Saturday, April 11, 2020

Family Puzzle Fun--It's Art!

Another good thing to do: Put a puzzle together, then turn it into art!

If you and your family haven't put together a big jigsaw puzzle together for a while, this is a great time. It's always surprising to find who does and doesn't enjoy putting together puzzles, but most will still sit and visit even if not working on the puzzle. 


My husband doesn't enjoy puzzling, so I do it mostly alone.  I like unusual and shaped puzzles, and when they are completed, I have been gluing them together, backing them with foamcore, and decorating with them. Puzzle glue is painted over the top of the finished puzzle, a layer or more, and allowed to dry well. This puzzle about Life (left) was painful to complete, but good to have on the wall for reflection. One of my favorites is a big shaped Santa puzzle, shown many pages back next to a Santa Belly Christmas tree (click Older Posts at the bottom of the page several times).

When my son was little, we completed a Peanuts puzzle together that had smaller pieces for adults on one end and larger pieces for kids on the other. We also enjoyed some 3-d puzzles that went with books he was reading, like a castle from Lord of the Rings

The butterfly puzzle hanging in one bathroom matches the framed butterflies well and adds a big pop of color.  That puzzle has shaped pieces, including several butterflies, within it, and was fun to complete. 

There are many helpful places to get puzzles, and I have so many puzzles already that I could shelter in place for months and months. Many of my favorite puzzles came from Current (currentcatalog.com)and Bits & Pieces (bitsandpieces.com), both of whom have specials right now. I always end up checking the puzzle section when shopping at Barnes & Noble, back when we could go there. I have a puzzle keeper so I can sort pieces and also can put a puzzle away if we need the dining room table. Otherwise, I enjoy having a puzzle there where I can change seats and move around it. 

Really creative folk could embellish the puzzle afterward, such as gluing on shells gathered at the ocean after completing an ocean puzzle, or adding touches of glitter or paint.  Let your creativity flow, and make art after the fun of completing the puzzle itself.

I hide the box cover away and put the puzzle together by color and shape.  I still put together the outside edges first and fill in from there, but many choose to find inner parts to complete and work their way out. Either way, putting puzzles together is good for us and especially for children as it makes great brain connections. Happy puzzling!   

By the way, that Longaberger 2004 Hostess Hat Box Basket in the top photo, as well as the two Bushel Baskets from 2005, are beautiful ones.  The Hat Box Basket has unique handles and a divided stacked protector that could be really useful . . . but mine just sits there and looks good.  That old black trunk really has travel stickers on it.  It was a great flea market find years ago.

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