Cut Out + Keep

Painting With Puzzle Pieces

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

https://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/painting-with-puzzle-pieces • Posted by J. Pario

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!

You will need

Project Budget
Almost Nothing

Time

7 h 00

Difficulty

Nice & Simple
Medium p1080120 Medium finishedpuzzlepaintingflowers Medium p1080118

Description

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!

Instructions

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    I found a framed poster.

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

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

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    I opted for a simple image. Here's a test drive of my puzzle piece placement.

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    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.)

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

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    I stapled the frame, not the cardboard.

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    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.)

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

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

  13. All done! I hope she likes it!