Monday, April 27, 2015

Jigsaw Puzzle Wall Art Tutorial

A few weeks ago my DH (dear hubby) finished putting a jigsaw puzzle together.  It was so beautiful that he wanted us to prepare it for hanging on a wall.  I'm posting a tutorial here for making a jigsaw puzzle suitable for hanging.  This is my first tutorial so please bear with me.  I'll do the best I can.

 He put the puzzle together on a piece of plywood that was larger than the puzzle.  No photo for this.  Sorry.  I told you this is my first tutorial.  I'll try to do better next time.

Here are a few of the tools used for the project.

After he put the puzzle together I brushed a layer of Mod Podge all over it with a soft brush.  Then I carefully scraped off the excess with a putty knife.  The next day I put another thin layer of Modge Podge on it in the same manner.  This holds the puzzle pieces together. 

After the 2 layers were dry we carefully slipped a mat board the same size of the puzzle under it.  
 

Using 1 x 4 white pine my husband made a frame for the puzzle.  He ripped the wood pieces to1 3/4 inches wide.  He then cut out 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch inside the edges to inlay the picture.  He cut a pattern in the outside of the frame material with a router, then cut it into four pieces the lengths and widths of the picture.  He cut the corners forty five degrees. 


He used 4 penny nails and wood glue to hold the corners together.  He laid the frame on a piece of cardboard from a flattened box and stained it with wood stain.  When it was finished we placed the puzzle and mat board into the frame and used staples to hold it in place.  Then we put a screw eye about a third of the way down from the top on each side of the frame on the back, twisted the ends of the picture wire through one of them and twisted the wire to secure it. We put the other end through the other screw eye, pulled it taut, twisted the wire end and the picture was ready to hang.


 FINISHED PICTURE

I would like to say that it’s hanging on our wall, but it was not to be.  There’s a Native American young man who works at the golf course where my husband plays golf.  DH thinks highly of him and wanted to give the picture to him if he wanted it.  Unfortunately for me, he loved it BIG TIME!  It’s now hanging on his wall I presume.  Now I’m trying to find another puzzle like it for me.   















9 comments:

  1. looks great. i know a family who likes to work on 5000 piece puzzles together as a family and the finish puzzle is then framed like art.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 5000? WOW! I don't even try the 1000 piece ones. In fact I don't do any at all. That's DH's gig.

      Delete
  2. nice puzzle! Thanks for the frame tutorial!

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a lovely gift for your DH's golf friend! I love the step by step illustrations here...I've always wondered how this is done :)

    Popping over from the EBT...

    ReplyDelete
  4. That's a great first tutorial. You mentioned you made need to take more pics next time, and I think that is a good idea, too. It's a lovely picture. I'm sure it made DH's friend very happy. I also agree with The Art Bug that it was a great fame making tutorial.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Great tutorial and what a wonderful gift! The frame turned out beautifully!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We found another puzzle just like it. DH is putting it together to hang on our dining room wall.

      Delete
  6. I love puzzles, but no one likes doing them with me! That was a special gift, I'm sure he appreciated it!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Lovely attention and beautiful picture.

    ReplyDelete