Ah, remember the days of painting over puzzles with a wet, sticky sealer. Those days are long gone, and with them the mess and lack of versatility once those puzzles dry. It's easy to preserve your puzzles with clear contact paper. All you need to do is measure and cut a sheet of contact paper that is about an inch in diameter larger than your actual puzzle. Then apply it, just like you would shelf paper in your kitchen or bathroom. Contact paper seals puzzles without the mess of glue, and it gives you a few creative options for turning those sealed puzzles into gifts too.

*How to Apply Contact Paper to Your Puzzle.

Upon finishing your puzzle, break out the contact paper. Smaller puzzles can use one sheet, while larger puzzles may need two. Measure and cut a piece of contact paper, making it about one inch larger than the actual puzzle. Carefully peal the paper of the back of the contact paper, center it over your puzzle, pulling it taut, and lay it on top. Take a rolling pin to smooth out the contact paper, pushing air bubbles out completely.

Flip the puzzle over and repeat the same thing on the back. Now you have two choices. You can leave the extra border of the contact paper as an edge for a future project, or you can take a sharp blade and trim right next to the edge of your puzzle. Once you've trimmed it, your puzzle can be used immediately.

*Things to Make with Your Sealed Puzzle

If you choose to leave a contact edge on your puzzle, you can rough up the back of it and paste it to a painting canvas that is large enough to frame your puzzle. Now you can decorate the frame in a variety of ways. You can add putty and paint it to match your puzzle. You can create a collage with objects that are related to the theme of your puzzle. You can even use scraps of wood to build a border around your puzzle.

Another thing you can make with your puzzle(s) is coasters. You can put together several little puzzles with a similar theme and make them into a coaster set. Glue felt on the back to make them look finished.

If you'd prefer to make a nice set of placemats from your puzzles, that's easy too. You will probably want your puzzles to follow a theme and be the same shape for this project. Purchase some coordinating fabric and sew it over the contact paper edge to form a border. Give it a ruffle or keep it tailored. The choice is up to you.

Of course these ideas can also be used to make wall hangings out of your puzzles, but why be ordinary? You can use puzzles as tray bottoms, clock centers, and even doll or bird house siding. Now that preserving puzzles has become so easy, turning them into unique, inexpensive gifts can be a lot more fun.

Learn more about this author, M. J. Joachim.
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