Your 2020 Puzzles…And What to do With Them

One of the things I think I’ll remember from 2020 was how many puzzles seemingly everyone did during quarantine. Big ones, small ones, dusty ones, pretty ones… I definitely invested a lot of time into the pastime and found a lot of companies that make beautiful puzzles along the way.

For my birthday over the summer II had been eyeing a number of puzzles from Jiggy Puzzle. If you aren’t familiar with the brand they work with female artists to create eye-catching pieces that you can glue and then frame in your home…like you actually want to have these things hanging in your home. Skyler ended up surprising me with their Swim Club puzzle with artwork by Isabelle Vandeplassche. The piece is adorable, and was one of the most challenging things I’ve ever put together. I literally sat at the table and sorted the pieces by color and shape to finish the thing. I think I expended more brain cells trying to put it together than I did doing anything else during quarantine…which I both loved and hated at the same time.

By the time I finished the piece a few weeks ago I was incredibly grateful that Jiggy included glue to keep the piece together. I loved it, but I also knew I would never put it together again, ha! Since I’ve been working on a project to turn a pool room into a little studio space and office for Skyler and I to work out of, I decided it would be fun to display the piece in the room. I didn’t have any wall space to hang the piece and instead thought it would be fun to turn it into a coffee table tray. I’ve been messing around with epoxy resins for the last couple of months and wanted to put what I’ve learned to the test and I LOVE how it turned out.

What You’ll Need:

• 1 Puzzle of Your Choosing (I recommend around a 14x18 inch puzzle for a standard coffee table tray)

• Puzzle Glue (Modge Podge)

• 1 Acrylic Tray (one that fits your puzzle / is a little bigger). The one I used is 14x18

• Epoxy Resin & Hardener

• Resin Spreaders

• Graduated Cup & Stirring Stick

• Gloves! I didn’t wear any…and I should have.

• Blowdryer or small blow torch

How To Make Your Coffee Table Tray:

1. Put your puzzle together & glue it with Modge Podge. If you are using a Jiggy Puzzle, their puzzles come with glue!

2. After puzzle has completely dried, place it inside the acrylic tray. Make sure the tray is free of any dust particles.

3. Mix your Epoxy & Hardener. All resins are different, so it is best to follow the instructions from the manufacturer. No matter the resin you choose to use, the mixture will turn cloudy when you first begin mixing. After a few minutes of mixing, the mixture should turn back to clear before using. This is the MOST IMPORTANT step. If your resin is cloudy before you pour it, it will be cloudy once it has hardened. Another important tip is to make sure your epoxy & hardener is about room temperature before mixing. If it is too cold, it won’t mix properly. If it’s too hot, it will set faster than you want! For my tray, I used 100ml of hardener and 100ml of resin and I mixed it continuously for 7 minutes. Keep in mind that most resins have a workability time of about 30 minutes. Once you have mixed your resin, you will have about 20 minutes to work with the resin before it’s too hard and sticky to move around.

4. Use a spreader to move the resin around the tray while it is still workable. Try to pop any obvious bubbles with a toothpick.

5. While the resin starts to set, use a blow dryer or small blow torch to pop any bubbles that rise to the top.

6. Let the piece set for 24 hours before using and styling. It is best to keep the piece in a place where there is little to no dust while it’s setting.

7. Style & Enjoy!

   • I styled my tray using a couple of pieces from August Home Goods. I love their little bud vases and their candlesticks are so cute!

Here are a few of my favorite puzzles I’ve found from different brands!

Jiggy for Anthropologie: I don’t think you can go wrong with this Anthropologie x Jiggy collaboration. Every single one is full of color and fun patterns.l

• Forest Frolick

• True Colors

• Red Carpet

Jiggy Puzzles:

• The Eve, Ana Hard

• Brushstroke EtaVee 100

Wentworth Puzzles: You can specify number of puzzle pieces! These are a bit pricier but they have some beautiful pieces including classical art and many other categories.

• Almond Blossom

• Spring Flowers and Poole Pottery No.2

• La Pont Japonais

• Park Avenue - For the New York lover

• Getting Together - This one is fun and quirky & would be fun for a Christmas coffee table.

Better Co:

• Waiting for Humans

Galison:

• Andy Warhol Soup Can

• Liberty London

• Jonathan Adler Safari - This is a shaped jigsaw puzzle. I’ve yet to try one but it looks hard and fun!

• Hawaii Beach (Gray Malin)

• Moma Frank Stella (shaped puzzle)

Lemonade Pursuits:

• Four Ferns

• Botanical Song

Cloudberries:

• Backyard

• Doodle

Puzzledly:

• Main Squeeze

• Pretty Fly for a Cacti

Inner Piece:

• Studio Plants

• Many Moods by artist Amber Vittoria (always a favorite!)

Wander Puzzle Co:

• Movement Puzzle

Luckies:

• Be Big

• Let’s Go Get Lost Together - Another fun NYC one.

Jour Ferie:

• Early Morning - This would be so cute as a breakfast tray!

I hope you enjoy this DIY! And I would love to see the puzzles you’ve put together this year. If you end up framing or creating a coffee table tray, I would love to know! :)

Happy Puzzling,

Ashlin