This project combines a lot of things I love — maps, upcycling, paint, chevron, burlap, and bold color.
I turned a 50 cent yard sale puzzle from this…
…into this!
And you can do it too! Yard sale season is here, and you’re bound to find some sorry little puzzles that just need a good upcycle.
Gather your supplies. Here’s what you will need:
Step 1: Paint over your entire puzzle with spray paint with primer for excellent coverage. It took 3-4 thin coats for the black words on my puzzle to get covered completely. I used a spray paint with built-in primer.
Step 2: Prep your backing. I used a $2 frame from a flea market. It had backing, but no glass. You could also use scrap wood, or the hard cardboard insert from a cast-off frame. Anything will do, as long as it’s large enough for your puzzle. You can always “pretty it up” a bit.
If your background piece needs some added charm, you can paint a simple design on it with acrylic paint, as I did. First, I used spray adhesive to attach my burlap to the frame backing. Once it was dry, I used this free template to make my own chevron stencil.
Step 3: Paint your frame (if you’re using one). I also used primer & spray paint for this. It was an easy, quick way to add a great pop of color to the piece. Consider coordinating or contrasting your frame color & puzzle color.
Step 4: Adhere the puzzle pieces to your backing.
Set your puzzle pieces out on the backing to line them up the way you want them. Start gluing with the center piece to keep your whole map lined up correctly.
And you’re done! This has been a great piece to add some fun color to my house.
My Price Breakdown:
{Total Cost: less than $10}
Frame $2.00
Wooden puzzle $.50
Spray paint, preferably with primer $3.47
Burlap (optional) $2.98/yard
Acrylic Paint $.56
And you’ve probably noticed that I still have the empty puzzle board left.
You can actually make a second DIY art piece out of that! What would you do?
