Puzzle Gluing Tutorial, part one

Here's my first ever tutorial and it's not even about sewing or quilting!  Go figure!
It's about puzzles - jigsaw puzzles.
My mother used to love puzzles and I remember there was always a puzzle in progress somewhere in the living room or on the dining room table that she would work on periodically.  Often, I would try to fit a few pieces in, but I was always astounded at how hard it was and how enticed she was by working on them.  Slowly, I began to get better at it, and found that I, too, truly enjoyed working on a jigsaw puzzle - it can be very addictive.   What really amazed me was when she was done with the puzzle, she wanted to keep it, so she glued it!  When I grew up and got my own apartment, I started doing my own puzzles and turned them into wall art by gluing them and hanging them up on my apartment walls.  I know, it was simple and tacky, but I loved it!  When I married and we moved into a house, I carried my glued puzzles with me and mounted them all on the walls of our basement den.  I continued to buy puzzles and received them as gifts, all with the intent to glue them and slap them up on the wall downstairs.  I loved that wall, and my kids did, too, but dear hubby...no way!  He didn't like it but he allowed it because it in was the basement, of course!  Anyway, that went on for several years, and then I guess I tired of doing puzzles; either that or I just got too busy in the working world to slow down in the evenings and play with a puzzle.  Eventually, when we remodeled, I tore all those puzzles down and threw them away.  "Why" you ask?....well, so do I!  I  have gotten back to doing a few more puzzles recently, but since I'm sewing and quilting all the time now, I still don't have much energy for a puzzle (like it really wears you out to sit quietly and play with goofy-cut pieces of colored cardboard - c'mon now!)  Well, I bought myself a few puzzles for Christmas and I took a break from quilting for a week or so and enjoyed working on this one, which I finished on Sunday afternoon.

Naturally, I'm gluing it and planning on mounting it in my sewing room - how fitting, right!

Here's how I do the glue part.

You lay your finished puzzle out (hopefully on the board you assembled it on) and carefully slide some newspaper underneath it so it is separated from the board.

Then, you get some of this glue and a foam brush.  I prefer a foam brush to a regular paintbrush because it doesn't leave big brush strokes and you can throw it away if you want afterwards.
I think I got this bottle in the crafts department at Wal-mart and the brush was taken from my husband's stash he bought from Lowe's.  You could even use a bottle of Elmer's glue to do this - it's the same stuff and it doesn't take much to do one puzzle.
Carefully pour some of the glue into a little bowl of some sort (don't worry - it washes out of anything, as it is water based, just like Elmer's)  I just poured it into the cap and used that as my bowl.

Then, just spread it all over the puzzle, taking care to make sure it fills all the little nooks and crannies real good.  You might even want to put on a second coat for good measure, but don't get it too thick.  I just use one good coat myself.

Now, this is the important part......veeeerrrrry important!!!!

Grab a cup of coffee and some mini muffins and chill!!!  :)

Come back in a couple of days for part two and I'll show you what to do next!!