DIY jigsaw

The framed photograph is a standard Valentine's present - personalised, yet easy to organise the day before. But, while it is a pretty good offering, how much better would that photo of you both on the beach in Spain look made into a jigsaw puzzle? Now there's a thought …

What you need

Thick card (the back of a pad of lined paper works perfectly)
Photo
Spray mount
Pencil
Ruler
knife
Cutting board
Pencil
Sandpaper (optional)
Nice little box

What to do

1. Cut the card and photograph to the same size - using a craft knife will give you a nice clean cut. So that all of your jigsaw pieces all end up the same size, you want the length and the width of the photograph and card to be divisible by a common number (eg. 12cm by 24cm would give you 32 3x3cm pieces).

2. In a well-ventilated area, use the spray mount to stick your photograph to the piece of card (follow the instructions on the can). Leave it to dry completely for about half an hour. If you don't have any spray mount, you can use a thin layer of PVA glue or a glue stick, but these types of adhesive often make paper wrinkle up.

3. Use the pencil and ruler to divide the back of the card into squares: draw lightly so that you can rub out the lines later. Add some almost-circles to each side of each square, to make them into jigsaw pieces.

4. If you have never used a craft knife to cut before, practice cutting circles on a separate piece of card first, so you get the hang of it.

5. Using the craft knife, ruler and cutting board, carefully cut out each of the pieces. The best way to do this is to cut along the straight lines first, then attempt the circular parts (try to cut these in one go - this gives you a much cleaner cut).

6. When all pieces are cut, smooth over any very rough edges with a piece of sandpaper. If you haven't got a perfect cut for every piece though, don't worry - this is handmade gift and you're not striving for perfection.

7. Present the pieces in a nice gift box -