Over the River by Susan Winget – Ceaco – 500 pieces
Over the River is the companion puzzle to one I assembled in February of this year. They come in a book box with two compartments – each holds a puzzle with cork backing, both by the same artist. Like many of the “different” Ceaco puzzles it was very good quality.
🎶Over the River and through the woods, to grandmother’s house we go!🎶
The first one I put together from this box was Simple Pleasures, and it seemed much easier to assemble than this puzzle (although my memory isn’t as reliable as it used to be 👵). There were so many places around the whimsies that didn’t connect at all, and it was a bit frustrating to constantly have to fix pieces that had moved. It can get quite tedious – but sometimes that’s how whimsies go.
With these puzzles it’s sometimes hard to find all the whimsy pieces before you begin; so these are some, but definitely not all of them…
The scalloped edges aren’t as easy to assemble as you’d think, so I began with the words. It took way more brain power than I’d assumed!
The inset scenes were lovely!
Even though it gave my gray cells a little bit of a workout, it was great fun. And you definitely can’t beat the price – 99 cents for two 500 piece puzzles with cork backing! I absolutely got more than a dollar’s worth of entertainment. ☺
Cottages by Kim Leo – Lafayette Puzzle Factory – 500 pieces
I’ve run out of things to say about these mini shaped puzzles. They’re adorably cute and lots of fun!
I’m not sure what my expectations were with these cottages, but for some reason I can’t explain I wasn’t as entertained by these puzzles as much as I’d hoped. The quality is the same as the previous puzzles, but there was just something missing for me. Still, that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy them, because I absolutely did.
I couldn’t seem to pick any of the cottages as my favorites, so I decided to take close-up pictures of all of them. 😁
Don’t they all look like lovely places to visit over the summer?
Although they weren’t as entertaining as I’d hoped, they were still fun – and terribly cute!
Some of the colors on these yummy desserts were the brightest and most colorful of all the mini shaped puzzles I’ve done so far, and they were so much fun! This was the last set that we finished during our mini puzzle marathon that had us completing 1500 pieces (3 sets) in one day!
There are only two sets left – mini cottages, and a second set of birds. I’m a little sad that there aren’t any more to look forward to, but I’m so happy I found them and that they brought me so much puzzle happiness. (Lafayette Puzzle Factory – if you’re listening, PLEASE make some more of these fun mini puzzles. Please.)
I put together the chocolate mousse cake, mom did the rainbow cake, and my son assembled the shakes. He couldn’t understand why in the world anyone would put pretzels or cracker jacks on a shake! (Seems weird to me too, but then again salty and sweet is a fantastic combination)
The fact that these were all so many different shapes made them lots of fun, a little challenging, and did I mention they were lots of fun? I loved them!!
Obviously I adore these little puzzle sets, if my count is correct this is the 11th set that I’ve done! Perhaps I’m a teeny bit obsessed. 😎 Of course part of it may be that my son loves working on them too and comes out of his room/cave to sit on my bed, watch tv with me, and work on these puzzles with his old mom. Quality time together with the people that I love makes puzzling even better! 💗
These were so much more difficult than the rest of the individual puzzles we’ve assembled! They were still fun though – lots of fun. The aren’t as brightly colored as the rest of the small shaped puzzles we’ve put together, but they were so beautiful!
My oldest son helped out and was completely engrossed in this set of puzzles. He started out with the elephant and it was much more challenging than we thought it would be. He worked on it for a LONG time and wouldn’t accept any help, but he got it done!
Puzzle Posse Member
His puzzle complete!
I think we were all put to the test with this set of puzzles, they definitely didn’t go together as quickly as the others because they didn’t have the brighter colors and more similar shapes as the previous sets we’ve done. I loved looking at them though, and left them assembled on the board for several days and kept thinking they’d be great in a jungle-themed kid’s room – they’re so beautiful!
These puzzles were difficult, but so satisfying to work on. We all loved them!
Today is the start of National Game and Puzzle Week here in the US, which is perfect for taking some of the stress out of spending time with family over Thanksgiving. Is Aunt Matilda always making you wait hours and hours for your holiday meal? Set up a jigsaw puzzle to help pass the time, what a lovely way to spend time with your family and loved ones!
You’ll get no board game recommendations from me – it’s too easy to end up arguing (just my opinion, of course). I love board and card games, but hubby is unbelievably competitive, as are many other family members. A fun game of euchre with my parents ends up with the men getting frustrated with mom and I because we “don’t take it seriously”. Mom and I then purposely try to lose, which mean we almost always end up winning; and we giggle hysterically while it’s happening. It’s safe to say the husbands are unimpressed with our behavior. 😁 I’m a jigsaw puzzle gal all the way; everyone can help, you don’t need to explain the “rules”, and everyone wins. Viva le puzzle!
So onto today’s puzzle, I chose this one for today’s post because it’s a puzzle of playing cards which can be used for many games. This puzzle had me so enraptured that I almost couldn’t walk away. I kept coming back to it even though I wasn’t feeling well; I just had to get a few more pieces put in, and I had to know if all the pieces were there!
Another good quality non-traditional Ceaco. This one is called a Conversation Pieces Trompe L’oeil jigsaw puzzle. (trompe l’oeil is a visual illusion in art, it means to trick or deceive the eye to see the painting as a three-dimensional object) Ceaco has a few of these conversation pieces puzzles, but this is the first one we’ve found in the thrift stores.
I wasn’t planning to document this assembly, but mom was here at the beginning and helped me assemble most of the first part. She went home to get some things done, and I kept sending her updated pictures. So I’ve got pics of the assembly as I went along! We started with the face cards, they were harder to assemble than we bargained for!
Next I assembled the rest of the cards that were face up, and I tried to place them all approximately where they belong in the puzzle. It sure doesn’t look like much, does it?
The next morning I put together the edges; it wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t as difficult as I’d thought either. I was so excited to get that done! All that’s left is to fill in. I can’t explain how engrossed I was in this puzzle and how happy it made me. So happy!
I was hoping to have a picture of it glued and mounted on foam board and hanging in my daughter’s game room. Unfortunately, it’s not on the wall yet. Bummer. Still, we had a great time with this puzzle, and it looks so cool!
Conversation Pieces – Ceaco – 500 pieces
If you’re not up close to see the piece shapes it looks like cards strewn across a table. I think it’s going to look amazing on the wall! Perhaps over the holiday I’ll get it hung up – my daughter and her husband are hosting Thanksgiving this year in their new home. I’m bringing the pies, and something to hang up this puzzle! You might just see a picture of it sometime soon. 😎
