Completed jigsaw puzzle - glue or undo?

I love doing jigsaw puzzles, and used to glue them without question upon completion, but then found that they accumulated with nowhere to put all of them.

I just completed Renoir's "Bouquet of Chrysanthemums", and am debating about whether to glue it or take it apart. I'm quite sure I would not want to do the puzzle again, but I'm not sure where I'd put it if I glued it. I do have one puzzle in my cubicle at work, and could put another one there...

What do you do?

Just a suggestion -

Take a picture of the completed puzzle.  Share it with family and friends, put it on social media, or just put a copy in a frame someplace.  Then, since you don't plan on doing the puzzle again, donate it to a hospital or a school (promise them it has all the pieces!).

Hah! Nohero, that is exactly what I was going to say! A picture of a completed puzzle is something you can enjoy anytime you want and giving away the puzzle pieces lets someone else enjoy the long hours it takes to put together. Someone will enjoy that.

Thanks, nohero. I think part of my problem is that after putting in all that "work" (well, it was fun - addicting, in fact; so much so, that I completed the bulk of it in one day), it seems so silly to just pull it back apart like a Buddhist sand mandala.

I like the idea of donating it, but while I can promise that all the pieces are there, I would bet a swept up mandala that they won't all be there after the puzzle spends any time in a school or hospital, which just slightly bothers me.

Ah, cross-posted with you, OOTG. Perhaps I'll just donate it back to the Morrow Memorial sale, which is probably where I got it in the first place.

Do you know a house bound individual that might enjoy the pleasure of a jigsaw puzzle? Joan Crystal and Bernie come to mind.

We cross posted again. Morrow church donation would ensure someone who likes jigsaw puzzles will get. Please post a picture here. Renoir's " Bouquet of Crysanthemums" sounds beautiful and a beast to complete.

It was challenging due to the odd shapes of the pieces, which sometimes trick your eye into looking for the wrong shape to fit an empty spot, but the variation in the design allowed me to pattern-match pieces and figure out where they go in the frame.

The colors are a little richer than they appear here:

Oh my goodness. It's gorgeous! You must have the patience of a saint.

Nobody ever accused me of being patient. More like dogged determination. I love puzzles and pattern matching - it's almost a drug-like reaction - once I start, it's very hard to stop, hence the completion at around 1am.

It's funny, though. Yesterday I was looking at hyper-realistic drawings and had the same response - that even had I the skill, I'd not have the patience to draw in such excrutiating detail. But now it occurs to me that perhaps it induces the same irresistible sense of "flow" for people who enjoy that kind of drawing, like solving a puzzle, one grid square at a time, and slowly watching it all come together.

It is beautiful.  

OOTG:  Thank you for thinking of me.  I have piles of boxes of jigsaw puzzles, some still on the original shrink wrap, which are not in use because the cat enjoys them even more than I do.  These days most of the jigsaw puzzles I do are electronic.

Perhaps what we need to do is set up a jigsaw exchange, where those who still do the kind of jigsaw puzzles that come in boxes can exchange the puzzles they have completed for some they have not tried yet.

That's a great idea, joan, though I, too, have a backlog of at least 10 jigsaw puzzles waiting to be done. I'm hoping that it's a good brain-training activity for when I'm a bit older and trying to stave off any pending dementia.

What a wonderful idea Joan. The last in real life jigsaw puzzle I did was here in Florida when my first grandson was born and I was visiting for three weeks. That was 22 years ago.

@Jasper,

My fave suggestion is to donate (things) to VA Hospital in East Orange.

So glad to hear there are other puzzle addicts out there!  I do most on-line now, but like to throw in one where I can drag my fingers through boxes full of pieces once in a while.  

It's a tradition to do puzzles with family at Christmas .  We finished one and had started another when I had to scoop it up and take it home with me.  I was just there for the day, and it was a gift..... and there were still several unopened gift puzzles were still floating around).  A puzzle is always a welcome gift from a family member.

I keep some that I think I may possibly do again, but mostly donate others.  I put the pieces in zip-loc bags before donating, so at least pieces won't get lost after they leave me.

Puzzles can also be donated to the books sales at our public libraries, (I'm sure of this at South Orange, not positive about Maplewood).  So there's at least a possbility they'll bring in some $$ for the library, then get donated back or elsewhere.

An exchange is a great idea, Joan.  Though I, too, have several new puzzle gifts calling out to me right now, when the "Christmas stash" is done, I'll be looking for new ones.  

Friend of the Maplewood Library will accept jigsaw puzzles for their book sale.