I bought a 1000 piece puzzle for the holidays…my first ever. The kids are loving it and it’s almost finished. They want another one. I really don’t want to be storing glued puzzles, but hate taking it apart. What do you all do? Leave it for awhile, then box up or glue?
Why would you glue it?
To hang it. I would never do that, but I know people who do. It’s hard to destroy something that took hours to put together and it’s pretty…picture of colorful houses on the Amalfi Coast.
Take a picture of it. Breaking apart a finished puzzle is not destroying it. It’s returning it to its normal state.
Never glue them. Once we get them done…we put them in a zip loc bag, on the box…and donate them to a charity thrift store.
Our neighborhood does puzzle exchanges.
I don’t hang finished puzzles. If I don’t have the heart to break it apart, picrured or not, I break it up into 4 big assembled sections to fit in the box and store in the box. To me, taking a picture of a finished puzzle is not that satisfactory.
Think of it like this – gluing the puzzle is what would destroy it because gluing it would destroy its central attribute as a puzzle (something that can be taken apart and put back together).
Disassembling the puzzle and putting it away is no more destroying it than taking down all the houses and hotels on a Monopoly board at the end of a game would be destroying the Monopoly game, or piling up all the cards after completing a solitaire game would be destroying the card game.
I guess the big question is whether anyone will ever feel like doing that same puzzle again (say in a few years). If not, best to box it up and give it away now rather than store it indefinitely.
We take a picture and then pass it along to another puzzle-loving family.
Ours get broken up and put away never to be touched again. I am going to follow thumper’s lead and go donate them to charity. It never occurred to me to do that. Doh!
I’ve glued a couple of puzzles. One was for my sil’s cottage to hang, but I think she forgot about it so it sits in my basement.
The other was a very hard puzzle my H put together. I haven’t framed it yet but would probably hang it in our basement.
I don’t as I have no interest in putting finished puzzles on my walls – but I have a friend who does.
Once we are done with a puzzle, I break it apart, return it to the box and pass it on to someone else. My Mom’s assisted living complex loves them. They always have one or two set up on tables in their lobby area.
To me, the enjoyment of a puzzle lies in the accomplishment of fitting the pieces together. Once it’s complete, the picture might be pretty but I don’t really care about it. I take them apart again almost immediately. Of course, I’d usually rather re-read a good book than look at photo albums, so YMMV.
We take them to the Senior Recreation center in a local park. They never have enough.
Do you have a puzzle mat? Those things rock. You can roll the undinished puzzle up with it, put it out of sight, and continue as time allows.
Another vote for breaking the puzzle back into the original state and donating it.
Lots of kids programs and schools appreciate donations of puzzles WITH ALL pieces.
Well, we decided to let it sit for awhile, then break up and give it away at some point. A portion of it is my new profile pic. It’s Cinque Terra in Italy. Thought you might be tired of looking at my dress.
I gave my H a puzzle of the trevi fountain. It was fun to think of and reminisce about our trip. As I am sure it was for you.
How would you do this?? Glue one piece at a time?
I’ve known people who have framed puzzles…and then wondered why they did it!