How to glue a puzzle (great housewarming gift!)

We love decorating our walls with fun and meaningful custom made pieces that tell a story or are interesting to look at. A majority of these pieces being trail maps from our favorite ski mountains. I'm always on the lookout for fun items to frame which is why I bought this awesome hometown puzzle from L.L. Bean (shocker!) a couple months ago with intentions of glueing it together and having it framed.

Our home, which is represented by a house shaped puzzle piece, was extremely accurate, honing right in on the street that we currently live on. The rest of the puzzle features miles of surrounding terrain using detailed topographic map data. I'm really glad that I ordered this puzzle with our Boston address, as it encapsulates the "heart shape" that Boston looks like from a map, and the many rivers, wharfs and the Boston harbor that surrounds the mainland. It took maybe two days to complete thanks to the details of the water making it easy to sort and put together. Along with the North End, Beacon Hill and Waterfront, I'm really glad that the puzzle also includes the airport and Charlestown as well, two places that we frequent... often! 

I've never glued and sent a puzzle off to be framed before, so I decided to document the process and make a short little "how to" film out of it to help anyone who is looking to do the same thing!

Products Used in the video:

• Hometown Map Puzzle
• Mod Podge Puzzle Saver
• Scraper
• Foam Brush
• I used Framebridge to frame this puzzle. 
• Frame Name: Sonoma
• Mat Color: White

I've attached pictures and directions below for you to reference to as well.

Transfer your puzzle onto parchment or wax paper to protect your work surface. 

Use a puzzle glue to affix all of the pieces together. I used Modge Podge Puzzle Saver.

Start in the middle and work your way out.

 Use a "scraper" to spread the glue out over the entire puzzle. I used a scraper similar to this one.

Use a foam brush to smooth out the glue and fill in the cracks between the pieces (try to keep all of the brush strokes going in the same direction).

Let the front half of the puzzle dry for 30 minutes before starting on the back.

Once both sides are dry it should be sturdy enough to hold without breaking.

Package the puzzle up to get framed.

Your puzzle should arrive 7 to 10 days later and ready to be hung!

This is such a great custom made gift to give as a housewarming gift or to keep for yourself. 

We will certainly be making more for any future moves!