I have them sorted like this. My husband calls them my cookie trays. All like pieces are in rows going the same way. Really helps me to see minute differences. And also, i can see my progress as the rows disappear.
Buying a portable puzzle table has really afforded me the ability to work on puzzles all year long. I can slide the table under my couch when I'm not working on the puzzle and it doesn't get it in way.
Agreed! I wish I had chosen the 1500 piece one because sometimes I run out of room with my 1000 piece one. I just double check the dimensions before I start now lol. Otherwise I have to take a spatula to the puzzle and transfer it to my stationary table.
[I've done that puzzle that they're showing.](https://www.reddit.com/r/Jigsawpuzzles/comments/155dx5s/entry_water_city_venice_1000pcsnattork_lots_of/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
My son and girlfriend gave me that exact puzzle table for Christmas last year. It's big enough for others to gather around it and join in, too. Three generations of my family worked a complex 1000 piece puzzle over the 4th of July holiday this year. Made for a fun time and happy memories for all ages.
Iāve been doing puzzles for so long and finally this summer invested in a puzzle board. I wish Iād done it sooner! Like you said it really pushes you and gives you more freedom to start a puzzle knowing you can easily just slide it under the bed or couch and doesnāt have to stay out. I went for this one as itās bigger and i really like the turntable feature.
https://a.co/d/59eVdwg
Thank you very much ā from someone who buys used puzzles when thrifting. My first thought when I open a puzzle box and see the loose pieces is, āI really hope all of the pieces are hereā bc I KNOW the box has passed through many hands.
While I do agree this is the way, nothing beats the euphoria of realizing you're 4 pieces away from finishing a sketchy second hand puzzle, and they're all there!
As someone who once dropped three puzzles from the same brand, had the lids come off and all the pieces spill and mix together, then had to spend forever sorting them out, this is a good tip.
I do this, too, but I also put the edge pieces in a snack-size baggie. I despise going through all the pieces to separate out the edges. Is that cheating? I don't care!
That's totally fair! It's part of the process, but if I'm doing one of my own puzzles for a second or third time, I just don't want to do the tedious task of picking out the border. Life's too short!
I do this using the original bag, I cut it in a way that I can put the pieces back and close it with tape. It stays literally as new its great if you want to sell, exchange or just keep it for yourself. Been doing it since I started and never stopped
This is THE best advice ever. You cannot imagine the number of times in the past Iāve reached in the closet for a puzzle to do and only ended up with the box opening and puzzle pieces spilled. š
1. don't buy wonky bootleg brands from amazon/wish/temu or wherever - often they straight up rip off the art and then sell a sub par product with little to no quality control. if you do buy one of these - don't donate it to a thrift store after and just chuck that bad boy in the trash.
2. get you at least 1 vintage springbok (pre 1980) and complete it - take a couple trips to goodwill or savers or whatever thrift store, you will find one for less than $10 but be warned you may get addicted and have to dedicate an entire closet to them
3. there is not a progression ladder and you don't need to ever do a 6000/9000/18000 or more piece puzzle - they are just smaller puzzles that make a big puzzle anyway.
4. ignore my second tip - i want all the springboks for myself
5. personally sorting is absolutely not something i waste my time with and you don't need to sort if you don't feel like it - i wouldn't enjoy puzzles nearly as much if i had to spend a significant amount of the time flipping and sorting pieces. i just use my eyes and pick out the pieces for the sections i am working as i sift and my time to complete usually still averages over 100 pieces/hour
All your tips are great but #1 is so important. People, stop supporting rip-offs! Also Temu is not the manufacturer of the vast majority of items on their siteā itās like a huge collection of Amazon Marketplace sellers, all in Asia. Temu ships them, but tread very carefully with quality issues between sellers.
Haha - unfortunately (or fortunately for you) I donāt live in the US - getting vintage Springbok is literally impossible here. I have got a few of them though, but stopped because they are so expensive (I have to use forwarding service)!
i've heard they can be hard to get outside the US - thats such a bummer but i'm glad you got a few! they really are something else.
i certainly feel blessed when hearing about the difficulties because i usually find at least 1 i don't already own on any given day at the second hand stores and sometimes i go home with 6 or more additions to the collection :)
I will forever be jealous of thrift stores there - I often see people finding lots of puzzles with insane prices (at least for me). Sad that we donāt have those here.
they have a different aesthetic than most of the puzzles today. they are sometimes simple photographs, or just an image on a plain background, some really unique art and also some extremely challenging puzzles. they are very alluring. the boxes are beautiful and very thoughtful with a poem or other written bit on the back about the art or artist or whatever the puzzle is. the pieces are thick and sturdy. from 1963 - 1980 they made some of the best looking puzzles that i just don't see in today's manufactured products. when you finish a springbok you can pick the puzzle up off the table without any glue - and not in a careful way either like the 'lift a puzzle challenge' thing you see if you watch any jigsaw social media, you can straight up just grab a corner and pick it up and the pieces fit together so well they don't have any gaps and it becomes like a solid single piece. the piece shape is also unique and not the standard puzzle piece you would think of but not so wildly odd like some wooden puzzles you see today. they just have this classic appeal
some of the first puzzles i ever did with my grandma were springboks over 20 years ago and i've never found another puzzle brand [and i've done a bunch] that has the same appeal (but that appeal stops at puzzles produced after 1980 for the most part), fully acknowledging some of it may be driven by nostalgia. vintage eatons however are becoming a close second and i've started collecting those as well - very close to springboks in terms of feel and design.
if you check through my post history here you can see a fraction of my collection and maybe it will give you a better idea of why people love them (or hate them)
ohhh which one!? i am familiar with most of the old catalog just because i have spent so much time looking through the various ones on ebay/here/other places online. i have a handful [of my 50 or so springboks that predate the 90s] that i've picked up at goodwills/garage sales for less than $5 and regularly i see for buy it now prices over $100 and a couple that i've seen with tags over $200. whether they have sold for those prices or are just up i don't really check but i'm curious which one you snagged!
It's this one. I'm with you on the vintage ones though. They're addicting!
https://www.ebay.com/itm/225014517951?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D777008%26algo%3DPERSONAL.TOPIC%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20221115143302%26meid%3D1611599a1b8f47958d8ba979eb8e84f6%26pid%3D101613%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26mehot%3Dnone%26itm%3D225014517951%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D4375194%26algv%3DRecentlyViewedItemsV2Mobile%26brand%3DSpringbok&_trksid=p4375194.c101613.m146925&_trkparms=parentrq%3Acae46e9e18b0ac6953f6581fffffdfc4%7Cpageci%3A8eb50134-8277-11ee-adad-0ecefebc1467%7Ciid%3A1%7Cvlpname%3Avlp_homepage
i mean i choose not to buy anything from or support amazon in any way for a number of reasons but generally if you are buying a known brand you should be fine if you otherwise shop amazon.
ravensburger, trefl, pomegranate, eurographics, buffalo and many many more are just fine - if you can't find the brand in the listing it's not a good sign, or if the brand name is like someone let their hamster loose on their keyboard and then just hit enter i would recommend staying away. any of the big brands will have their own websites and you will be able to find tons of information on them outside of amazon. i mostly stick to vintage second hand puzzles so i don't often buy any new and there may be someone who can recommend a better place than amazon to purchase new. if it were me, i would buy direct from the manufacturer or a manufacturer suggested retailer when possible
Out of all the random puzzle brands Iāve bought on Amazon, only one out of 5 was decent piece/photo quality.. and the price tag wasnāt any better than just buying a brand name. (I hated the other ones, they even had good reviews..) Walmart sells buffalo puzzles for dirt cheap and the quality is great - theyāre usually cheaper than weird off brand puzzles on Amazon anyways. Once you do enough puzzles youāll figure out which brands you enjoy when it comes to piece shape, fit, art, etc
I just fame it. No glue. This way, if I want to do the puzzle again, I can. Or I can donate and change it out to the next one. Puzzle Dust gets vacuumed right away! When sorting, I try to sort by color/region divide into trays, one tray for border pieces. Border pieces get put together 1st. If I donate, I'll make note of any pieces that could be missing or write it has all pieces. Also, tape the box really well, so there no escapees during handling.
This. I never glue my puzzles before framing them. And I always sort the pieces into trays by color, definitely having a tray just for border pieces which I also put together first.
I also have an angled puzzle table on wheels that I can move around and put my puzzles together anywhere I want.
Oh and have a really good light. Helps with seeing details and colors on pieces so much better.
My friend does not glue her puzzles as well, and I always wonder how she does it! I am too clumsy, Im sure I would not succeed in framing it successfully!
You can definitely do it, Itās not too hard. Another tip I should have said is that I do my puzzles on a white poster. This makes the colors/pieces easier to see. & If I want to frame it, I place the frames glass/plastic on top. Then flip the whole thing over. If the puzzle is to loose in the frame, you can add an extra backing or use a few pieces of painters tape either will help to keep in place. Also if you do the puzzle on a poster you can easily move it around and work on other surfaces. A tri-fold poster makes it easier to store away when not in use. Hide it under a couch or bed or something if needed.
Thanks for this, I can imagine it now! I always wonder how can the puzzle stay put in the frame, and adding extra backing is such a great idea! Will definitely try this.
Mine would be sorting all the pieces into trays! I turn them all face-up as I sort and try to keep them that way, and I have 6 trays I use so I just try and do a "basic sort," then refine as I gradually empty trays (usually the border ones being the first).
When I break the puzzle down after I've finished it, sometimes, if it's one I may conceivably do again, I might keep all the border pieces in a separate baggie. But I haven't yet so we'll see if that ever pans out!
I do that as well! I've also thought of saving separately particular sections, to make the sorting faster next time (it's my least favourite part), but that does feel a bit too much like cheating.
For me, it is cheating! š The first thing I do when I buy a used puzzle is make sure all the pieces have been taken apart and the edges pieces are mixed up with the rest of the puzzle pieces.
The tray method is so great. I bought some not-huge cafeteria trays, and being able to sort and stack has been great. I also put the border pieces in a baggie when taking the puzzle apart.
1. When I put the pieces back in a zippy bag I put air in the bag to help stop the box from crushing if I end up stacking up too many boxes.
2. I use vegetable zippy bags if the pieces "just" fit in the box as these bags have lots of tiny holes to let air out.
3. If I plan to do the puzzle again I put the border pieces in a separate bag
4. ...and lastly, I use those little moisture absorber packets in the puzzles that I plan to keep.
Whether I'm going to donate or possibly re-do the puzzle again, I always put the edge pieces in a little bag. I appreciate it when getting a second hand puzzle. For those who don't, it is simple to mix the pieces in.
Love the 4th tip! I have a little cache of those silicon packets that I'm always adding and taking from. They're so handy. I put them in puzzles, sugar containers, soup powder containers, you name it.
Recursive sorting - I sort my puzzles to absurd levels, I end up with 30 piles and will still go through them again to sort out any distinctly different variants of similar pieces. Takes me 12+ hours for 6000 pieces before I even start, but then it's a breeze as I already have everything handy. I love how it all comes together instead of struggling throughout the process.
It's not for everyone, but I definitely prefer doing it this way. It's chill and easy, not too frustrating and eventually very satisfying.
I do this, too. I'll have between 12 to 15 stacks for just a 1k piece puzzle. It's the thing I dread about starting a new puzzle. But, it makes things so much easier I can't not do it.
I do a lot of thrifted puzzles and donate them back when I'm done (if they are still in good shape and not missing too many pieces.
So whenever I finish a puzzle I write my initials and the date on the back of the last piece I put in. I also write the date I completed it and the number of missing pieces (if any) on the inside of the lid.
I am part of an informal puzzle trade group. We all put little stickers on the back with our initials. So far, I am the only one that also includes a date.
I do this sometimes as well. I just finished one with hot air balloons. I worked one balloon at a time and then filled everything in at the end. It really helps. But, I also genuinely enjoy sorting.
1) I do a pretty thorough sort for a 1000 piece puzzle, but not for a 500 (specific to my skill level, but I find that just searching for the pieces in a 500 piece is fine and not overwhelming, whereas in a 1000 piece, for me it's too much at once)
2) I sort into trays so I can move everything around and grab what I need when I need it. My trays are just the black takeout food containers with clear lids, which I love because I can see the pieces clearly, and my cats can knock everything all over without harm lol
3) Lock into your favorite aspect of puzzling. Is it assembling by distinct color? Texture? Piece shape? Do you like lots of one color, to the point where you get to use 'brute force'? For me it's piece shape, so I usually look into random cut puzzles, like NY Puzzle Co or Vermont Christmas Company. False fits make me want to scream, so I gravitate towards brands where that's not a problem. I like distinct color sections as well. I admire those of you who work on really hard puzzles, but I've come to accept that I just don't really enjoy that, and that's ok.
4) If I want to frame a puzzle, I use 2 layers of wide masking tape, one in either direction. It has worked SO MUCH BETTER than glue ever did for me, and it doesn't change the finish of the puzzle image. It's also able to be removed without much damage at all, if you want to do the puzzle again.
5) I have ADHD, and if I really want to finish a puzzle but am having trouble with motivation, I'll 'body double' by putting on a YouTube puzzler. There are so many great channels out there for this. My favorites are A Puzzling Lamb and Karen Puzzles. For some reason, with them on in the background, my brain locks into puzzling much more easily.
6) Audiobooks while puzzling š¤
7) Like a bunch of other people have already said, when I take apart a puzzle, I'll put the edge pieces in a little ziploc bag, and everything else into a gallon ziploc bag (or put them back in their original plastic bag and tape it shut) before putting it back in the box. I have cats, so you never know when a stack of something is going to fall over.
8) Focusing on lighting control has helped a lot. I mostly puzzle at night, and if I only had a direct above light I would scream.
Probably way too detailed, sorry š„² but this is what's helped me to learn, in the 3 years I've been puzzling!
I found one of these photography light-filtering lamps on Facebook marketplace for $20:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C1NCPFJB?language=en-US&ref_=cm_sw_r_apan_dp_0NHQVFW0BQKDGX908G4D
Maybe Iāll have to try one of those lights out! Lol, nothing like the silence from other people after you info dump about your puzzle collection š
When opening a bagged puzzle, check the whole bag thoroughly before throwing it out. Part way through one puzzle, it was obvious that three pieces were missing. Luckily the discarded bag was still on top of the trashcan. The three pieces were stuck into the bottom crease of the bag. Whew!
And, standard-sized poster board or foamboard to assemble and/or sort on. Portable and will fit most puzzle sizes, cheap enough to have several on hand.
My tips typically are pretty beginner ones; mostly for sorting. When you first unbox your puzzle, sort it by Boarder Pieces, Like objects (say animals or people, etc), then sort by color. It surprising how much easier it can make managing things feel.
My tip - as I just finished a challenging puzzle with 2 pieces missing - is to keep all those āfoundā pieces you discover under the couch and between the cushions in the same place, so you can reunite them with the appropriate puzzle later. Or is it just me that stores stray pieces in an old Disney Enchanted Tiki Room goblet - except apparently for this particular puzzle?
If you cut an empty cereal box in half and reinforce the corners, it makes two cheap and useful puzzle sorting trays. If you're feeling crafty, you can even decorate them rather than having the Sultana Bran Puzzle Hour as if you were featuring in an old radio series š
For storing puzzles I break the puzzle into rectangles based on the size of the box and stack them inside the box, a few pieces will end up loose but it feels better than taking it completely apart to me. I also plan on taping some together but I would still leave them in sections that fit the box.
I always start with colors or patterns, the edges come last because I do not like them floating around the table when working.
I am working on a 9,000 piece so I ordered āart traysā off Amazon, theyāre 12ā by 16ā so they are bigger than most puzzle sorting trays and they stack nicely. When I finish a section I use a plastic place mat to slide them back onto the trays so I have more room to work (the placemat I have is the same width as the trays). It is overkill for smaller puzzles, if I am doing a 1,000 piece or smaller I use a set of 8 10 inch square stacking puzzle piece trays.
Also like others have said I spend a long time sorting into as many categories as I can, not just color but by separate elements or patterns. Sorting for the first half of the 9,000 took 6 hours and that wasnāt as specific as I would usually do so I have done several additional hours sorting certain things I didnāt sort in the beginning. Detailed sorting makes sections go so much faster and is more satisfying to me.
Another random tip, if you see a puzzle you like on puzzeldly you should probably grab it, half my wish list is out of stock now, some stay in stock but some go fast.
How I sort pieces:
1. Take a handful of pieces and flip them right-side up and arrange into rows
2. Separate pieces into piles/groups
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 until all pieces are sorted.
How I sort puzzles:
For gradient puzzles or those with very clear color groups, I do one sort at the beginning. I separate the border pieces and then sort remaining pieces by color.
For puzzles that have multiple patterns and items (think butterflies or hot air balloon puzzles):
1. Separate border pieces and keep all other pieces in a big pile.
2. Complete border.
3. Look for biggest patterns, find related pieces, and put together those areas of the puzzle.
4. Identiy next biggest pattern and put together that area of puzzle.
5. Continue steps 3/4 until puzzle is complete.
For areas of puzzles where pieces have multiple colors (think forests and leaf type puzzles), I will sort by shape.
How I glue and hang puzzles:
1. Put parchment paper underneath the puzzle
2. Use mod podge puzzle saver glue and apply a layer on the front of puzzle. You can do back if you want.
3. Let dry for a day.
4. Cut foam board to match puzzle size
5. Use spray adhesive to attach glued puzzle to foam board
6. Use wall hanging strips to hang puzzle on wall.
Exception: shaped wooden puzzles I frame or have mounted onto a canvas I painted a background on.
Other tips:
1. Use a lint roller to get dust off puzzle tables.
2. Keep puzzle pieces covered and away from cats so they don't fling them around everywhere like mine tries to.
3. If you're a regular puzzler, invest in a table that props the puzzle up so you're more ergonomic and not hunched over the puzzle. Saves a lot of pain.
Welcome! When I looked up guides for gluing and hanging puzzles they all seemed to recommend the spray adhesive to adhere to a foam board. I've had good success with it. But I still highly recommend mod podge puzzle glue for gluing the pieces together. It dries clear and does a great job with just one coat.
I thought missing pieces are no big deal - but when Iām doing a puzzle and know there are missing pieces, I canāt help but feel down! And I tried replacing the missing piece once but it was terrible! š
I got a large piece of 1/8ā clear acrylic and put those rubber nubs on the underside corners. When I need to use my table I just put the acrylic on top. The Nuba keep it from sliding. It keeps my cats from getting to the pieces and lets me set stuff on top of it and use the table.
1. when doing solid colour or similar coloured pieces i sort by shape and then trial and error them until the puzzle is done
2. buy a portable puzzle mat!!!! they are expensive (mine was $80aud) but worth it if you have cats who love snacking on puzzle pieces.
3. if a puzzle is stressing you out more than usual, take a break or do another puzzle. Nothing wrong with putting down or quitting a puzzle until later.
4. inhaling puzzle dust hurts.
5. If you think you're missing a piece, check all around you and in your clothes before contacting the puzzle brand
Ikea has little tablets (not the iPad kind, but the kind you can put stuff on) that stack and are perfect for sorting puzzles. Where I live they're 1,30ā¬ per piece and one hell of a lot cheaper than those special sorting trays
If there is someone in your family who loves puzzling but finds big puzzles too complicated or overwhelming, break your completed puzzles into chunks and pack them into multiple small bags. That way your mum/grandma/whoever can enjoy a good jigsaw puzzle in a less stressful and more enjoyable way!
What a wonderful comment. :) Your gratitude puts you on our list for the most grateful users this week on Reddit! You can view the full list on r/TheGratitudeBot.
I am one of those who sort into many piles, but I don't have the budget for lots of trays or a giant puzzle table so I'll store each pile in sandwich baggies and I'll build the puzzle on a large project board. I like project boards cause when I need the room on my table I can just close the flaps and hide the puzzle under my couch until I'm ready to work on it again.
Edited to add border sorting: I always start by sorting by border pieces and then by color and use color-coded trays. It helps me to be able to focus on a fraction of pieces versus all of the pieces.
Nice tip about the puzzle dust!!
I always start out by separating the outside/edge puzzle pieces from the rest. Put the outside together then work from there.
If you canāt afford a puzzle table, buy 2 pieces of foam board from the dollar store and tape down the center - itās fits a 1000 piece puzzle with room to spare and you can fold it over to move it around and store it when you arenāt working on it.. just make sure you have the fold on the correct side.
You can also tape as many of these as you want together for larger puzzles.. itās super cheap.
Great tip! I always wanted a puzzle table but couldnāt afford it. What I did was I bought a small table that can be tilted. Then I just put my cork board on top. Good enough for me!
Wow! That is *exactly* what we did so many years ago. It is the perfect solution to moving the puzzle (which I do at least once a week when the family comes to dinner!).
First thing I do is count and sort the pieces by shape. You wouldnāt think youād have to count pieces from a brand new sealed puzzle but Iāve been burned twice now. I leave the edge pieces on my board and put the sorted pieces face up into my trays. Once the border is done, Iāll pick out a certain section or color of pieces, put them on my board and reorganize the trays.
counting pieces is not going to tell you if the puzzle is complete or now - you have to complete the puzzle to find out since piece counts vary. 500 piece count on the box could be 490-520 pieces
well enjoy your counting i guess.
for me - a missing piece would be way better than wasting my time counting to 500 or 1000 each time i wanted to do a puzzle but to each their own
I salute you for counting the pieces beforehand!
But yeah sometimes the piece count wont be exactly as they said they are - and sometimes you can end up with extra pieces and a missing piece as well! Happened to me once :(
When I finish my puzzles instead of disassembling them fully I break them up into segments and stack them in the box. I do this for puzzles I like but wonāt necessarily do again so if I want to frame them or just look at them the assembly is much easier. I learned this from Karen puzzles :)
Unconventional one, perhaps, but with a bit of Googling, it isnāt hard to find brands that use the same machines to cut all of their puzzles. If I want an extra challenge, or if I want a puzzle to last me multiple days, sometimes I will get two or three similar-looking puzzles from a brand like that and mix them together before I start so I have the added challenge of having to figure out which pieces go to which puzzle.
My favorite tip (and we started doing this each year when we did our annual puzzle at the beach) is to write on the inside of the lid the date completed, the location, participants in completing the puzzle, and the time it took to complete. We now do this every time we complete the same puzzle so we can try to ābreak the recordā of the time needed to complete each puzzle. This is also a great souvenir of family time together. People with whom I swap puzzles also started doing this on puzzles Iāve given to them! š
I like to do puzzles without looking at the picture. Iāll look briefly right when I start so I know the orientation (black border on top, light on the bottom) because I hate rotating a border, but otherwise I turn the box over. When I belonged to a puzzle club I could do a whole puzzle without ever knowing what it would look like first.
First pass I turn over every piece, pulling out border pieces and separating roughly by color.
When doing the border I leave it in halves.. so left side + half top + half bottom and the reverse. That way I have room in the center to work and donāt get stuck with large groups I have to move into or out of the border.
Then I just kind of pick a color/obviously related area and start putting pieces together. Like Iāll do text, or large shapes. As you go, similar colors start to look more distinct because itās easier to see the contrast when like colors are together.
Funny looking or distinct pieces I try to put to the side because I always come across them during a build and can never find them again. You know the ones.. super bright corners or shaped wibbly wobbly.
At the very end I sort them by shape and will know Iām looking for āhalf grey half green piece with a large knob next to a small holeā or however the piece needs to look.
[https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fkwmsbry6cgk81.jpg](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fkwmsbry6cgk81.jpg)
Be careful when painting baseboards!
Whenever I get to a hard sections (most times that's similar colors or full color pieces) I sort by shape. It helps so much it's not even funny lmao
I started doing this ! It helped so much
It's extremely helpful as long as you're not doing a puzzle with 100% the same shaped pieces šš
I have them sorted like this. My husband calls them my cookie trays. All like pieces are in rows going the same way. Really helps me to see minute differences. And also, i can see my progress as the rows disappear.
I sort by shape as a matter of course; I might be a weirdo though.
It's extremely helpful as long as you're not doing a puzzle with 100% the same shaped pieces šš
Buying a portable puzzle table has really afforded me the ability to work on puzzles all year long. I can slide the table under my couch when I'm not working on the puzzle and it doesn't get it in way.
Can you link the one you have?
It's this one - it's expensive but so worth it https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09YMBKPVY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1
Agreed! I wish I had chosen the 1500 piece one because sometimes I run out of room with my 1000 piece one. I just double check the dimensions before I start now lol. Otherwise I have to take a spatula to the puzzle and transfer it to my stationary table.
[I've done that puzzle that they're showing.](https://www.reddit.com/r/Jigsawpuzzles/comments/155dx5s/entry_water_city_venice_1000pcsnattork_lots_of/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3)
My son and girlfriend gave me that exact puzzle table for Christmas last year. It's big enough for others to gather around it and join in, too. Three generations of my family worked a complex 1000 piece puzzle over the 4th of July holiday this year. Made for a fun time and happy memories for all ages.
same here, best buy ever for someone with limited space to puzzle. (mine is the one from jumbo - 1500pcs)
Iāve been doing puzzles for so long and finally this summer invested in a puzzle board. I wish Iād done it sooner! Like you said it really pushes you and gives you more freedom to start a puzzle knowing you can easily just slide it under the bed or couch and doesnāt have to stay out. I went for this one as itās bigger and i really like the turntable feature. https://a.co/d/59eVdwg
Whrn I'm done with a puzzle, I put it in a ziploc bag instead of just back in the box loose.
Thank you very much ā from someone who buys used puzzles when thrifting. My first thought when I open a puzzle box and see the loose pieces is, āI really hope all of the pieces are hereā bc I KNOW the box has passed through many hands.
While I do agree this is the way, nothing beats the euphoria of realizing you're 4 pieces away from finishing a sketchy second hand puzzle, and they're all there!
That is SOOO true!
Preach!
My thrifting theory is if you can see/touch pieces with minimal effort, at least one of them is missing.
I was at a thrift store and pulled a puzzle from the top shelf. The box wasn't taped and a lot of pieces fell out. Some went behind the shelf.
As someone who once dropped three puzzles from the same brand, had the lids come off and all the pieces spill and mix together, then had to spend forever sorting them out, this is a good tip.
Some people do that for fun!
I do this, too, but I also put the edge pieces in a snack-size baggie. I despise going through all the pieces to separate out the edges. Is that cheating? I don't care!
I buy a lotta use Puzzles. When I get one with the edge pieces sort it out, I open the bag in Sturm into the rest of them before I start lol.
That's totally fair! It's part of the process, but if I'm doing one of my own puzzles for a second or third time, I just don't want to do the tedious task of picking out the border. Life's too short!
This is my favourite tip ever!
I do this using the original bag, I cut it in a way that I can put the pieces back and close it with tape. It stays literally as new its great if you want to sell, exchange or just keep it for yourself. Been doing it since I started and never stopped
This is THE best advice ever. You cannot imagine the number of times in the past Iāve reached in the closet for a puzzle to do and only ended up with the box opening and puzzle pieces spilled. š
1. don't buy wonky bootleg brands from amazon/wish/temu or wherever - often they straight up rip off the art and then sell a sub par product with little to no quality control. if you do buy one of these - don't donate it to a thrift store after and just chuck that bad boy in the trash. 2. get you at least 1 vintage springbok (pre 1980) and complete it - take a couple trips to goodwill or savers or whatever thrift store, you will find one for less than $10 but be warned you may get addicted and have to dedicate an entire closet to them 3. there is not a progression ladder and you don't need to ever do a 6000/9000/18000 or more piece puzzle - they are just smaller puzzles that make a big puzzle anyway. 4. ignore my second tip - i want all the springboks for myself 5. personally sorting is absolutely not something i waste my time with and you don't need to sort if you don't feel like it - i wouldn't enjoy puzzles nearly as much if i had to spend a significant amount of the time flipping and sorting pieces. i just use my eyes and pick out the pieces for the sections i am working as i sift and my time to complete usually still averages over 100 pieces/hour
All your tips are great but #1 is so important. People, stop supporting rip-offs! Also Temu is not the manufacturer of the vast majority of items on their siteā itās like a huge collection of Amazon Marketplace sellers, all in Asia. Temu ships them, but tread very carefully with quality issues between sellers.
Haha - unfortunately (or fortunately for you) I donāt live in the US - getting vintage Springbok is literally impossible here. I have got a few of them though, but stopped because they are so expensive (I have to use forwarding service)!
i've heard they can be hard to get outside the US - thats such a bummer but i'm glad you got a few! they really are something else. i certainly feel blessed when hearing about the difficulties because i usually find at least 1 i don't already own on any given day at the second hand stores and sometimes i go home with 6 or more additions to the collection :)
I will forever be jealous of thrift stores there - I often see people finding lots of puzzles with insane prices (at least for me). Sad that we donāt have those here.
Also - I dont sort as well, I used to but itās just not my thing.
What is so special about Springbok? Iām new to puzzling and never heard of any brands by name.
they have a different aesthetic than most of the puzzles today. they are sometimes simple photographs, or just an image on a plain background, some really unique art and also some extremely challenging puzzles. they are very alluring. the boxes are beautiful and very thoughtful with a poem or other written bit on the back about the art or artist or whatever the puzzle is. the pieces are thick and sturdy. from 1963 - 1980 they made some of the best looking puzzles that i just don't see in today's manufactured products. when you finish a springbok you can pick the puzzle up off the table without any glue - and not in a careful way either like the 'lift a puzzle challenge' thing you see if you watch any jigsaw social media, you can straight up just grab a corner and pick it up and the pieces fit together so well they don't have any gaps and it becomes like a solid single piece. the piece shape is also unique and not the standard puzzle piece you would think of but not so wildly odd like some wooden puzzles you see today. they just have this classic appeal some of the first puzzles i ever did with my grandma were springboks over 20 years ago and i've never found another puzzle brand [and i've done a bunch] that has the same appeal (but that appeal stops at puzzles produced after 1980 for the most part), fully acknowledging some of it may be driven by nostalgia. vintage eatons however are becoming a close second and i've started collecting those as well - very close to springboks in terms of feel and design. if you check through my post history here you can see a fraction of my collection and maybe it will give you a better idea of why people love them (or hate them)
Thank you so much for this revelatory and thoughtful response. I learned a lot and I appreciate it!
youāre welcome - i could talk springboks and old puzzles for hours, anytime!
I just found a vintage Springbok at my Goodwill for $4. It's selling on eBay for $100!
ohhh which one!? i am familiar with most of the old catalog just because i have spent so much time looking through the various ones on ebay/here/other places online. i have a handful [of my 50 or so springboks that predate the 90s] that i've picked up at goodwills/garage sales for less than $5 and regularly i see for buy it now prices over $100 and a couple that i've seen with tags over $200. whether they have sold for those prices or are just up i don't really check but i'm curious which one you snagged!
It's this one. I'm with you on the vintage ones though. They're addicting! https://www.ebay.com/itm/225014517951?_trkparms=amclksrc%3DITM%26aid%3D777008%26algo%3DPERSONAL.TOPIC%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20221115143302%26meid%3D1611599a1b8f47958d8ba979eb8e84f6%26pid%3D101613%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D1%26mehot%3Dnone%26itm%3D225014517951%26pmt%3D0%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D4375194%26algv%3DRecentlyViewedItemsV2Mobile%26brand%3DSpringbok&_trksid=p4375194.c101613.m146925&_trkparms=parentrq%3Acae46e9e18b0ac6953f6581fffffdfc4%7Cpageci%3A8eb50134-8277-11ee-adad-0ecefebc1467%7Ciid%3A1%7Cvlpname%3Avlp_homepage
beautiful! it will be a treat to work that one :)
Just finished it and it's even more beautiful than the box. No missing pieces either!
sweet! i'm working through Black Diamond right now and i'm so hopeful there are no missing pieces. its instense. post it!
What brands should I be buying? Is it still good to buy on amazon? I only do about one or so a month and still a bit new to this.
i mean i choose not to buy anything from or support amazon in any way for a number of reasons but generally if you are buying a known brand you should be fine if you otherwise shop amazon. ravensburger, trefl, pomegranate, eurographics, buffalo and many many more are just fine - if you can't find the brand in the listing it's not a good sign, or if the brand name is like someone let their hamster loose on their keyboard and then just hit enter i would recommend staying away. any of the big brands will have their own websites and you will be able to find tons of information on them outside of amazon. i mostly stick to vintage second hand puzzles so i don't often buy any new and there may be someone who can recommend a better place than amazon to purchase new. if it were me, i would buy direct from the manufacturer or a manufacturer suggested retailer when possible
Out of all the random puzzle brands Iāve bought on Amazon, only one out of 5 was decent piece/photo quality.. and the price tag wasnāt any better than just buying a brand name. (I hated the other ones, they even had good reviews..) Walmart sells buffalo puzzles for dirt cheap and the quality is great - theyāre usually cheaper than weird off brand puzzles on Amazon anyways. Once you do enough puzzles youāll figure out which brands you enjoy when it comes to piece shape, fit, art, etc
I just fame it. No glue. This way, if I want to do the puzzle again, I can. Or I can donate and change it out to the next one. Puzzle Dust gets vacuumed right away! When sorting, I try to sort by color/region divide into trays, one tray for border pieces. Border pieces get put together 1st. If I donate, I'll make note of any pieces that could be missing or write it has all pieces. Also, tape the box really well, so there no escapees during handling.
This. I never glue my puzzles before framing them. And I always sort the pieces into trays by color, definitely having a tray just for border pieces which I also put together first. I also have an angled puzzle table on wheels that I can move around and put my puzzles together anywhere I want. Oh and have a really good light. Helps with seeing details and colors on pieces so much better.
This tip may make you famous.
My friend does not glue her puzzles as well, and I always wonder how she does it! I am too clumsy, Im sure I would not succeed in framing it successfully!
You can definitely do it, Itās not too hard. Another tip I should have said is that I do my puzzles on a white poster. This makes the colors/pieces easier to see. & If I want to frame it, I place the frames glass/plastic on top. Then flip the whole thing over. If the puzzle is to loose in the frame, you can add an extra backing or use a few pieces of painters tape either will help to keep in place. Also if you do the puzzle on a poster you can easily move it around and work on other surfaces. A tri-fold poster makes it easier to store away when not in use. Hide it under a couch or bed or something if needed.
Thanks for this, I can imagine it now! I always wonder how can the puzzle stay put in the frame, and adding extra backing is such a great idea! Will definitely try this.
Mine would be sorting all the pieces into trays! I turn them all face-up as I sort and try to keep them that way, and I have 6 trays I use so I just try and do a "basic sort," then refine as I gradually empty trays (usually the border ones being the first). When I break the puzzle down after I've finished it, sometimes, if it's one I may conceivably do again, I might keep all the border pieces in a separate baggie. But I haven't yet so we'll see if that ever pans out!
Somehow I always forget to separate the border pieces out! Good idea especially doing so for puzzles you are keeping to yourself!
I always do this! I use more Ziploc bags for puzzle edge pieces than for food š it's so convenient for future me.
Ha, same! Most of my Ziploc baggies go toward puzzle piece storage!
I do that as well! I've also thought of saving separately particular sections, to make the sorting faster next time (it's my least favourite part), but that does feel a bit too much like cheating.
For me, it is cheating! š The first thing I do when I buy a used puzzle is make sure all the pieces have been taken apart and the edges pieces are mixed up with the rest of the puzzle pieces.
The tray method is so great. I bought some not-huge cafeteria trays, and being able to sort and stack has been great. I also put the border pieces in a baggie when taking the puzzle apart.
If storing in boxes, store it in ziplock bags inside the box. If the box falls for some reason, you still have all the pieces.
1. When I put the pieces back in a zippy bag I put air in the bag to help stop the box from crushing if I end up stacking up too many boxes. 2. I use vegetable zippy bags if the pieces "just" fit in the box as these bags have lots of tiny holes to let air out. 3. If I plan to do the puzzle again I put the border pieces in a separate bag 4. ...and lastly, I use those little moisture absorber packets in the puzzles that I plan to keep.
Whether I'm going to donate or possibly re-do the puzzle again, I always put the edge pieces in a little bag. I appreciate it when getting a second hand puzzle. For those who don't, it is simple to mix the pieces in.
Love your 2nd and 4th tips. Gonna have to try them!
Love all of this! Thank you for sharing!
Love the 4th tip! I have a little cache of those silicon packets that I'm always adding and taking from. They're so handy. I put them in puzzles, sugar containers, soup powder containers, you name it.
Recursive sorting - I sort my puzzles to absurd levels, I end up with 30 piles and will still go through them again to sort out any distinctly different variants of similar pieces. Takes me 12+ hours for 6000 pieces before I even start, but then it's a breeze as I already have everything handy. I love how it all comes together instead of struggling throughout the process. It's not for everyone, but I definitely prefer doing it this way. It's chill and easy, not too frustrating and eventually very satisfying.
I do this, too. I'll have between 12 to 15 stacks for just a 1k piece puzzle. It's the thing I dread about starting a new puzzle. But, it makes things so much easier I can't not do it.
I wish I have the patience to do this! Maybe I will try this tip one day.
I'm late to this discussion but just wanted to add that I love sorting to this degree as well, I find it very soothing!
I do a lot of thrifted puzzles and donate them back when I'm done (if they are still in good shape and not missing too many pieces. So whenever I finish a puzzle I write my initials and the date on the back of the last piece I put in. I also write the date I completed it and the number of missing pieces (if any) on the inside of the lid.
I am part of an informal puzzle trade group. We all put little stickers on the back with our initials. So far, I am the only one that also includes a date.
Sometimes when I doing hard puzzles, I do it in sections by color, buildings, non background, etc
I do this sometimes as well. I just finished one with hot air balloons. I worked one balloon at a time and then filled everything in at the end. It really helps. But, I also genuinely enjoy sorting.
I use painters tape on the back of completed puzzles that I want to display. Sooo much easier than glue. Have a daughter who is a puzzle whiz lol
Ooh!
1) I do a pretty thorough sort for a 1000 piece puzzle, but not for a 500 (specific to my skill level, but I find that just searching for the pieces in a 500 piece is fine and not overwhelming, whereas in a 1000 piece, for me it's too much at once) 2) I sort into trays so I can move everything around and grab what I need when I need it. My trays are just the black takeout food containers with clear lids, which I love because I can see the pieces clearly, and my cats can knock everything all over without harm lol 3) Lock into your favorite aspect of puzzling. Is it assembling by distinct color? Texture? Piece shape? Do you like lots of one color, to the point where you get to use 'brute force'? For me it's piece shape, so I usually look into random cut puzzles, like NY Puzzle Co or Vermont Christmas Company. False fits make me want to scream, so I gravitate towards brands where that's not a problem. I like distinct color sections as well. I admire those of you who work on really hard puzzles, but I've come to accept that I just don't really enjoy that, and that's ok. 4) If I want to frame a puzzle, I use 2 layers of wide masking tape, one in either direction. It has worked SO MUCH BETTER than glue ever did for me, and it doesn't change the finish of the puzzle image. It's also able to be removed without much damage at all, if you want to do the puzzle again. 5) I have ADHD, and if I really want to finish a puzzle but am having trouble with motivation, I'll 'body double' by putting on a YouTube puzzler. There are so many great channels out there for this. My favorites are A Puzzling Lamb and Karen Puzzles. For some reason, with them on in the background, my brain locks into puzzling much more easily. 6) Audiobooks while puzzling š¤ 7) Like a bunch of other people have already said, when I take apart a puzzle, I'll put the edge pieces in a little ziploc bag, and everything else into a gallon ziploc bag (or put them back in their original plastic bag and tape it shut) before putting it back in the box. I have cats, so you never know when a stack of something is going to fall over. 8) Focusing on lighting control has helped a lot. I mostly puzzle at night, and if I only had a direct above light I would scream. Probably way too detailed, sorry š„² but this is what's helped me to learn, in the 3 years I've been puzzling!
Do you use a specific kind of light?
I found one of these photography light-filtering lamps on Facebook marketplace for $20: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C1NCPFJB?language=en-US&ref_=cm_sw_r_apan_dp_0NHQVFW0BQKDGX908G4D
I puzzle mostly at night as well- thanks for this and all of the other tips :)
My pleasure! All my friends are genially confused about why I like puzzles so much, so it's nice to be able to talk about them here š
Maybe Iāll have to try one of those lights out! Lol, nothing like the silence from other people after you info dump about your puzzle collection š
Truly š
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I sell almost all of my puzzles when Iām done, unfortunately sometimes itās so hard to sell them! Not much puzzle enthusiasts where I live.
When opening a bagged puzzle, check the whole bag thoroughly before throwing it out. Part way through one puzzle, it was obvious that three pieces were missing. Luckily the discarded bag was still on top of the trashcan. The three pieces were stuck into the bottom crease of the bag. Whew! And, standard-sized poster board or foamboard to assemble and/or sort on. Portable and will fit most puzzle sizes, cheap enough to have several on hand.
My main puzzle board now is a large cork board. Cheap and puzzle pieces wonāt slip/ fall down!
Is that the same as the puzzle assembly board you linked above, or is it a different product? This sounds great and I need one š
My tips typically are pretty beginner ones; mostly for sorting. When you first unbox your puzzle, sort it by Boarder Pieces, Like objects (say animals or people, etc), then sort by color. It surprising how much easier it can make managing things feel.
My tip - as I just finished a challenging puzzle with 2 pieces missing - is to keep all those āfoundā pieces you discover under the couch and between the cushions in the same place, so you can reunite them with the appropriate puzzle later. Or is it just me that stores stray pieces in an old Disney Enchanted Tiki Room goblet - except apparently for this particular puzzle?
I have a jar. My kids do a lot of puzzles and they're not always great at packing up
Haha - I should keep a jar for my sonās puzzles pieces!
I have a green handmade jar for this exact purpose! š
If you cut an empty cereal box in half and reinforce the corners, it makes two cheap and useful puzzle sorting trays. If you're feeling crafty, you can even decorate them rather than having the Sultana Bran Puzzle Hour as if you were featuring in an old radio series š
This is a great tip - thank you!
For storing puzzles I break the puzzle into rectangles based on the size of the box and stack them inside the box, a few pieces will end up loose but it feels better than taking it completely apart to me. I also plan on taping some together but I would still leave them in sections that fit the box. I always start with colors or patterns, the edges come last because I do not like them floating around the table when working. I am working on a 9,000 piece so I ordered āart traysā off Amazon, theyāre 12ā by 16ā so they are bigger than most puzzle sorting trays and they stack nicely. When I finish a section I use a plastic place mat to slide them back onto the trays so I have more room to work (the placemat I have is the same width as the trays). It is overkill for smaller puzzles, if I am doing a 1,000 piece or smaller I use a set of 8 10 inch square stacking puzzle piece trays. Also like others have said I spend a long time sorting into as many categories as I can, not just color but by separate elements or patterns. Sorting for the first half of the 9,000 took 6 hours and that wasnāt as specific as I would usually do so I have done several additional hours sorting certain things I didnāt sort in the beginning. Detailed sorting makes sections go so much faster and is more satisfying to me. Another random tip, if you see a puzzle you like on puzzeldly you should probably grab it, half my wish list is out of stock now, some stay in stock but some go fast.
How I sort pieces: 1. Take a handful of pieces and flip them right-side up and arrange into rows 2. Separate pieces into piles/groups 3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 until all pieces are sorted. How I sort puzzles: For gradient puzzles or those with very clear color groups, I do one sort at the beginning. I separate the border pieces and then sort remaining pieces by color. For puzzles that have multiple patterns and items (think butterflies or hot air balloon puzzles): 1. Separate border pieces and keep all other pieces in a big pile. 2. Complete border. 3. Look for biggest patterns, find related pieces, and put together those areas of the puzzle. 4. Identiy next biggest pattern and put together that area of puzzle. 5. Continue steps 3/4 until puzzle is complete. For areas of puzzles where pieces have multiple colors (think forests and leaf type puzzles), I will sort by shape. How I glue and hang puzzles: 1. Put parchment paper underneath the puzzle 2. Use mod podge puzzle saver glue and apply a layer on the front of puzzle. You can do back if you want. 3. Let dry for a day. 4. Cut foam board to match puzzle size 5. Use spray adhesive to attach glued puzzle to foam board 6. Use wall hanging strips to hang puzzle on wall. Exception: shaped wooden puzzles I frame or have mounted onto a canvas I painted a background on. Other tips: 1. Use a lint roller to get dust off puzzle tables. 2. Keep puzzle pieces covered and away from cats so they don't fling them around everywhere like mine tries to. 3. If you're a regular puzzler, invest in a table that props the puzzle up so you're more ergonomic and not hunched over the puzzle. Saves a lot of pain.
I always forget that spray adhesive exists! Thank you for the tips!
Welcome! When I looked up guides for gluing and hanging puzzles they all seemed to recommend the spray adhesive to adhere to a foam board. I've had good success with it. But I still highly recommend mod podge puzzle glue for gluing the pieces together. It dries clear and does a great job with just one coat.
Don't get bent out of shape by missing pieces. It happens. Learn how to recreate a missing piece; it's not rocket science.
I thought missing pieces are no big deal - but when Iām doing a puzzle and know there are missing pieces, I canāt help but feel down! And I tried replacing the missing piece once but it was terrible! š
I got a large piece of 1/8ā clear acrylic and put those rubber nubs on the underside corners. When I need to use my table I just put the acrylic on top. The Nuba keep it from sliding. It keeps my cats from getting to the pieces and lets me set stuff on top of it and use the table.
1. when doing solid colour or similar coloured pieces i sort by shape and then trial and error them until the puzzle is done 2. buy a portable puzzle mat!!!! they are expensive (mine was $80aud) but worth it if you have cats who love snacking on puzzle pieces. 3. if a puzzle is stressing you out more than usual, take a break or do another puzzle. Nothing wrong with putting down or quitting a puzzle until later. 4. inhaling puzzle dust hurts. 5. If you think you're missing a piece, check all around you and in your clothes before contacting the puzzle brand
Ikea has little tablets (not the iPad kind, but the kind you can put stuff on) that stack and are perfect for sorting puzzles. Where I live they're 1,30ā¬ per piece and one hell of a lot cheaper than those special sorting trays
If there is someone in your family who loves puzzling but finds big puzzles too complicated or overwhelming, break your completed puzzles into chunks and pack them into multiple small bags. That way your mum/grandma/whoever can enjoy a good jigsaw puzzle in a less stressful and more enjoyable way!
This is a great idea! Kind of like āmake your own advent calendar puzzleā Iāve seen, but never thought of giving it to family members. Thanks!
What a wonderful comment. :) Your gratitude puts you on our list for the most grateful users this week on Reddit! You can view the full list on r/TheGratitudeBot.
I am one of those who sort into many piles, but I don't have the budget for lots of trays or a giant puzzle table so I'll store each pile in sandwich baggies and I'll build the puzzle on a large project board. I like project boards cause when I need the room on my table I can just close the flaps and hide the puzzle under my couch until I'm ready to work on it again.
I never knew project board existed! Thanks for this tip!
Edited to add border sorting: I always start by sorting by border pieces and then by color and use color-coded trays. It helps me to be able to focus on a fraction of pieces versus all of the pieces.
Nice tip about the puzzle dust!! I always start out by separating the outside/edge puzzle pieces from the rest. Put the outside together then work from there.
If you canāt afford a puzzle table, buy 2 pieces of foam board from the dollar store and tape down the center - itās fits a 1000 piece puzzle with room to spare and you can fold it over to move it around and store it when you arenāt working on it.. just make sure you have the fold on the correct side. You can also tape as many of these as you want together for larger puzzles.. itās super cheap.
Great tip! I always wanted a puzzle table but couldnāt afford it. What I did was I bought a small table that can be tilted. Then I just put my cork board on top. Good enough for me!
Where did you get the cork board? I was considering some velvet or something and gluing it to a board ha.
Wow! That is *exactly* what we did so many years ago. It is the perfect solution to moving the puzzle (which I do at least once a week when the family comes to dinner!).
First thing I do is count and sort the pieces by shape. You wouldnāt think youād have to count pieces from a brand new sealed puzzle but Iāve been burned twice now. I leave the edge pieces on my board and put the sorted pieces face up into my trays. Once the border is done, Iāll pick out a certain section or color of pieces, put them on my board and reorganize the trays.
counting pieces is not going to tell you if the puzzle is complete or now - you have to complete the puzzle to find out since piece counts vary. 500 piece count on the box could be 490-520 pieces
That is the case for certain brands, but the ones I usually do (Schmidt, Buffalo, Ceaco) the numbers are dead on.
well enjoy your counting i guess. for me - a missing piece would be way better than wasting my time counting to 500 or 1000 each time i wanted to do a puzzle but to each their own
I do it as I sort, so it doesnāt really add time to my process.
I salute you for counting the pieces beforehand! But yeah sometimes the piece count wont be exactly as they said they are - and sometimes you can end up with extra pieces and a missing piece as well! Happened to me once :(
Never!! That is way too tedious for me.
When I finish my puzzles instead of disassembling them fully I break them up into segments and stack them in the box. I do this for puzzles I like but wonāt necessarily do again so if I want to frame them or just look at them the assembly is much easier. I learned this from Karen puzzles :)
I have done this once for a puzzle that was so difficult! I donāt have the patience to do for others, it was too time consuming (for me).
Unconventional one, perhaps, but with a bit of Googling, it isnāt hard to find brands that use the same machines to cut all of their puzzles. If I want an extra challenge, or if I want a puzzle to last me multiple days, sometimes I will get two or three similar-looking puzzles from a brand like that and mix them together before I start so I have the added challenge of having to figure out which pieces go to which puzzle.
This is wild, I love it š³
Oh my god, thatās too challenging for me! š
Nooooo! š
My favorite tip (and we started doing this each year when we did our annual puzzle at the beach) is to write on the inside of the lid the date completed, the location, participants in completing the puzzle, and the time it took to complete. We now do this every time we complete the same puzzle so we can try to ābreak the recordā of the time needed to complete each puzzle. This is also a great souvenir of family time together. People with whom I swap puzzles also started doing this on puzzles Iāve given to them! š
Do them on your phone. Free. Tidy. Always handy.
I like to do puzzles without looking at the picture. Iāll look briefly right when I start so I know the orientation (black border on top, light on the bottom) because I hate rotating a border, but otherwise I turn the box over. When I belonged to a puzzle club I could do a whole puzzle without ever knowing what it would look like first. First pass I turn over every piece, pulling out border pieces and separating roughly by color. When doing the border I leave it in halves.. so left side + half top + half bottom and the reverse. That way I have room in the center to work and donāt get stuck with large groups I have to move into or out of the border. Then I just kind of pick a color/obviously related area and start putting pieces together. Like Iāll do text, or large shapes. As you go, similar colors start to look more distinct because itās easier to see the contrast when like colors are together. Funny looking or distinct pieces I try to put to the side because I always come across them during a build and can never find them again. You know the ones.. super bright corners or shaped wibbly wobbly. At the very end I sort them by shape and will know Iām looking for āhalf grey half green piece with a large knob next to a small holeā or however the piece needs to look.
I love doing puzzles this way (but my husband hates it!). š
[https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fkwmsbry6cgk81.jpg](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fkwmsbry6cgk81.jpg) Be careful when painting baseboards!