Painting With Puzzle Pieces

Thrift store/charity shop puzzles and frame become a baby shower gift

Posted by J. Pario

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This was such fun! I am definitely going to do more of these.

This was a baby shower gift. I used pieces from four puzzles.

I described this on my blog already, but I wanted to copy the tutorial over here for my fellow CO+K fans.

Enjoy!

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You Will Need (3 things)

  • 8 Framed Poster Or Picture
  • Ordinary White Glue
  • Many Puzzle Pieces

Steps (13 steps, 420 minutes)

  1. 1

    I found a framed poster.

  2. 2

    I took out the poster, flipped it over, and painted over the words on the back. It became my perfectly-sized canvas.

  3. 3

    I sorted four Thrift Store puzzles into piles by color. (But I forgot to take a photo until later!)

  4. 4

    I opted for a simple image.

    Here's a test drive of my puzzle piece placement.

  5. 5

    I painted my design. I kept the above layout handy so I could get the proportions right, but it was still a bit nerve-racking because I had to have the sections wide enough for puzzle pieces to fit, but small enough so I could get the whole image on the "canvas."

    Originally I was going to have the background be quite pastel and faint, and was going to help the viewer see the image by outlining the shapes with a black paint pen. (Not a Sharpie! They smear when you apply sealant.)

  6. 6

    Next, I made my sandwich, putting the painted picture and then the cardboard backing into the frame.

  7. 7

    I stapled the frame, not the cardboard.

  8. 8

    I used pliers to pull the staples half-way out of the wood. This keeps the cardboard in place. (I was just putting it back the way I found it, as I’d had to put staples out to get the thing apart in the first place.)

  9. 9

    Working in small sections, I glued the pieces to the poster with a mixture of PVA glue (Elmer’s) and water. This is a forgiving and imprecise combination. Basically you want it as thick as you can while still being able to apply it with a brush.

    I was glad that I had made some extra piles of “mostly orange with some green” and “mostly green with some orange.” That was really helpful.

  10. 10

    I treated the puzzle pieces differently to emphasize the different areas, mostly by having the sky pieces be almost the only ones that weren’t touching. I didn’t really have enough puzzle pieces, but I was out of Thrift Store puzzles!

  11. 11

    I then sealed it with two coats of my beloved ModPodge.

  12. 12

    Here is a close-up which lets you see how I used some of the "mostly green with a little orange" pieces.

  13. 13

    All done! I hope she likes it!