Go Fish Game–{The Crafting Chicks}

Brooke had me when I read this tutorial and landed on the word “game.”   I am a sucker for anything competitive…yes the go fish game is competitive.   Any child who is in the game playing age would love a personalized go fish game with their family or friends’ pictures on them.   So please welcome Brooke from the Crafting Chicks as she teaches us how to make our own.

Hi, my name is Brooke and I’m one of The Crafting Chicks! I am thrilled that Beckie invited us to be a guest here at Infarrantly Creative, along with some other super creative bloggers for the Pennywise Presents series. I’m always inspired by Beckie’s projects {especially her Roadkill Rescues!} and I can’t wait to see what everyone shares the rest of this month!

Over at TheCraftingChicks.com we share a wide variety of projects, including trash-to-treasure makeovers, recipes, home decor, gift ideas, tips and tutorials, free printables, kids crafts and all sorts of things to inspire you have a creative life. All 5 of us Chicks are moms and like to use creativity as a form of therapy in the midst of our hectic lives raising children! 😉 We’d love to have you join us!

I really love giving personalized gifts whenever I can—especially using photos! Today I’m sharing a simple and inexpensive gift idea that the whole family can enjoy together: Go-Fish using your own family photos. Do you remember this game? I liked playing it growing up, and it’s a fun game that all ages can play. {Go-Fish game rules here} This is also a fun way for young kids to memorize names and faces of family members, especially those who may not live close.

Supplies :

• Family photos, of course!

• Patterned paper or cardstock

• Paper trimmer

• Glue Stick

• Corner Rounder Punch (optional)

• Contact Paper or Laminator (optional but recommended)

First, I gathered up my family photos and digital graphics in Photoshop and created my game cards. Now, Photoshop is definitely NOT required on this project if that isn’t your thing. You can simply print out your photos whatever size you want (at the photo lab or your own home printer) and mount them on fun patterned scrapbook paper or even plain cardstock. My finished cards ended up being 3.5 x 5 inches in size. To make it even less expensive you can make the photos wallet-sized.

I decided to include our family of 5 plus both sets of grandparents and of course we can’t leave out Max the dog! 🙂 You could also include aunts, uncles, cousins, the whole extended fam if you want! I kept the design pretty simple; each person has their own color “theme” and cute little nametag. You could even be silly and give each family member a funny nickname on the cards. You will need FOUR copies/game cards of each person for the game.

I printed mine on 4×6 photo paper at Costco, then trimmed them to the correct size with my paper trimmer.

At this point you can mount your photos on paper, making sure you have the same backside on every card, just like a real deck of cards.

To finish them off, I used a corner rounder punch on each card. I like how it looks, plus it takes away any sharp edges for younger kiddos. To add extra durability, I’d recommend laminating the cards or cover them with contact paper to protect from messy little (or big) fingers. 🙂

How fun it would be to receive a completely customized family game?? I’ve already shown it to my kids and they think it’s the coolest thing to have our own faces on a card game! 🙂

You can tie a ribbon around the cards and put them in a cute little tin, or a box that you decorate, or even stick them in a mini stocking. It’s a good idea to include a copy of the rules as well. 🙂

You could even use the same game cards to play a round of Family Memory, so it’s like two gifts in one! It’ll be a blast gathering your family together during the holidays to play this simple, personalized Go-Fish game.