The $1 Memorable Christmas Present

A recent trip to Michaels Craft Store yielded a great find for an inexpensive, but memorable Christmas present – Rubiks Cubes for $1.00.  A little innovation turns them into personalized gifts.

All you need are 6 matte finish photographs and some adhesive.  I used a Xyron machine with repositionable adhesive to make it easy.  Matte or lustre finish images are important since glossy shows every fingerprint when the recipient plays with the cube.

Here’s how:

1.  Measure the dimensions needed to cover an individual square (these were slightly larger than 3/4 inches square).    Multiply by 3 to get the dimension of the image you can use.  This is a little smaller than measuring the whole width of the face of the cube since room needs to be allowed between each tile to allow the cube to move.   Cut an opening in a piece of cardstock that is the dimension needed.  Use this to choose the portion of the photograph that you want to use.

2.  If you are using photos that have a feature that you don’t want to be cut, use a piece of acetate or other clear packing material and draw the frame on it and include grid lines to help you preserve a certain element, like a face or person once it is cut. 

3.  With your frame, mark the cutting lines.

4.  Cut and adhere one row at a time or it can become difficult to piece back together if your image has a lot of sky or other non-defined area.

5.  Add the rest of the rows and do the same thing on the other faces of the cube, and voila .. . an easy, inexpensive, and fun Christmas gift suitable for anyone.

NOTE:  This technique does not work well for images where a face will not fit completely in one square.  Because there are gaps between the blocks, a face that covers more than one square will look distorted.

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