I haven't for now because the only puzzle I'm missing one isn't one that's worth the effort. I just painted the cardbord I glued it on. But for a great puzzle it would be worth a try. Which method I'd use depends on how the piece would look like. As I work for a company that makes cutting machines I think I'd digitalize the shape and have it cut out or have it 3D printed with one or two added layers of paper on top. But your ideas are great as they are doable for everyone.
I don’t know if anyone else suggested this. You could put the group of taped pieces in the scanner and print it out. This will give you the actual size and shape of the missing piece. Glue it to the cardboard pieces and cut it out. This way you do not need to draw the shape of the missing piece with a pencil.
This would also allow easily matching the scanned image to be sized correctly. Simply put the scanned image on another layer, set opacity to 50% and move and resize until the images around the missing puzzle piece match as perfectly as possible. Or if you want to make it really accurate, just use some software meant for focus stacking - those will automatically align the image accurate to fraction of a pixel. And could also use AI image scaler to increase resolution of your scan if you're not happy with the resolution.
My aunt did 3 puzzle pieces for me when I lost them while solving... I was 6 probably? She made them from cardboard and painted with poster paints. They were beautiful and I loved looking at them at my mounted puzzles on the wall :) I still cherish the memory of them, thank you for reminding me!
Hi karen!!! Greettings from Bolivia.... I just have my puzzle dream... And I lost a piece..... I will do it and show you!!! Thank u some much..... My mom and I.... Love the puzzles.... We have like 150 puzzles.....and I love to start to look your videos!!!
Consider using a glass nail file to carefully work the new piece into the desired shape. Filing can often be more accurate than a knife or scissors. While many different kinds of files may work, I find glass nail files especially nice to use.
I am SO GRATEFUL for this video, I just bought 3 vintage springboks from a thrift store and have no idea if they're missing any pieces. Now I almost hope they are so I can do this 😂
i wish i had thought of it. i remember so many puzzle boxes with "1 missing", "2 missing"... in the corners. it's always so frustrating cause, of course, that 1 piece you can't find just Must be the missing one
I remember doing this when my sister and i were 7-8, in the 70’s. We went to a beach cabin a lot and there was a puzzle there that had a missing piece. We just made one. I guess i thought everyone did this😂😂
Protip for if you can't use a scanner: put some kind of rectangular frame around the area you're photographing. That way if your angle is off you can use the perspective transform tool (or equivalent in your photo editor) to make the frame exactly rectangular, thereby making the contents of the frame that little bit more correct, as far as proportions go. Then you just crop to the frame and resize the image to the size of the frame, fixing any lingering issues with the aspect ratio. This is how I used to "scan" drawings into my computer before I had a scanner. It's a bit more work to get things exactly right, but I mean you're already going through the trouble of painstakingly recreating a puzzle piece, so you might as well make it as good as it can possibly be.
Wow, great job on the diy crafty piece, it looked great! And especially the hi-tech pice! I made a replacement puzzle piece before. I bought a puzzle for my nephews but when they were making it, we were missing a piece. I concentrated on my work, ignoring my mother trying to interrupt me. Since it was a cheap puzzle, I only used 1 layer of cardboard (2 would have been better). I also didn't put a label layer, so the pencil colours didn't look as bright. At the end, the piece fit ok. Then My mother told me what she was trying to tell me: That they Found the missing piece! lol
DIY! I was able to make a replacement piece for a puzzle we wanted to frame. It was an edge piece and a very busy background. I just used the picture on the box and cut it out and then built up cardboard similar to what you did. It worked out great, and because it was inconspicuously placed, nobody could find it.
Some puzzle companies will send replacement pieces for current puzzles, but for those that don't or those that are too old/discontinued, this is a great DIY!
For the scale in Photoshop you could crop to the outer edges of the picture, then make sure the entire picture is scaled to match the full size of the finished puzzle, like 11x14 for example. That way the missing part should be the correct size.
This is amazing! Replacing a missing piece and crafting too, what a dreamy combination. Thank you for featuring our puzzle, we're so pleased that you enjoyed it :)
Karen, Thank you so much for this video. I was so frustrated because of missing pieces. I had zero arts and crafts experience when I saw your video but you gave me confidence enough to try your lot-tech method. Very good results. The cuticle scissors are the right tool for the job and the clear coat finishes the pieces nicely. Many thanks for being you!(
I've been doing puzzles my whole life and I never thought about trying to make a replacement for missing pieces. I love the idea and will definitely try it sometime. DIY
I know I'm really late to the party, but I didn't find the idea in the other comments: you could scan/photograph the taped "context" and use it as a "mask" in Photoshop to get the shape of the piece. That way two more steps become digital: placing the image over the gap and tracing it. This might improve the accuracy, especially for people like me who are a bit crafting-challenged. It should work much better with a printer than with a camera because getting the sizes correct should be way easier. Now you could either just print the part of the image that's missing in the exact shape of the missing piece, or add thin cutting marks on a bigger picture so you don't get a white border if your cutting is a bit off. Bonus: once you have the outline of the piece, you can also print it three more times on a piece of cardboard for even less tracing. Or, you know, turn it into some tool path of some CNC machine or something to create a perfect cutter for the whole piece, but that may be going too far.
To me it seems actually easier to exactly position the replacement directly inside of the Puzzle by hand, instead of introducing another risk of inaccuracy by placing it digitally. But that's just my guess.
DIY. I’ve been making replacement puzzle pieces for Wrebbit 3D puzzles for years. Having bought a lot of second hand puzzles over the years I have found a few missing. My top tips would be save big waste pieces from any new 3D puzzles you get. Then you can use a very similar process to make the replacement piece. I usually use the print it out method as I am not good at drawing. Glue Sticks (pritt and similar) work well on the foam.
6:00 I would use sandpaper around the edge to make it smoother. Also, take the edge of a sharpie and run it around the top edge of the piece so that when it's inserted, it has that same thickness dark line that you see between all the other pieces.
This saved my puzzle! Thank you!! I used the second method and it worked beautifully. It looks so good - you can't even tell that one is not like the others. I was so devastated when I finally finished my very first puzzle, a 1,000 piece one, only to find that a piece was missing. I'm so glad I found this video :)
Karen, this is incredibly helpful information. One of my favorite puzzles has a missing piece and it has made me so unhappy. The puzzle is long discontinued so I am unlikely to be able to find another one to buy. Thank you for demonstrating two different methods of making a replacement puzzle piece. Your instructions are very clear. When I have the opportunity, I am going to work the puzzle again, see exactly what the design is on that missing piece, and try one of your methods.
Thanks so much for the advice I managed to make my piece fit in tbe chaotic background and it doesn't really stand out as a fake in the whole picture! Thank goodness I found your vid
Thank you so much for this! I have like 3 puzzles with a missing piece so I’m definitely going to try this. The most disappointing one is the custom one of my two dogs that I wanted to frame. It’s missing a piece right in the middle, so hopefully I can fix it!
I had two missing pieces, although I never found them, and I opened and solved the puzzle in one corner of one room. What I ended up doing is placing a plaque (that I already had) next to the finished puzzle (a beautiful puzzle showcasing illustrations of six roses in different vibrant colors). The plaque read: Man is happiest when he no longer expects to control things he cannot change. 😂 But for the record, your way is better!! 😅 I would use alcohol markers to trt to get the opacity up higher if needed, once i removed it for final touches; that way it's not as messy, but you still get the color payoff. Very cool. I really want to try this!
Great video! Missing puzzle pieces is a nightmare. I am convinced that puzzle companies make mistakes too when packing puzzles, lol! One tip: you can skip the spray varnish and use Mod Podge Matte over the entire puzzle to seal it. This will help keep the newly created piece from darkening so much and have a seamless finish when light hits the puzzles surface.
Mod Podge would have be my initial thought, too only because I use it a lot. But I think her version is better. Mod Podge definitely can smudge injket prints, it's thick and gloopy and wet. It will probably end up on the sides and mess with the fit. I think the spray is a much cleaner option.
I'm so glad you made this video. I just received a 32K puzzle from a friend, and her cat or the vacuum cleaner lost one piece of said puzzle, so this will be most helpful to me when I work it and pass it on.
How funny to see this trending since last week I just did a puzzle that not only had a face piece missing, but the puzzle also had four extra duplicate pieces from other areas of the puzzle. This was the first time I've ever had or heard of a missing piece (and extras) from a new sealed puzzle.
I haven't made a replacement part, but I have made a puzzle myself! I need 3 replacement parts for one of my puzzles tho... Now I know how to make it :) Thanks! Also DIY
I just rewatched this because a puzzle that I really like from a thrift store is missing three pieces. Two of the three are edge pieces which I could live with, but the third is smack in the middle. What saved me is it came with a poster and I'm able to cut out the pieces from the poster to cardboard. it's not exact but its sky, water and trees. It will blend perfectly! Just needed to rewatch what you used to spray to seal in the piece.
This is such a brilliant idea!! (Though I'm not usually good at "DIY" lol) Now I'm not too worried about possible missing pieces from second-hand puzzles that I'm going to buy from charity shops, so thank you!
Thanks, Karen, for your DIY puzzle piece replacement tutorial. I was once fortunate to have white cardboard from the packaging of a product, and used that to replace 2 missing pieces. :)
I had never thought of doing this - I will give it a go. Also thought I’d just say - Mermaid Street Rye is only 15 miles away from my house ! Lovely little town. Would like to do that jigsaw 🧩 Cx
I have made puzzle pieces many times and thought it was awesome that your method is the one I've been using right along. I still learned how to cut it out better by watching you. Quite often on older puzzles i sometimes will just color or paint the cardboard cause for me i find it blends in better to the same darker color of the puzzle piece and not so bright.
DIY: I picked up a cool Beatles puzzle at a thrift store. I knew it was chancy when I saw one of the pieces on the floor but had to get it anyway. There are 17 pieces missing! I have made pieces before but usually it is just one or two that are missing. I want to share this puzzle with my siblings so I am thinking I might try working on at least some of the more important pieces. I do have a white cardboard box that is the correct thickness so I might use that and eliminate a step. Your video was great! Thank you!
Yes I did. Used the photoshop method but your using multiple pieces to make it the right thickness, and your using the clear sealant spray is a good idea.
I just used a nail file battery operated to smooth out my card board puzzle pieces. OMGosh I love this puzzle I was given, but missing 3 pieces I am so grateful for your vid tutorial.
Omg!! I bought a puzzle recently and while I was working on it my one year old brother kept on touching it and after I finished a puzzle went missing! This makes me sooooo happy!!! Thank you!!!!
Wow, I loved watching this video, the finished pieces looked amazing and you couldn’t even tell! Fortunately I’ve been lucky never to have lost or damaged a piece or have a missing piece, but if it ever happens I will definitely be watching this video again to show me how to make a replacement piece 💖
I made my own puzzle piece a few months ago for a piece my nephew was missing on his puzzle. The piece he needed was mostly green.... so I just found a similar green on a cardboard box in my cabinet (I think it was a box of noodles or something) and cut a piece of that to fit. He was pretty impressed!!! haha *"DIY"*
Thank you so much. A few days ago, i got a puzzle at a mal for free and I accidentally dropped it at the mall and I tried to pick up all the pieces but I must’ve probably lost 1 when they fell! Im definitely going to try this method tommorow!
You are amazing! I’ve always known you have a DIY crafty channel but haven’t watched it much. That’s why i was so surprised to see what professional hand skills you have.
I just finished a 2000 piece Ravensburger and am missing 3 edge pieces. Time to get the digital camera out for the DIY... Thank you so much for the inspiration!!!! You're great!
Have made them before, basically the same way as your 1st one, i don`t have the equipment for the other one, good for these puzzles you buy second hand with bits missing, have reposted here in UK, thanks, stay safe, God bless.
Thank you for this video! I bought a gorgeous glow in the dark puzzle of a fairy at a flea market years ago which claimed to be complete, but turned out it was missing a piece. I framed it anyway because I loved the image, but it's been displayed missing that one piece for years now. I'll finally be able to complete it now, thank you!
Love the ideas! I made a replacement piece for a Cobble Hill puzzle last month! I cut the cardboard from the puzzle box, and then carefully stripped part of the puzzle image from the box top. (luckily the missing piece was in a monochromatic area! (this way I kept the same shine and texture as the original)
Got all the supplies, am ready to try the craft method. The missing piece is from a wood puzzle, must be from the 40's. It is also a sky piece (yay!), so it should be easy. Thanks --BA
Oh, my gosh!! I can't wait to try this. My sister and I did a puzzle that we used to do in the 70s and it was missing two pieces. This will be perfect to try making the missing pieces!!
Love the video. I can tell you that in my experience as an educator that the adhesive in glue sticks are great for temporary purposes only. For a more permanent adhesive you'll want to use something different.
DIY: Loved your video and subscribed! Yes, I've actually made a replacement puzzle piece before using almost the identical steps that you did in the first method, except I didn't use a crystal clear finish to protect the work (thanks for that tip), and I also had on hand some illustration board for the actual construction of the missing piece. When I finished, I couldn't distinguish the replacement piece from the rest of the puzzle. Painstaking work to make a fitted piece, seeing I'm not really a DIY kind of person, but it was successful nonetheless. I have another puzzle I just finished that has a piece missing. A detailed section of this Charles Wysocki puzzle shows a horse-drawn, 2-wheel carriage. Part of the spokes is missing! Just the idea of having to hand-draw those precisely painted, clear and tiny spokes makes my eyeballs want to fall out! You better believe we're going high tech this time! In this pandemic with puzzles in such high demand, I'm afraid I won't be able to replace it by contacting the company. However, the high tech tip you shared will make this much easier and save me from a mental meltdown. For this, I am grateful!
I love these videos so much, I am going through and liking them all. I just finished a 3000 piece puzzle of chinese dragons and there's one piece missing. I nearly had a meltdown. I ordered everything on your list and am setting out to try these DIY methods this week!
I did almost the exact same method. I just used acrylic paint instead of pencil. But I've been planning to print the next one and it looks like it is the best method.
I have a puzzle I LOVE that has a missing piece and I've always wondered what I could do about it. I love your videos anyway but this one in particular is really helpful!
Missing puzzle pieces don't bother me at all, and I would never make a replacement piece (I'd rather start a new puzzle!), but you did a great job with your DIY. Coloring the bottom Ravensburger piece blue - that's NEXT LEVEL!
When a piece is missing, and that I want to glue the puzzle, I don't make a new piece but I color the carton on which the puzzle is glued.I choose a color in the same ton as the environnement of the missing piece (green in a forest, grey or brown in a mountain etc. I use dry grease pensils). When it's glued, of course we can see that a piece is missing, but in the all, it's discreet and fair. Often I finally find the piece somewhere in my appartement (or in the airbag of the vacuum), so I can also place the missing piece in the colored spot. :-) Thank you Karen, nice way to replace a missing piece.
I have never tried this DIY before I just throw the puzzles away if they have missing pieces. I will try these from now on. Thanks for showing me something I didn't know.
really nice video! yeah, my childhood was filled with puzzles that had missing pieces. i once made a replacement piece for a black panther and the piece was missing inside the panther so it was quite easy, i only needed black color. and i think for an ... 7.. 8.. 9? - year old i did a good job :D but not comparable to my standards today. i would probably do the tech way that you showed since i have access to all of these tools (scanning, photoshop printing) even tho i love the creativity from the crafty method.
I've done a couple DIY puzzle piece replacements! Your process is way more involved than mine though. I used white cardboard from a USPS box and just did colored pencil on top, then cut with regular scissors. Still looked okay!
Coming soon to youtube: "Crafting with Karen" Great job! My luck, I'd spend hours making a perfect replacement and then find the original the next time I vacuumed.
I recently thought I was missing a piece and looked for it for an entire week. The retailer didn't want to take the puzzle back and Ravensburger only wanted to refund the puzzle to the retailer. The day after I got the reply from Ravensburger I found the piece, however, so I now have a complete puzzle again. I could probably have crafted that piece, had I wanted to. It was two or three colours and I have a bunch of thick cardboard laying around that would fit in as a replacement. The colours would've needed my good markers to replicate them though. Creating moss green and that very specific brown with pencils would've been hell (I don't have a printer so that method would be out anyway). I'm glad I found the piece though and don't have to return the puzzle anymore. I like green forest scapes with dragons in them :D
And just imagine how tedious this would be with a puzzle piece from a 1500 piece puzzle. I don't know if I would even want to try the crafty method there.
Wow your channel just poped up while looking through youtube and I saw how to do replacement puzzle pieces, always handly indeed to know how to make this. I've had the odd piece missing and ended up writing on the box missing a piece, and when going back to maybe build the puzzle again, I didn't want to bother due to the missing piece. Thanks for sharing. I've joined your channel, looks awesome and creative, well done!! 🧩🧩 ( Sharlene from Vancouver Island, Victoria, BC 🇨🇦🌲)
I’ve made puzzle pieces using the box they came in as a replacement. I picked an area that was similar in color and texture and drew on it with markers if needed. It wouldn’t work for a face but for a solid area or a texture like trees, it worked perfectly. Thank you for the great idea. I just finished a 2000 piece puzzle that I wanted to hang up but it is missing three pieces.
Have you ever made your own replacement puzzle piece? I hope my two methods can help you if you ever have to try it for yourself!
I haven't for now because the only puzzle I'm missing one isn't one that's worth the effort. I just painted the cardbord I glued it on. But for a great puzzle it would be worth a try.
Which method I'd use depends on how the piece would look like.
As I work for a company that makes cutting machines I think I'd digitalize the shape and have it cut out or have it 3D printed with one or two added layers of paper on top. But your ideas are great as they are doable for everyone.
Great idea! My dog lays her muzzle on my jigsaw board and pieces get stuck to her and I've even found a piece in the garden!
I have made my own DIY replacement pieces several times. My printer isn't great so I had to use acrylics but I think they ended up well enough🤗
Insert Obama meme here
Thanks that helped me I have cats who take puzzle pieces.
I don’t know if anyone else suggested this. You could put the group of taped pieces in the scanner and print it out. This will give you the actual size and shape of the missing piece. Glue it to the cardboard pieces and cut it out. This way you do not need to draw the shape of the missing piece with a pencil.
Big brain
Very Big Brain
This would also allow easily matching the scanned image to be sized correctly. Simply put the scanned image on another layer, set opacity to 50% and move and resize until the images around the missing puzzle piece match as perfectly as possible.
Or if you want to make it really accurate, just use some software meant for focus stacking - those will automatically align the image accurate to fraction of a pixel. And could also use AI image scaler to increase resolution of your scan if you're not happy with the resolution.
My aunt did 3 puzzle pieces for me when I lost them while solving... I was 6 probably? She made them from cardboard and painted with poster paints. They were beautiful and I loved looking at them at my mounted puzzles on the wall :) I still cherish the memory of them, thank you for reminding me!
That is literally so heartwarming 😭💕
DIY: I'm missing an edge piece, that isn't showing in the cover of the box, and it's asphalt... I might just paint it black :P
do you see a red door ?
That’s what Mick Jagger says to do, “Paint It Black.”
😉
If you have basic Photoshop knowledge, you can take a picture of the adjacent pieces and create the missing piece with the closest information.
If you decide to frame it, make the frame fit smaller to cut out the edges if that makes sense.
Omg I have like 5 puzzles with missing pieces AND THIS HELPS SO MUCHHHHH
Yay, I hope these DIYs work for you!
Really never thought people made the same puzzle more than once
@@alimustafa7680 idk if your joking, but she has 5 different puzzles.
Hi karen!!! Greettings from Bolivia.... I just have my puzzle dream... And I lost a piece..... I will do it and show you!!! Thank u some much..... My mom and I.... Love the puzzles.... We have like 150 puzzles.....and I love to start to look your videos!!!
@@alimustafa7680 I put puzzles together multiple times. I cannot afford to just buy puzzles to put together once.
Consider using a glass nail file to carefully work the new piece into the desired shape. Filing can often be more accurate than a knife or scissors. While many different kinds of files may work, I find glass nail files especially nice to use.
Thanks for the tip
I am SO GRATEFUL for this video, I just bought 3 vintage springboks from a thrift store and have no idea if they're missing any pieces. Now I almost hope they are so I can do this 😂
I've never thought of making my own puzzle pieces to replace missing ones. Such a good DIY idea.
lol i have to be good at drawing for that :P
i wish i had thought of it. i remember so many puzzle boxes with "1 missing", "2 missing"... in the corners. it's always so frustrating cause, of course, that 1 piece you can't find just Must be the missing one
I remember doing this when my sister and i were 7-8, in the 70’s. We went to a beach cabin a lot and there was a puzzle there that had a missing piece. We just made one. I guess i thought everyone did this😂😂
Yeah
Protip for if you can't use a scanner: put some kind of rectangular frame around the area you're photographing. That way if your angle is off you can use the perspective transform tool (or equivalent in your photo editor) to make the frame exactly rectangular, thereby making the contents of the frame that little bit more correct, as far as proportions go. Then you just crop to the frame and resize the image to the size of the frame, fixing any lingering issues with the aspect ratio. This is how I used to "scan" drawings into my computer before I had a scanner. It's a bit more work to get things exactly right, but I mean you're already going through the trouble of painstakingly recreating a puzzle piece, so you might as well make it as good as it can possibly be.
Awesome advice!!
I'm not that good with DIY stuff, I'll stick with the high tech method if I ever need a replacement piece. Thanks for the tip!
Wow, great job on the diy crafty piece, it looked great! And especially the hi-tech pice!
I made a replacement puzzle piece before. I bought a puzzle for my nephews but when they were making it, we were missing a piece.
I concentrated on my work, ignoring my mother trying to interrupt me.
Since it was a cheap puzzle, I only used 1 layer of cardboard (2 would have been better). I also didn't put a label layer, so the pencil colours didn't look as bright.
At the end, the piece fit ok. Then My mother told me what she was trying to tell me: That they Found the missing piece! lol
im sure you guys had a laugh after you realized why she was trying to pester you to stop
DIY! I was able to make a replacement piece for a puzzle we wanted to frame. It was an edge piece and a very busy background. I just used the picture on the box and cut it out and then built up cardboard similar to what you did. It worked out great, and because it was inconspicuously placed, nobody could find it.
Some puzzle companies will send replacement pieces for current puzzles, but for those that don't or those that are too old/discontinued, this is a great DIY!
For the scale in Photoshop you could crop to the outer edges of the picture, then make sure the entire picture is scaled to match the full size of the finished puzzle, like 11x14 for example. That way the missing part should be the correct size.
And the rest
also doing the scaling at a larger scale means small errors will be less noticeable
This is amazing! Replacing a missing piece and crafting too, what a dreamy combination. Thank you for featuring our puzzle, we're so pleased that you enjoyed it :)
Karen, Thank you so much for this video. I was so frustrated because of missing pieces. I had zero arts and crafts experience when I saw your video but you gave me confidence enough to try your lot-tech method. Very good results. The cuticle scissors are the right tool for the job and the clear coat finishes the pieces nicely. Many thanks for being you!(
I've been doing puzzles my whole life and I never thought about trying to make a replacement for missing pieces. I love the idea and will definitely try it sometime. DIY
YESSSS Finally, i have like 3 puzzles with missing pieces. THANK YOUUUUU
Let me know how it goes for you making replacements!
btw... DIY YASS
@@KarenPuzzles i tried the printing methid, but i just cant get it right, like it's the 3rd time i print it, any suggestions to help?
I know I'm really late to the party, but I didn't find the idea in the other comments: you could scan/photograph the taped "context" and use it as a "mask" in Photoshop to get the shape of the piece. That way two more steps become digital: placing the image over the gap and tracing it. This might improve the accuracy, especially for people like me who are a bit crafting-challenged. It should work much better with a printer than with a camera because getting the sizes correct should be way easier. Now you could either just print the part of the image that's missing in the exact shape of the missing piece, or add thin cutting marks on a bigger picture so you don't get a white border if your cutting is a bit off. Bonus: once you have the outline of the piece, you can also print it three more times on a piece of cardboard for even less tracing. Or, you know, turn it into some tool path of some CNC machine or something to create a perfect cutter for the whole piece, but that may be going too far.
Good idea.
To me it seems actually easier to exactly position the replacement directly inside of the Puzzle by hand, instead of introducing another risk of inaccuracy by placing it digitally. But that's just my guess.
DIY. I’ve been making replacement puzzle pieces for Wrebbit 3D puzzles for years. Having bought a lot of second hand puzzles over the years I have found a few missing. My top tips would be save big waste pieces from any new 3D puzzles you get. Then you can use a very similar process to make the replacement piece. I usually use the print it out method as I am not good at drawing. Glue Sticks (pritt and similar) work well on the foam.
6:00 I would use sandpaper around the edge to make it smoother. Also, take the edge of a sharpie and run it around the top edge of the piece so that when it's inserted, it has that same thickness dark line that you see between all the other pieces.
dude you are a genuis! im not too worried about finishing my puzzle now! thank you!
This saved my puzzle! Thank you!! I used the second method and it worked beautifully. It looks so good - you can't even tell that one is not like the others. I was so devastated when I finally finished my very first puzzle, a 1,000 piece one, only to find that a piece was missing. I'm so glad I found this video :)
Karen, this is incredibly helpful information. One of my favorite puzzles has a missing piece and it has made me so unhappy. The puzzle is long discontinued so I am unlikely to be able to find another one to buy. Thank you for demonstrating two different methods of making a replacement puzzle piece. Your instructions are very clear. When I have the opportunity, I am going to work the puzzle again, see exactly what the design is on that missing piece, and try one of your methods.
Thanks so much for the advice I managed to make my piece fit in tbe chaotic background and it doesn't really stand out as a fake in the whole picture! Thank goodness I found your vid
Thank you so much for this! I have like 3 puzzles with a missing piece so I’m definitely going to try this. The most disappointing one is the custom one of my two dogs that I wanted to frame. It’s missing a piece right in the middle, so hopefully I can fix it!
I had two missing pieces, although I never found them, and I opened and solved the puzzle in one corner of one room. What I ended up doing is placing a plaque (that I already had) next to the finished puzzle (a beautiful puzzle showcasing illustrations of six roses in different vibrant colors).
The plaque read: Man is happiest when he no longer expects to control things he cannot change. 😂
But for the record, your way is better!! 😅 I would use alcohol markers to trt to get the opacity up higher if needed, once i removed it for final touches; that way it's not as messy, but you still get the color payoff. Very cool. I really want to try this!
Great video! Missing puzzle pieces is a nightmare. I am convinced that puzzle companies make mistakes too when packing puzzles, lol! One tip: you can skip the spray varnish and use Mod Podge Matte over the entire puzzle to seal it. This will help keep the newly created piece from darkening so much and have a seamless finish when light hits the puzzles surface.
That's a great idea if you're planning to glue the whole thing together!
Mod Podge would have be my initial thought, too only because I use it a lot. But I think her version is better. Mod Podge definitely can smudge injket prints, it's thick and gloopy and wet. It will probably end up on the sides and mess with the fit. I think the spray is a much cleaner option.
I'm so glad you made this video. I just received a 32K puzzle from a friend, and her cat or the vacuum cleaner lost one piece of said puzzle, so this will be most helpful to me when I work it and pass it on.
How funny to see this trending since last week I just did a puzzle that not only had a face piece missing, but the puzzle also had four extra duplicate pieces from other areas of the puzzle. This was the first time I've ever had or heard of a missing piece (and extras) from a new sealed puzzle.
I haven't made a replacement part, but I have made a puzzle myself!
I need 3 replacement parts for one of my puzzles tho... Now I know how to make it :)
Thanks!
Also DIY
i did do it, using the photo and printer method and worked like a charm ! You are genius!
really nice. Just finished a puzzle with a missing piece so, although not an artist, I will try this. Great tutorial.
I just rewatched this because a puzzle that I really like from a thrift store is missing three pieces. Two of the three are edge pieces which I could live with, but the third is smack in the middle. What saved me is it came with a poster and I'm able to cut out the pieces from the poster to cardboard. it's not exact but its sky, water and trees. It will blend perfectly! Just needed to rewatch what you used to spray to seal in the piece.
This is such a brilliant idea!! (Though I'm not usually good at "DIY" lol) Now I'm not too worried about possible missing pieces from second-hand puzzles that I'm going to buy from charity shops, so thank you!
Woah, I’m amazed with how good both methods worked. Especially the photoshop version.
Thanks, Karen, for your DIY puzzle piece replacement tutorial. I was once fortunate to have white cardboard from the packaging of a product, and used that to replace 2 missing pieces. :)
I had never thought of doing this - I will give it a go. Also thought I’d just say - Mermaid Street Rye is only 15 miles away from my house ! Lovely little town. Would like to do that jigsaw 🧩 Cx
All of quarantine all I've done is do puzzles while watching your videos
I love to hear that!
I did your DIY and everyone who sees it is very impressed! I now have to do an outside piece 😮for another puzzle 🤔 Thank you Karen for this video!
I have made puzzle pieces many times and thought it was awesome that your method is the one I've been using right along. I still learned how to cut it out better by watching you. Quite often on older puzzles i sometimes will just color or paint the cardboard cause for me i find it blends in better to the same darker color of the puzzle piece and not so bright.
When that happens to me I just give up 😂,
I never knew I can make a replacement, thanks.
DIY: I picked up a cool Beatles puzzle at a thrift store. I knew it was chancy when I saw one of the pieces on the floor but had to get it anyway. There are 17 pieces missing! I have made pieces before but usually it is just one or two that are missing. I want to share this puzzle with my siblings so I am thinking I might try working on at least some of the more important pieces. I do have a white cardboard box that is the correct thickness so I might use that and eliminate a step. Your video was great! Thank you!
You are the smartest puzzler in human history
DIY. Cool. I've never had a puzzle missing a piece or more where I had to do this but will save the video to reference if I ever need to. Thanks
Yes I did. Used the photoshop method but your using multiple pieces to make it the right thickness, and your using the clear sealant spray is a good idea.
This was so helpful! I have not replaced any missing puzzle pieces yet, but this video makes it so simple when the time comes.
I just used a nail file battery operated to smooth out my card board puzzle pieces. OMGosh I love this puzzle I was given, but missing 3 pieces I am so grateful for your vid tutorial.
Omg!! I bought a puzzle recently and while I was working on it my one year old brother kept on touching it and after I finished a puzzle went missing! This makes me sooooo happy!!! Thank you!!!!
What a great DIY idea Karen. I would never have thought to make a puzzle piece. Nice work!
I really liked the use of the print and the photo shop. Piece looks dead on!! Great job Karen!!! The word is DIY!!!
Wow, I loved watching this video, the finished pieces looked amazing and you couldn’t even tell! Fortunately I’ve been lucky never to have lost or damaged a piece or have a missing piece, but if it ever happens I will definitely be watching this video again to show me how to make a replacement piece 💖
I made my own puzzle piece a few months ago for a piece my nephew was missing on his puzzle.
The piece he needed was mostly green.... so I just found a similar green on a cardboard box in my cabinet (I think it was a box of noodles or something) and cut a piece of that to fit.
He was pretty impressed!!! haha *"DIY"*
Thank you so much. A few days ago, i got a puzzle at a mal for free and I accidentally dropped it at the mall and I tried to pick up all the pieces but I must’ve probably lost 1 when they fell! Im definitely going to try this method tommorow!
I never would have thought of a DIY puzzle piece! Love your videos. I've only really known you from the puzzle channel, but I am hooked!
Thanks, Karen!! I have 3 puzzles with missing pieces so this is really helpful! Love your *"DIY"* channel too!!
DIY replacements! Such a good idea and I never thought of doing something like this at all
You are amazing! I’ve always known you have a DIY crafty channel but haven’t watched it much. That’s why i was so surprised to see what professional hand skills you have.
I just finished a 2000 piece Ravensburger and am missing 3 edge pieces. Time to get the digital camera out for the DIY... Thank you so much for the inspiration!!!! You're great!
DIY: another great video and I had no idea you were so crafty. I love rescuing board games and so there’s a lot of crossover. Keep up the great work.
Have made them before, basically the same way as your 1st one, i don`t have the equipment for the other one, good for these puzzles you buy second hand with bits missing, have reposted here in UK, thanks, stay safe, God bless.
Thank you! I attempted this a few months ago taking a pic of the cover of the missing piece area. I got stuck on the sizing. You’re a great help.
I found your video yesterday and I started to make my first replacement piece. This tutorial is GREAT!. You've just earned one more loyal subscriber.
This ravensburger puzzle is soooo pretty! That would be so fun to make :)
Omg! You are a life saver! I'm missing two pieces of a puzzle I got second hand and now I can complete it! Time to open photo shop
Thank you for this video! I bought a gorgeous glow in the dark puzzle of a fairy at a flea market years ago which claimed to be complete, but turned out it was missing a piece. I framed it anyway because I loved the image, but it's been displayed missing that one piece for years now. I'll finally be able to complete it now, thank you!
You are fantastic! I am going to make my replacement with the second method, the result is better then I thought!
DIY I love your videos please never stop.
Thank you for watching!
Love the ideas!
I made a replacement piece for a Cobble Hill puzzle last month! I cut the cardboard from the puzzle box, and then carefully stripped part of the puzzle image from the box top. (luckily the missing piece was in a monochromatic area! (this way I kept the same shine and texture as the original)
I made a replacement puzzle piece using your method #1. Came out pretty good. thanks!
Love your channel.
Got all the supplies, am ready to try the craft method. The missing piece is from a wood puzzle, must be from the 40's. It is also a sky piece (yay!), so it should be easy. Thanks --BA
Oh, my gosh!! I can't wait to try this. My sister and I did a puzzle that we used to do in the 70s and it was missing two pieces. This will be perfect to try making the missing pieces!!
Love the video. I can tell you that in my experience as an educator that the adhesive in glue sticks are great for temporary purposes only. For a more permanent adhesive you'll want to use something different.
DIY: Loved your video and subscribed! Yes, I've actually made a replacement puzzle piece before using almost the identical steps that you did in the first method, except I didn't use a crystal clear finish to protect the work (thanks for that tip), and I also had on hand some illustration board for the actual construction of the missing piece. When I finished, I couldn't distinguish the replacement piece from the rest of the puzzle. Painstaking work to make a fitted piece, seeing I'm not really a DIY kind of person, but it was successful nonetheless. I have another puzzle I just finished that has a piece missing. A detailed section of this Charles Wysocki puzzle shows a horse-drawn, 2-wheel carriage. Part of the spokes is missing! Just the idea of having to hand-draw those precisely painted, clear and tiny spokes makes my eyeballs want to fall out! You better believe we're going high tech this time! In this pandemic with puzzles in such high demand, I'm afraid I won't be able to replace it by contacting the company. However, the high tech tip you shared will make this much easier and save me from a mental meltdown. For this, I am grateful!
I have never even thought of making pieces for it. Thanks, this is a great idea. Now I can try to fix the ones I'm donating the senior center.
Nicely done, Karen, and very conveniently timed. The piece I'm missing is almost in the middle...of course. Time to give this a try.
I love these videos so much, I am going through and liking them all. I just finished a 3000 piece puzzle of chinese dragons and there's one piece missing. I nearly had a meltdown. I ordered everything on your list and am setting out to try these DIY methods this week!
Loved the DIY tips, I have a puzzle that is missing a piece, this will come in handy. Thank you
This is your best best video !! Do they have awards for you tube videos ?? This one sure is award worthy.
Awesome 'DIY's Karen! Never thought about making my own missing pieces! Savior of the puzzle world! Haha ❤️
I love crafts with paper and card so I enjoyed this video so much.
I did almost the exact same method. I just used acrylic paint instead of pencil. But I've been planning to print the next one and it looks like it is the best method.
I have never made a puzzle replacement piece but I will try this DIY method next time I have a missing piece! Thanks for this video.
Let me know how it goes!
I have a puzzle I LOVE that has a missing piece and I've always wondered what I could do about it. I love your videos anyway but this one in particular is really helpful!
Missing puzzle pieces don't bother me at all, and I would never make a replacement piece (I'd rather start a new puzzle!), but you did a great job with your DIY. Coloring the bottom Ravensburger piece blue - that's NEXT LEVEL!
When a piece is missing, and that I want to glue the puzzle, I don't make a new piece but I color the carton on which the puzzle is glued.I choose a color in the same ton as the environnement of the missing piece (green in a forest, grey or brown in a mountain etc. I use dry grease pensils). When it's glued, of course we can see that a piece is missing, but in the all, it's discreet and fair. Often I finally find the piece somewhere in my appartement (or in the airbag of the vacuum), so I can also place the missing piece in the colored spot. :-)
Thank you Karen, nice way to replace a missing piece.
DIY. Yes, I've made homemade replacement pieces quite a few times. Pretty much the same way you did with coloured pencils.
I know this is super old, but I just wanna say you made the PERFECT connection between the video and the ad. "You'll never lose a piece!" Brilliant.
I have never tried this DIY before I just throw the puzzles away if they have missing pieces. I will try these from now on. Thanks for showing me something I didn't know.
really nice video!
yeah, my childhood was filled with puzzles that had missing pieces. i once made a replacement piece for a black panther and the piece was missing inside the panther so it was quite easy, i only needed black color. and i think for an ... 7.. 8.. 9? - year old i did a good job :D but not comparable to my standards today. i would probably do the tech way that you showed since i have access to all of these tools (scanning, photoshop printing) even tho i love the creativity from the crafty method.
Oh wow, thanks a lot for this video! I'm doing a 2000 piece puzzle right now and I'm afraid I may have 3 pieces missing! This is very helpful.
I've done a couple DIY puzzle piece replacements! Your process is way more involved than mine though. I used white cardboard from a USPS box and just did colored pencil on top, then cut with regular scissors. Still looked okay!
Coming soon to youtube: "Crafting with Karen" Great job! My luck, I'd spend hours making a perfect replacement and then find the original the next time I vacuumed.
haha, I've been making craft videos on RUclips for years and years! The channels are linked in the description!
Well, you would have practiced for when you really do want to make another piece, so it wouldn't have been a waste of time.
🌸 DIY 🎉fantastic now I know how to fix missing pieces 😊
I recently thought I was missing a piece and looked for it for an entire week. The retailer didn't want to take the puzzle back and Ravensburger only wanted to refund the puzzle to the retailer.
The day after I got the reply from Ravensburger I found the piece, however, so I now have a complete puzzle again.
I could probably have crafted that piece, had I wanted to. It was two or three colours and I have a bunch of thick cardboard laying around that would fit in as a replacement. The colours would've needed my good markers to replicate them though. Creating moss green and that very specific brown with pencils would've been hell (I don't have a printer so that method would be out anyway).
I'm glad I found the piece though and don't have to return the puzzle anymore. I like green forest scapes with dragons in them :D
And just imagine how tedious this would be with a puzzle piece from a 1500 piece puzzle. I don't know if I would even want to try the crafty method there.
These "DIY" tips are ingenious, Karen. Have a great day:)
If you guys don’t rlly like to craft, then most of the puzzle companies will actually send you the missing piece! Better than a “DIY”
Only if the puzzle is still being sold though!
I suspect this would only be for modern puzzles, and not ones that are more than say, 20 years old.
Also, sometimes they just send you the whole puzzle, I’m not sure I would want to sort through 2000 pieces to find one lol
@voldy bro at that point u can just throw away the puzzle with the missing piece and keep the new one lol. Simple.
The Wacky Artist pretty much lol
Wow your channel just poped up while looking through youtube and I saw how to do replacement puzzle pieces, always handly indeed to know how to make this. I've had the odd piece missing and ended up writing on the box missing a piece, and when going back to maybe build the puzzle again, I didn't want to bother due to the missing piece. Thanks for sharing. I've joined your channel, looks awesome and creative, well done!! 🧩🧩 ( Sharlene from Vancouver Island, Victoria, BC 🇨🇦🌲)
Loved this video ... very helpful... I'm ready to try to make a replacement piece. Thank you!!!
I’ve made puzzle pieces using the box they came in as a replacement. I picked an area that was similar in color and texture and drew on it with markers if needed. It wouldn’t work for a face but for a solid area or a texture like trees, it worked perfectly. Thank you for the great idea. I just finished a 2000 piece puzzle that I wanted to hang up but it is missing three pieces.