Wednesday, October 7, 2009

What do you do with your finished puzzles?


Hi Puzzlers,

We were wondering what you do with your puzzles once they are complete.

In my family we apply contact paper to the back of the completed puzzle, flip it over, and decoupage the front with two coats of Mod Podge matte.

Next it's on to the hunt for wood for framing. Sometimes we get the wood at the local lumberyard, but most of the time we harvest the wood from the recycling centers as we are trying to be a green family.

With wood in hand we then make the frame to fit the puzzle, gluing and nailing the corners together. Now it's frame-painting time and we choose a color that goes with the puzzle-black is a favorite color! Pre-finished wood also works great and saves time.

We then glue the puzzle to the poster board. This can be tricky so I would recommend measuring the poster board and marking out the border of the puzzle. This will help ensure the puzzle is centered. We then staple the poster board to the back of the frame, using a heavy-duty staple gun.

Finally we have a framed puzzle! My daughter then sells them at local craft fairs to earn Holiday money. It's a fun way to extend the bonding that comes when a family puzzles together.

Happy Puzzling!

7 comments:

  1. Pat our graphic designer told me a few weeks ago she had seen a puzzle that had been coated with glue or something and used as a table scarf under a center piece. What a great idea!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I glue the front of the puzzle with elmer's glue since it dries clear. I will usually do three or four coats allowing the glue to dry throughly between coats. Then will flip puzzle over and put one coat on the back. Sometimes I will glue a cord to back in center of top of puzzle then hang it over a nail on wall. Then I can change my puzzles out for a different look.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I can't take apart any of my puzzles; I glue them all with Elmers glue diluted 1/2 with water. Two coats on front and one coat on back. I have a two foot tall stack of completed puzzles.

    ReplyDelete
  4. @irislady: Love the tip for gluing the cord to the center of the puzzle for hanging! Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I carefully take the puzzle apart, store all the pieces in a ziplock bag, and put them back in the box for another cold, rainy day - maybe next year. Sometimes I give them away for someone else to enjoy. The "Best of Texas" puzzle is making its way through every household in my extended family.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I had a friend who is no longer with us tell us when his wife worked puzzles..he would flip it over and she would write a letter on back of it to a loved one...Then they would disassemble it and mail it to the recipient. They would then put the puzzle together and then flip to read what was written. He said so many of the recipents of this enjoyed putting the puzzle together and then reading the lovely letter with it. This was unique I thought...just their way of sharing love

    ReplyDelete
  7. @irislady: WOW! What a great idea. I liked it so much I sent your comment to all the ladies here at the office. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete