It’s Halloween Holiday Time!

Happy October everyone! I know most people aren’t as excited about Halloween as I am, but it’s my favorite holiday and I’m VERY excited to get to work all my Halloweeny and fall puzzles. You might not be as fired up about them as I am but that’s ok, I’ll be pumped up for all of us.

At first count I have five 1000 piece puzzles that are fall or Halloween specific, a 550 piece, a whole stack of Harry Potter puzzles from Wentworth, and three MicroPuzzles of 150 pieces. Plus, when Penny and I got together last month we played puzzle chess with an adorable 100 piece puzzle that is also Halloween themed, and there will be a fun post about that coming soon.

I’m looking forward to putting all of these puzzles together, but I’m more excited about sharing them all with you – my PADS Posse!🎃🦇👻

Phineas and Ferb

Phineas and Ferb – Mega Puzzles (Multipack) – 150 pieces

This one was fun; the background was a little difficult, but once all the skateboards and characters were together it wasn’t too hard to fill it in. One missing piece on the border, but otherwise this one made me happy.

Like the rest of the puzzles in this multipack the pieces were extremely thin and the fit wasn’t great. But I enjoyed putting this one together regardless of the quality.

This was puzzle 7 out of 8 in the Mega Puzzles multipack that I found a couple of months ago at the thrift store for only $4.99. I’d say I definitely got my money’s worth out of them. Even if I didn’t love all the images it was still entertaining to assemble them, and it’s always good for me to have a few smaller piece count puzzles here to work on in between larger ones.

These were a good find. 🧩💚

Dressed to Shine

Dressed to Shine – Mega Puzzles (Multipack) – 150 pieces

I avoided this image in my thrift store box of eight Disney puzzles for the longest time; but today decided that I needed to finish all of the puzzles that were left in this multipack and get the whole box out of here and back to the thrift store so someone else can enjoy them.

The quality is the same as the previous ones in this Mega Puzzles multipack; thin chipboard, loose fit, etc. But I knew what the quality would be when it was purchased and I still wanted to assemble them. This image is the one I really didn’t care for out of all eight puzzles; that’s ok though, there was still enjoyment to be had in the assembly itself and I did my best.

To me, the Disney princess images that are available for things like puzzles are just ridiculous these days. The face of Cinderella shown here is NOT the same face she had in the movie. What’s wrong with Cinderella’s face the way it was? Why did it have to change? Did the imperfection of an artist-drawn image really need to be changed into a male’s airbrushed concept of femininity? It disgusts me that she’s been updated to be more beautiful and modern; and I really hate that all the princesses seem to have the waistline of a small, sickly pre-teen boy. Ick. What a ridiculous ideal for girls to try to live up to. Just…ick.

*It’s hard to find nice things to say when you’re “in a mood”, and as you can no doubt tell I am most definitely in a mood today. Sometimes it just spills over and comes poring out of my fingertips and you get a post like this where I rant about Disney movies, how things were better back in the day, leaving good things alone, and feminism. I’m not apologizing for it, just explaining it.*

Country Delivery

Country Delivery by Eduard – Buffalo – 1000 pieces

This puzzle was so entertaining that I spent WAY too much time at the board with no breaks. I’m paying for it today, but it was totally worth it! I love a slice of Americana, and this puzzle is so beautiful with just the right amount of challenge.

Usual Buffalo quality, no problems at all other than a shiny finish. The completed puzzle is lovely and it’s one I’d do again if there weren’t hundreds of other puzzles here for me to do. The Country Life series has so many great images, seeing how fun this one was makes me want to get more of them – many more. 😇

When’s the last time you saw one of these out in the world? I couldn’t even tell you the last time I saw a real phone booth or public telephone anywhere. The Bell system, anyone still remember that? My dad worked almost his entire adult life for Michigan Bell, before they were taken over by AT&T. Man, that seems like a lifetime ago.

This puppy seems out of place to me, adorable as it is. I have no problem with digital artists, obviously, as Aimee Stewart is my absolute favorite and she is a digital artist. I know the images we puzzle are many times manipulated to make them more pleasing to the eye, etc.; but for some reason this puppy and bucked just seem very out of place – like they were just plopped there because something was needed to break up all the pavement. Nothing else in this image seems to me like it doesn’t belong, just this. This is all just my opinion of course, if you don’t agree just pay no attention to my rantings.

I just love the look of this old delivery vehicle. Can’t you hear that old timey horn blowing? Ah-oo-ga!

If this image gooses your gumdrops I say go for it; it’s absolutely worth your time and money. 👍🧩💚

Fast Food Craving

Fast Food Craving by Graffi*tee Studios – MasterPieces – 500 pieces

I enjoyed this puzzle, and even though it was a little more challenging than I bargained for it was an entertaining build – and I love the look of it!

This one came from a shopping trip out in the world where I picked up some 300, 500, and 1000 piece puzzles. I cannot seem to stop myself from buying more, even though there are PLENTY of puzzles here to keep me busy for a very, very, very long time. Most of the ones I purchased were MasterPieces, and I have to say I am truly loving their quality. Interesting shapes, great fit, beautiful reproduction, nice chipboard – they seem to have it all under control.

I never really thought about this, but there was a time when drive thru windows didn’t exist and people needed to be taught how to use them. So of course a sign like this might have been necessary. As a person who used to work in a fast food place I can tell you that people STILL don’t know proper etiquette and have to be told what to do or not to do. Turn off your windshield wipers people! You’re just throwing water on them.

How would you like this place? A restaurant with a sign that says JUST EGGS and maybe bacon? Yes please! I love breakfast and a good plate of eggs with some potatoes, toast, and maybe a little bacon sounds just about perfect right now. Yum.

You guessed it, I just had to. Apologies if these pictures don’t tickle your fancy, but they definitely make me smile. With all the crap companies out there making crap puzzles for a quick buck, having a great quality puzzle that fits so well you can stand it on it’s edges is quite a blessing to me. Standing up puzzles has been going on for more than a decade in my house, and it will continue till I’m gone or can’t puzzle any more. It just makes me happy, and what a great reason to do it, huh?