Two altered puzles, and some important tips!

[BethieB]

So my personal theme for 2010 has become the rainbow, as to me it represents hope and promise and the fact that even after the rain there will still be beautiful things.  After the mess that was 2009 the rainbow has taken on a whole new meaning for me!  In honor of my love of it, I did an altered puzzle.











So I have to be honest.  This is actually the second altered puzzle I've finished.  I'll show you the first one in a second, but first of all, I just want to pass on the tips I discovered while doing these projects.

One, wooden puzzles are so much easier to do, and they are worth the extra bit of money and searching it takes to find them.  The first puzzle I did was a cardboard one and it came out...well...you will see.  In comparison, the wooden one is so much better, both while you are making it and when you are done and it's time to put it all together!

Two, when you do find the perfect *wooden* puzzle, the first thing you should do, if you plan on putting it all back together to display it like I am doing, is mark the back of each piece in some way so that you remember where they go.  Then you can write on the frame too so you really will remember.  Like this:





Trust me, I learned this the hard way.

And now for pictures of the hard way:





It's a tiny bit hard to tell, but the pieces do not all fit together perfectly.  Part of the reason is that the cardboard soaks up the paints and inks and glues and swells out of it's normal shape so they won't all fit back together.  The other reason is that I forgot which piece went where, so when it came time to make it fit all together, I did my best, but ended up cutting and sanding some pieces to force them to fit where they might have gone originally, lol.

And, there really is some color on this puzzle, it just isn't showing up well on these junky pictures I took, sorry!




















This one really shows how the pieces do not go together perfectly.

In all honestly, I love the 'hard way' one a lot better than the rainbow one, but my dd has fallen in love with the rainbow so it's going to here when I am ready to move it out of the living room.  It also is a lot less bumpy looking in real life, the camera flash picked up a lot of imperfections but oh well, it still makes me happy!

[KLKing]

Thanks for the tips, Bethie! I do plan on making one SOMEDAY!
They both look great, but I love the rainbow one because of the flowers.

[alwaysinmyroom]

ha ha I received my altered puzzle from sheepblue in the original puzzle box--it had 25 pieces and of course, no picture that I could use to get it back together...it took a few minutes to get it together for a pic, which I then asked her if it was correct! ha ha

I love altered puzzles and found that if you use a nail file to make each piece a little "loose" it will make up for the swelling...I also sand off the original picture a bit (on some, I like the background to show!)...

You did a nice job and I do like both puzzles...I just find it hilarious that your solution was to cut them pieces until they fit!  That is so precious to me! You rock, bethieb!

[BethieB]

Thanks Always!!  I'm glad I make you laugh so often, lol.  I did try sanding with a nail filer first, but it was taking FOREVER and not working...the scissors were the next step!!

[beki710]

Wow I love the both of them! I've always wanted to have a go at making an altered puzzle so thank you for the tips! Will bear them in mind when I have a try!

[Wulf]

I'm with you, Bethie, I like the blue and purple puzzle best. But they're both a lot of fun, and I can see why the rainbow one was your daughter's favourite.

Wulf

[BethieB]

Thank you guys for taking the time to comment!! 

beki710 - it was a really fun project to do the puzzles and I am actually thinking about doing another one.  Let me know if you have any specific questions, and make sure you post pics when you do yours!