Sunday, March 4, 2012

Design on a Dime...puzzles

So it's no secret that I'm not a decorator. With limited free time and money it is just not on the top of my to-do list. Aaron and I like a clean and organized home that's functional and welcoming but having everything look like a Martha Stuart magazine just isn't on our priority list or in my talents. Maybe someday. That said, if Mark Brunetz from Clean House offered to come decorate our house for free I would NOT turn him down!

Anyways- we moved Mateo to his new room last June around his birthday and I really hadn't put much on the walls. Since my 2 1/2 year old is obsessed with putting together jigsaw puzzles at the moment, I decided to glue together some of his 24 piece puzzles and hang them up like posters.
Mateo's little work table that has become his "puzzle table".

I found some modge podge in the basement and glued the puzzles together over some wax paper on a cookie sheet. I did need to crack the window!


The modge podge glue gives it a nice glossy finish and I used used a small paintbrush that I had in my teaching supplies....though a bigger one would have been easier. My bottle of modge podge had a price tag of $5 and I barely made a dent in it. Once the front dried I also did the back. Not for looks but just for stability. "Puzzle glue" is the same thing.

My mom gave me the idea of gluing thin wood on the back so one Saturday morning Aaron and Mateo took a "man field trip" to the hard wood store and found some perforated board that would be suitable. It cost $6 for a large sheet and he only used about a third of the board for four puzzles.
This is what the back looked like. The board will keep it from warping. I have glued large puzzles together before and it's always hard to find a frame the right size- so this was a good alternative. Aaron used gorilla glue to attach the board to the puzzle and some tiny nails to attach the "self leveling picture hanger" (that metal thing with the ridges ;)

Clifford!

Mickey Mouse!

Cars!

Winnie the Pooh

So now Mateo has 4 "Puzzle Posters" on his wall that he put together himself and have some of his favorite characters. And it cost just a few dollars plus the puzzles themselves.

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