Magic and more

We've been collecting puzzles for too many years to count.  During this time we have amassed a large number of puzzles that do not really get played with, or even a lot of attention.  Normally these puzzles would be tossed in a drawer or a box in the back of the closet and be forgotten.  I decided that they too had to be displayed.  To do this, we had to get creative.  I'm talking about sliding tile puzzles and folding magic type puzzles.  

First off, at one point in time I had a great fondness for magic type puzzles.  I had many custom made by my friends Cynthia and Michael in Hong Kong.  I hunted down every commercially made version I could find.  Fast forward to 2018 and we now have a house that can display these items.  The problem is, they are flat.  In Hong Kong, they were under my bed in a box marked "Magic puzzles", folded as compactly as possible and kept away from fingers that would play and the dust bunnies.  The flatness of the puzzles ended up being a good thing for us.  I spent days trying to work out how and where to display these. They take up a lot of shelf space if they are laid out flat.  On my way to the gym, I had an epiphany!  Use the walls!  And the rest as they say, is history.  

I ordered 100 Command Strip hooks and a box of BlueTac and went to work.  The Command Strips are wonderful as they can be removed and replaced at will without damaging the walls.  BlueTac has been my friend for well over 20 years now. It is beautiful in that, it too can be removed from walls without causing damage (if done right, and if your walls have good paint on them.) I designed a pattern for the magic puzzles and began placing hooks around the wall for the magics to slide into.  Where these did not work, or were too large to hold the smaller puzzles, I used BlueTac to hold them in place.  This collection is complete as far as we are concerned.  If newer versions come out, we may decide to expand but this is most likely not going to happen.  

The wall opposite the magics holds a number of sliding tile puzzles and mazes.  These too are puzzles that we are not keen to collect more of unless of course a new and innovative design comes out.  Many of these are from my daughters toys when she was younger.  This makes them just too sentimental to get rid of.  And yet, we know they will never be touched by us. Again, Command Strips and BlueTac to the rescue.  We used larger hooks to hold up the big puzzles, and BlueTac to hold the small light weight pieces.  

All in all, I'm quite pleased with the way these puzzles have been displayed.  Had it not been for 'modern hanging technology' these puzzles would still be in boxes in the back of drawers and closets.

And now for the downside.  I've discovered that over a period of two years, some of the Command Strips have lost their grip.  When this happens, not only does the puzzle fall off the wall, but there is also a chunk of paint taken off.  In hindsight, perhaps this isn't the best way to display these puzzles.  But what I've noticed is that the puzzles that this is happening to are the larger heavier puzzles.  The strips seem to work for up to 8 tiles, but more than that and it's hit and miss. As I lay here typing this, I have heard two puzzles fall.  I guess I could combine the BlueTac and the Command Strips and hope this will work.  I'd hate to have a more permanent solution.  The wall would look like swiss cheese. 

At last count the magic wall had 93 puzzles, and the sliding tile wall had 97.  That's quite a few puzzles for something we just don't collect.