up for more surface area!

easy homemade gifts

I used sand paper after the cubes dried because a few pieces were clumpy. I like how it turned out. Take a few pictures like the ones below so that you can remember how the pieces go back together!

easy homemade gifts
DIY puzzle cube... easy handmade gift!
I think it might also be fun to give someone all the materials to make this little craft! Are you a puzzle person? Do you think someone in your life would enjoy this toy? I think this would make a great stocking stuffer too. 

Filed Under: 1 Hour C.R.A.F.T.'s, Handmade Gifts, Wood Crafs

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Comments

  1. Melissa Vera says

    June 8, 2015 at 10:37 pm

    What a neat gift idea for anyone who loves puzzles.Thanks for linking up on #HomeMattersParty. Hope to see you again next weekend.

    Reply
  2. Kimberly says

    June 8, 2015 at 3:25 pm

    I absolutely love this! Thanks for sharing it with us. Pinned and tweeted. I hope to see you tonight at 7 pm. We can’t wait to party with you! Lou Lou Girls

    Reply
  3. Debi @ Surroundings by Debi says

    June 6, 2015 at 10:00 am

    Great idea and I loved the step by step how to! Thank you for partying with us at the Thursday Favorite Things Blog Hop!

    Reply
  4. Brandi Clevinger says

    June 5, 2015 at 3:06 pm

    This is very complex yet crafty! Good idea!

    Thanks for sharing at #SmallVictoriesSundayLinkup ! I pinned your post to the group board Small Victories Sunday.

    Reply
  5. Emma says

    June 4, 2015 at 8:04 pm

    So fascinating! Those puzzle cubes are one of those things I could never work out, but seeing how you can make your own is pretty cool!

    Reply
  6. Gilly @ Colour Saturated Life says

    June 2, 2015 at 3:24 am

    Love this idea, would be a great gift for someone who loves puzzles.

    Reply
  7. lana says

    June 1, 2015 at 9:58 pm

    cool idea! cheers!

    Reply
  8. Rachel R. says

    November 29, 2014 at 10:54 am

    Thank you! I’m getting ready to make four of these later today, thanks to this post. But the cubes were more expensive at my Hobby Lobby; they don’t seem to carry larger bags like you got. Not a complaint — just putting it out there for anyone else considering it, so they can plan properly. I think mine were closer to $4 each. But still worth it (and would’ve been cheaper if I’d made them far enough in advance to wait for the wood stuff to go on sale!)

    Reply
  9. Leander house cleaning site info says

    March 21, 2014 at 7:20 pm

    I think this is brilliant! This keeps those kids thinking. Thank you.

    Reply
  10. Cassi says

    August 6, 2013 at 10:29 pm

    This is such a great gift idea! I’ll be featuring it on The Crafty Crow!

    Reply
  11. Gretchen says

    December 7, 2012 at 11:19 am

    Here is my mini tutorial on how to make your own cubes out of 3 strips of paper. It is a wonderful thing to know! I have made these puzzle cubes out of paper cubes. I should also make tutorials for other forms that you can make: A larger cube puzzle with holes through the middles. A ‘flip’ cube that folds and unfolds. Gotta do that!

    Reply
  12. C.R.A.F.T. says

    December 24, 2011 at 12:49 am

    Lynette, I would have never gotten it back together if I hadn't of taken so many pics! You could always let the gift recepeient paint it 🙂

    Reply
  13. Lynette @ My Craft Discovery says

    December 23, 2011 at 8:26 pm

    ok I just did it! It took me longer to figure out how to put it together after I finished than it did to make it! Thanks for the pictures, or I would have never gotten it together right! 🙂 I was going to paint mine, but I may leave unfinished in the interest of time.

    Reply
  14. Vicky says

    December 20, 2011 at 8:47 pm

    That looks so fun and the price cannot be beat! You are right, it is the perfect stocking stuffer. I am new FB follower visiting from Sugar Bee Crafts. Vicky from Mess For Less

    Reply
  15. Melissa says

    December 19, 2011 at 7:46 pm

    Really cool!

    Reply
  16. Lynette @ My Craft Discovery says

    December 19, 2011 at 5:58 pm

    My husband would love this! I am pinning it, and maybe if I'm lucky I could make this before Christmas. 🙂

    Reply
  17. Bekah Saffert says

    December 19, 2011 at 5:56 pm

    My Grandparents used to have one of these and it was the "favorite toy" I will definitly be making some of these soon!

    Reply
    • amber holl says

      July 14, 2014 at 3:48 pm

      great idea

      Reply
  18. Greg and Nancy says

    December 19, 2011 at 3:08 pm

    This is such a great idea!! My grandma had something similar made out of plastic and I would play with it for hours…I think one of these might end up in my husband's Christmas stocking. 🙂

    Reply
    • Pene says

      November 14, 2012 at 11:38 am

      It was called SOMA. I had the same puzzle. I would keep the pieces all the the same color, like the original.

      Reply
  19. Jamie @ Sew Rockin' says

    December 18, 2011 at 8:02 pm

    That's really cool! I taught myself the Rubix cube 2 years ago (via YouTube lessons too)…I figured if my 14 year old students could do it than I could too.

    And I agree, Tetris is awesome!

    Reply
  20. FemminaDaVinci says

    December 18, 2011 at 11:51 am

    We made these in our middle school technology class (wrongfully named because we only made things out of wood. lol)

    Reply
  21. C.R.A.F.T. says

    December 16, 2011 at 10:28 am

    Felicia, pictures would be cute! Also, to make it easier, you could put dots or X's on all of the outside squares…!

    Reply
  22. Felicia @ All Things Fee says

    December 16, 2011 at 9:47 am

    I think it would be cute to do pictures on each side too! Very cute, will have to keep an eye out for blocks!

    Reply
  23. C.R.A.F.T. says

    December 16, 2011 at 12:43 am

    Mandanya Rafa, I would like to tell you I'm just a genius 🙂 But all of my crafts are inspired by something… a student I teach at school has one of these…and I thought, "hey, I could make that!"and so I tried! and Nancy, it so reminds me of tetris too… LOVE that game!

    Reply
  24. Lindsay says

    December 15, 2011 at 8:15 pm

    So very cool! What a fantastic idea!

    Reply
  25. Mandanya Rafa says

    December 15, 2011 at 11:34 pm

    I wonder how you always come up with those wonderful ideas…
    this one if ridiculously easy, but genius nonetheless..

    Reply
  26. Nancy's Couture says

    December 15, 2011 at 11:08 pm

    This is such a great idea. With the different colors it makes me think of a game I love…Tetris! This will be going in my son's stocking!

    Reply
  27. Maria-Isabel @ Agape Love Designs says

    December 15, 2011 at 7:56 pm

    Ok thats way cool! I love puzzles and I already have these little blocks on hand! I thought they would make a cool project, just hadnt figured out what that project would be.. well until now! 🙂

    Reply
  28. [email protected] says

    December 15, 2011 at 7:45 pm

    This is a great idea! Thank you for sharing the how-to!!!

    Reply

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Hi, I'm Jamie!
I Create Really Awesome Free Things for your home, wardrobe, kitchen, and kids in Austin, TX with the sometimes help of Andy!
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