This puzzle surprised me! It’s exactly the kind of Christmas image that I stay pretty far away from, the artwork just isn’t my pile of pieces. Interestingly though, the actual assembly was much more entertaining than anticipated and I found myself quite engaged with it.
My suspicion is that had it been a larger piece count it would driven me crazy. All the falling fuzzy snow, soft outdoor lights, and the typical Coca-Cola-type Santa image would, in a larger puzzle, have definitely brought out the Grinch in me. Luckily I came across this image in only 100 pieces and to my great surprised enjoyed it very much. It’s a Christmas miracle! 😉
This is the halfway mark of the advent calendar, and it isn’t a surprise to me that these little puzzles are delightful to assemble – especially in the midst of the holiday rush. There are places to go and many things to do, and sometimes the only time I touch puzzle pieces is assembling these little images in the morning.
A deceptively simple looking image, but it was full of brush strokes and made for a little more of a challenge than anticipated! I hadn’t even finished my first cup of coffee this morning before I got going on this puzzle, and had to wake myself up a bit. ☕
So far all of these little puzzles have been assembled blind, I put the box away before I pour out the pieces and assemble using only colors and shapes. If I were looking at the image, this one might not have been so challenging first thing in the morning with my bleary eyes and un-sipped coffee. But it’s one of the cute ones, and while it might not normally be my pile of pieces it was enjoyable this morning.
These little one coffee puzzles have been the only puzzling I’ve done since Sunday morning. Today’s the day to turn it around though, I’ve got to get myself back to the board!
There’s so much preparation and stress around this holiday, and I’ve gotten myself wrapped up in it again wanting to make sure my family has a good Christmas – for reasons my regular readers understand. But puzzles help me relax and de-stress, so I need to pull myself up by my fuzzy slipper straps (not wearing boots) and put a puzzle on this board today. Ooh-rah!
Yes, puzzle friends, your eyes are not deceiving you, another puzzle with a missing piece. I am very disappointed and have contacted Ceaco.
I’m not one of those people who thinks a puzzle with a missing piece is the end of the world, and contacts the company to demand a replacement for every puzzle with a missing piece. In fact, the few times I have contacted companies I have refused replacements, my purpose was only to let them know about a manufacturing issue that they needed to address.
For me, once I’ve assembled the puzzle I have no need of a replacement. Even when there are missing pieces I still got enjoyment putting the puzzle together; and I feel that asking for a free puzzle because of a missing piece is ridiculous. There is no way to guarantee that a missing piece is a manufacturing problem or if it’s the result of “user error”. People swear up and down that they have looked “everywhere” and it must be the company’s fault. Sometimes it is, to be sure; but I believe most of the time it is not. (These are my just opinions, and in no way am I passing judgement on anyone else.)
My purpose in contacting Ceaco was to let them know that there does seem to be a manufacturing problem with these puzzles. I have had 2 puzzles with missing pieces out of only 4 that I have assembled, and Penny has had an extra piece in one of her puzzles from the same set. These puzzles were assembled in one sitting, the pieces were dumped out onto a tray, and I am certain the missing ones just weren’t in the bag. It’s been my experience that Ceaco usually does a good job with their special editions, like this one; unfortunately, this advent calendar seems to have issues.
I did not ask for a replacement, because frankly I don’t wish to do these holiday puzzles again after the holidays. They should be made aware of problems though, and I wanted to express my disappointment. I made a special trip to the store for these puzzles, and that’s a big deal for someone with my physical problems. The advent calendar of puzzles made this PADS sufferer very happy and I was so excited to get it and start assembling a puzzle each day. Having missing pieces in 50% of the puzzles I’ve put together so far is quite frustrating, and I felt Ceaco needed to hear about it.
Anyway, that’s about 400 words written about a kids puzzle with a missing piece. Yikes. Sorry for the rant guys, but thanks for listening.
Mr. Penguin here was pretty easy to assemble, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t enjoyable. He’d be especially fun to put together with children, if you have any of those around the house. I don’t have little ones anymore, but that never stops me from enjoying a kids puzzle. 😉
I’ve been assembling these puzzles on the day they’re posted, and I would recommend assembling them that way – one every day. Even if you’re a badass puzzler who only assembles 1000 piece puzzles, sometimes the holiday rush and stress doesn’t leave us any time for our favorite hobby. These puzzles only take 5 minutes or so depending on your skill level, and there’s usually a small space on a table or the counter to put a small puzzle like this together.
Christmas is only 9 days away, and Hanukkah is in 7 days – things are getting busy and many of us are caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holidays. There isn’t always time to sit down and lay out a larger puzzle and these little advent calendar puzzles are perfect for just a few minutes of puzzling in an otherwise very busy day.
Of course, who am I to tell anyone how to puzzle? If you want to do all of them in one sitting that’s perfectly alright as well. As for me though, I’m enjoying doing them one by one. Sometimes there’s a puzzle with an image that doesn’t strike my fancy, but it’s only 100 pieces, and tomorrow’s puzzle might be lots of fun!
I know, the picture is cockeyed. Normally I would fiddle with it until it looks better, but I literally just finished putting it together and I’m a little miffed that there’s a missing piece. These things happen, and it isn’t the end of the world, but it’s annoying.
The image, once assembled, doesn’t look that difficult at all – it’s deceiving. It was a bit of a challenge for a 100 piece puzzle, and all the greenery, ribbons, and fence posts looked the same to me. Still, I am a puzzle goddess (according to my daughter who loves me) and in the end this little puzzle was all put back together, almost.
A missing piece!
It’s a little funny because last night Penny was putting together the puzzle for day 6, and she had an extra piece! I know the piece isn’t anywhere here because I opened the bag, dumped the pieces on a tray, and never left the room while I was assembling it. It isn’t stuck to my arms, or on the floor, it’s almost certainly in someone else’s bag of pieces.
Ah well. Life goes on.
The image isn’t one I would normally choose for a puzzle, it’s honestly the type of Christmas image that I don’t really care for. But in 100 pieces I can assemble just about any image. For me, this is the one I have to get through in order to assemble the images that look more fun – it’s the brussel sprouts of this advent calendar. 🤢
My Jigsaw Journal 