How to make a Mod Podged Puzzle

The puzzle pieces aren't laying flat in this picture, the pieces do fit together nicely normally.

We are kicking off Stashbusting September with this wonderful Mod Podged Puzzle.  I have several white backer boards that I use for mailing my prints, unfortunately I have several that are a bit beaten up.  I chose to make this simple little puzzle with my battered boards, and an irregularly formatted print of Meadow Moose.

I thought that it would be fun to have a few more simple puzzles in the house.  I chose to make an eight piece puzzle, but of course you could increase or decrease the number of pieces to fit your families needs.

Want to learn how to make it?  Buckle up and let's go. 

The materials are pretty basic.  I used backer board for my base, but you could use cardboard, mat board, foam board, or chipboard, basically whatever you have on hand.  You will also need an image (or you could paint directly on the board) equal to or smaller than the size of your board.  I think that it would be great fun to make a family portrait puzzle or one out of children's artwork.  You will also need  Mod Podge, paint brush, x-acto knife, scissors, pencil, scrap paper, sand paper, a ruler, heavy duty hole punch, and a note paper ring.

The first thing that you will want to do is cut your backer board to match your image size. You will then image to your backer board.  To do so apply a thin layer of Mod Podge to the top of your backer board.  Take care to apply it right to the edges.  

After the Mod Podge is applies you will position your image on your board.  I find it most effective to line up one side and smooth the image as you go.  You will not want any bubbles or creasing. Once your image is positioned let the mod podge dry fully.

Next apply a thin layer of mod podge to the top of your image.  You will want to do this using a minimal number of brushstrokes.  I found it effective to start in the middle and brush outward.  Don't be surprised if the paper bubbles a bit.  As the Mod Podge dries the paper will return close to it's original shape.

LR photo shows the marked board in yellow.

  To create the puzzle pieces I cut a scrap piece of paper to the dimensions of my board.  I folded it into eight equal shapes, and then drew notches on the adjoining sides.  Using a piece of pattern marking paper I transferred my puzzle piece shapes to the back of my puzzle board.

You can now cut out your pattern pieces.  I had originally intended on using an x-acto knife, but my first cut broke my blade and forced me to use scissors.  X-acto knives work better on curves, but scissors will work on straight edges.  Scissors tend to chew the board up a bit (UL photo), but that isn't anything that we can't fix. After cutting out your pieces you can use a fine grain sand paper to knock off any rough edges.  Take care to sand the board and not the image itself.  

After sanding the pieces I used my leather hole punch and a hammer to make a hole on the outer edge of each piece.  

Next I sealed all of the edges of the individual puzzle pieces with mod podge.  This is a good opportunity to adhere any edges that may have curled up during the cutting process.

Allow your pieces to dry.

I used a note paper ring to keep all of the pieces in one place.  I also added a small print out of the print for reference in piecing the puzzle together.  

I am so excited to make a few more of these.  I am thinking foam core puzzles would be fun, along with some magnetic puzzles.  They could make a great stocking stuffer come Christmas time.

You may notice that my puzzle pieces don't fit perfectly together in the top image.  This is due to the fact that my board curled slightly.  I am sure that after a few hours under a stack of dictionaries that they will be perfect.

Check out the great link parties that I am participating in today, and don't forget to hop on over to T-shirt Diaries to sign up for Stashbusting September.