What to do with a completed jigsaw puzzle? Design a gallery wall.

The goal of home decoration should be none other than to provide us with the satisfaction of living in a place where we feel comfortable, to our liking and relaxed. On many occasions, this happens by choosing elements that, due to their originality, are out of the ordinary. Gallery walls can be a fun way of making a very personal statement in your home, such as decorating some of your walls with jigsaw puzzles.

Jigsaw puzzles are more than just fun pastime activities. They can also be very beautiful or interesting. Nowadays, you can find a puzzle that creates an image of just about anything. From 500 to 1000-piece editions, jigsaw puzzles come in all shapes, sizes and styles. Choose your preferred design and get the whole family involved in the challenge of completing it. Nature scenes, mandalas, animals, film posters, classic paintings -– anything you can imagine has probably been made into a puzzle. 

Not only will it be a respite from the world of social media, but these puzzles will stimulate your cognitive functions with a mind-boggling, brain-teasing, problem-solving activity. Once puzzles have been put together, they are typically taken apart again and placed right back in the box. Although they may seem like a long and complex task, putting a puzzle together is actually considered a meditative craft which can result in a beautiful piece of art. Not only that, perhaps you really enjoy the look of your puzzle and want to preserve it. If this is the case, you could transform it into a beautiful piece of home décor. This could be added to a gallery wall for an eclectic look. The best way to preserve a puzzle is gluing it together to be hung on the wall. Or, you could transform it into a number of other unique art pieces.

How to glue a jigsaw puzzle

The best way to preserve a puzzle is by gluing it together to turn it into wall art. Before beginning to put together the puzzle, lay down a piece of wax or parchment paper. This will keep the glue from seeping onto your table or other surfaces. Alternatively, you could use newspaper, but be aware that this will most likely stain the back of your puzzle.

You'll need puzzle glue or mod podge and a putty knife or brush. Once you've put together the puzzle, make sure that the surface is clean and free from any dust. You could also roll it with a rolling pin to ensure it's perfectly flat. Then, you can apply and spread the glue. Don't use too much, though, because it could damage the surface of the pieces. After smoothing out any globs, wipe away excess glue with a paper towel or a cloth and allow to dry for at least 20 minutes. You can add another layer of glue if needed. Once the surface has dried, you could pry off the wax or parchment paper with a ruler or a spatula, but you don't have to.

How to frame a jigsaw puzzle

It’s easy to achieve, all you need is to invest in one of the options below, clear a table to work on and have patience to kick things off. The most popular way to display a jigsaw puzzle is to hang it on the wall. To do this, you could either frame the piece or mount it to a backer board. Framing it is as simple as finding the right-sized frame and placing it inside. To mount it, you'll first place the glued puzzle on a backer board and then trace around it. Cut along the tracing, spray the adhesive or apply the glue, and lay the puzzle on the backer board. You could use a rolling pin to ensure it sticks before letting it dry. If you don't want to glue your completed puzzle together but still want to show it off, you could put together the puzzle on a coffee table and lay glass over it. This would give you a flexible way to display the design. If you want to put it back in the box later on, you can just remove the glass and take it apart.

Not only can we hang the puzzles on the wall, we can also use them to create backgrounds under glass tables or create adhesive murals for appliances or to brighten up the doors of the house. The possibilities of decorating with puzzles go as far as your imagination goes.

You could also create art out of loose pieces. This is a great way to transform a puzzle that's missing pieces. You could glue loose pieces together to frame a photo or a mirror. A fun way to get the kids involved could be to have them make art out of loose pieces glued onto a painting of a tree to provide the appearance of unique leaves.

Jigsaw puzzles are great for a few reasons; if you want a ‘screen time’ break, to alleviate some boredom or to dust a few cobwebs from the problem-solving side of your brain, jigsaw puzzles can be a really useful pastime.

Fortunately, jigsaw puzzles aren’t going out of style. Not only are they the perfect way to bond with your family and friends during the holidays, but they also make beautiful artwork for your home decor. So, if you want to be original with your wall decorations, go get yourself a jigsaw puzzle and start crafting. Happy puzzling!