S: "Stick To It!" Resolution Puzzle

I confess. I joined a gym last January to fulfill my New Year's resolution of working out at least five times per week in 2012. The gym went out of business in March. I didn't notice they were gone until May. Oops.

This year my resolution is to have a bit of fun with the idea of New Year's resolutions, but I need your help to stick to it! You can assist me by making one "resolution" puzzle for one partner using craft sticks. To view pictures of craft stick puzzles created by other people, enter "craft stick puzzles" in the Google Images search bar.

Directions:

1. Take ten clean craft sticks. (New tongue depressor or popsicle sticks are also acceptable.)

2. Lay them side-by-side on a flat work surface.

3. Place a piece of masking tape across the sticks to hold them together temporarily. (I actually like to use one piece along the top edge and one along the bottom to make sure they don't shift.)

4. Using a fine-tipped marker, write a New Year's resolution on one or more of the sticks, depending on the size of your writing and length of the sentence. Your resolution can be total nonsense or an actual goal you have set for yourself.

5. Carefully turn the group of sticks over so that the tape and writing are face down on your work surface.

6. Decorate the untaped side of the sticks to represent the resolution you have written. Approach this task as if the ten sticks were one solid surface and not individual pieces. The method you use to decorate the sticks is entirely up to you, as is your artistic interpretation. Use whatever mediums you find appealing (paint, markers, polymer clay, collaged magazine pictures, fabric, metal, wood, yada, yada, yada). Just be careful to not permanently adhere the sticks to one another in the process.

7. After any glue or paint you may have used has had a chance to dry completely, remove the masking tape and "mix up" the sticks. Your partner will then have the challenge of putting them in order to view your work of art.

8. Secure the sticks to a piece of thin cardboard or cardstock for the purpose of mailing. I will probably use a needle and thread for this. You can use whatever works best for you. Please don't just drop them loose into an envelope.

9. Remember to also include your swap information with your puzzle.

If you have a visual impairment and cannot see to write your resolution on the sticks, you may opt for writing or typing it on a separate card or piece of paper. In this case, the back of your puzzle will be left blank.

JUST FOR FUN: These sticks can be glued to wooden clothespins. I will use the puzzle my partner sends to decorate clothespins that hold other small pieces of swap art I have hanging in my craft room.