Missing Puzzle Pieces

You know those final moments when you're finishing a big puzzle? There's only one piece left to go but- it's MISSING!

Noooo!

Well. I confess, I have had the opposite mindset. I've SO wanted to have the opportunity to replace a puzzle piece for the longest time!

A friend was clearing out their stash of puzzles and we were so blessed to be given some. So, we got to working on the puzzles right away. All of them 1000 pieces, all of them whole. Ok, one puzzle was 1500 pieces. We left that one until last.

You guessed it. the puzzles were whole. Yay! Then, the enormous 1500 piece puzzle was cracked open.

It was probably the hardest puzzle of them all. It took a long time. It was one of those ones that had so much detail in it that you had to keep referencing the picture. Thankfully, this one not only had the cardboard box to look at, but it came with a printed picture, too.

You guys, this puzzle ended up having, not only one but, three missing pieces. YAY!

My puzzle-piece-replacing dream had come true.

I began by pulling the card off the back of a notepad, then gluing it to itself so it was double-thickness. This was about perfect to make it match the height of the puzzle.

Then, I traced the missing shape using the surrounding pieces, and took a long time to carve them out with a craft knife. The pieces fit!

My trusty assistant helping me for the photo.

After the pieces were the right size, I painted them a nice base of white

After that was dry, I put them in their places and drew the picture that was to be painted in.

Then, armed with my craft paints, I got to work.

I didn't take any 'during painting' pics, sorry about that. I was concentrating!

They turned out as well as I hoped. I'm very pleased.

Here's a couple of close-ups. You can tell they're definitely replaced pieces - they're not perfect.

These photos are all taken before I varnished them. I used an acrylic gloss paint-on varnish, which turned all the colors slightly darker - which turned out awesome, because the black I used (knowing the varnish would darken it) was actually a very dark grey.

I love that they're all little wonky, the colors mostly match and, most of all, I love that I can do it. I had so much fun making these! The best part for me was the painting - I enjoyed the whole process, but the painting was definitely the best part.

Of course, I had to sign the back of them.

I hope you're having a great month, friends!

I can see I posted exactly one month ago, so I suppose, maybe I'll continue to do that. Maybe.

Holly

xx