How to Mount and Frame 16 x 20 Photo Puzzle

 

What You’ll Need:

2-Large Foam Core Boards  

Black Duct Tape

Cork Tape

Scissors/Exacto Knife

Puzzle Presto Peel & Stick Puzzle Saver

A Rolling Pin

1-16 x 20 Poster Frame (purchased at Walmart for less than $6)

Step 1: No Glue “Glue” Your Puzzle Together. 

First you must flip your completed puzzle over because the puzzle stickers must go on the back. This was pretty simple actually. Much simpler than it would seem. We did our puzzle on top of a piece of foam core board. Then to flip we covered it with a 2nd board and flipped. Now it’s time to stick the puzzle together. Of course you can do this step with actual puzzle glue, but I decided to use this ingenious peel and stick puzzle saver. For a 16 x 20 puzzle you will use 2 full sheets, plus about 1/2 of a 3rd sheet of the Puzzle Presto. The handy grid lines help you cut straight.

Peel off the backing and carefully stick to the back of your puzzle. You’ll want the stickers to overlap by 1/3 to 1/2 an inch. Then roll over the back using the rolling pin to really make sure the puzzle is secure. Ellie liked that part very much. 

Step 2: Secure with Plexiglass and Black Poster Frame. 

Next you’ll take the plexiglass provided in the poster frame and lay on top of the puzzle. You’ll discard the cardboard backing of the puzzle frame. Then, slide the four black sides of the frame onto the puzzle itself as shown. 

Then after all four sides are on, you’ll need to carefully flip over your puzzle. Since you’re not using the cardboard backing of the poster frame, the black frame sides will not stay secure as is. So you’ll then use black duct tape to secure all four sides.  Now, at this point, you might be happy with your puzzle frame. It looks pretty good, doesn’t it?! Well, I decided to go one step further and create a DIY Cork Frame. 

Step 3: Create Cork Frame. 

Like I said, you don’t have to go on to this step if you like the simple black frame. But I wanted to share how I created this DIY Cork Frame for our puzzle. First I put the framed puzzle back on top of the foam core board. Centering it, I cut the sides to make them even and the width of my cork tape all around. This is the not-so-fun part. Cutting foam core is not fun, but with an exacto knife, it should go relatively smoothly. Once your board is the width you need, you will use your black duct tape again to secure your puzzle to the foam board. 

Then, roll out the cork tape on all four sides making sure to cover your foam core board. The cork tape has a backing so it’s not stuck down to the board just yet. I taped the cork together briefly as shown above so it wouldn’t move. Then cut at each corner diagonally. Next, it’s just a matter of taping down all four sides and making sure they are even. 

Step 4: Enjoy Your New Piece of Art!

Didn’t it turn out great!? I just love it and can’t wait to hang it up in our home to enjoy. Now to figure out if other members of the family would also like a photo puzzle of these cuties for Christmas. 

Happy Holidays!  

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