Vibrant Puzzle Calendar Kit Puzzles 3 & 4

This is the second puzzle from this calendar kit that I’ve assembled. I really am enjoying them! I don’t normally do 2 sided puzzles, but these small ones have been pretty fun. If you didn’t see my post on the calendar kit and what is included click here see puzzles 1 and 2.

The images are all stock photos it seems, and they’re all flowers in some form or another. Pretty pictures! Even though they are only 100 pieces it’s still enjoyable for me, and it’s still interesting to watch the images come together. I used to be snobby and think that puzzles less than 1000 pieces weren’t for me, they’re too easy or not worth my time. I have, of course, come to my senses! 😉

As long as you’re having fun, who cares about anything else? Doesn’t matter if it’s a brand no one else seems to like, or you don’t finish your puzzles as fast as other people. What’s important is that you’re enjoying the hobby, right? I say if it isn’t fun for you, stop! If you’re enjoying it, go for it. It isn’t a competition, it’s a hobby. And first and foremost it’s supposed to be fun. (stepping down from my soapbox)

It’s so interesting the variety of puzzles we’ve found in the many thrift stores in our area. Vintage, newer, from gently loved to never been opened; from Aquarius to White Mountain, and puzzles from many countries! We have one from South Africa that I haven’t assembled yet, and mom just found an awesome Japanese puzzle that I’m working on at the moment. 😎

Vibrant Puzzle Calendar Kit Puzzles 1 & 2

Super interesting puzzles mom found at the thrift store! There are six 100 piece double sided puzzles to assemble and glue for use with a dry erase board calendar; a different image for each month.

The brand is Mega Puzzles, but they are much thicker than any Mega Puzzles I’ve done before. And the most amazing part? This is from the thrift store and everything is still inside the box! All puzzles (I’m hoping all the pieces are accounted for), the calendar, the dry erase marker, glue and a spreader to use with the glue. Wow!

The puzzles are thicker than the normal Mega Puzzle, but one side has an odd finish. I don’t know how to describe it, but you can tell which side of the puzzle you’re working on which I suppose is the reason for it. In my opinion one side looks better than the other, but it isn’t too bad. I enjoyed assembling the first puzzle (well, 2 puzzles) and have shown each side above along with the calendar. I haven’t glued the puzzles, but just placed it carefully so you can see what it looks like. Actually, pretty cool idea!

There are two different editions of this calendar kit that I was able to find online. Mega Puzzles aren’t a brand I would normally seek out, but this one is pretty neat and I wouldn’t mind finding the other edition to try. 🙂 I loved working on a 100 piece puzzle that had a more adult image; stay tuned for the other 5 puzzles!

 

 

Ice Age Dawn of the Dinosaurs

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Ice Age Dawn of the Dinosaurs – Mega Puzzles – 100 pieces

Cute puzzle – thrift store purchase – and all of the pieces were there. That’s always a plus. 🙂

I haven’t really given any “bad” reviews on kids puzzles before that I can remember, but this one wasn’t great. As you can see the completed puzzle doesn’t lie flat and the pieces were extremely thin. I haven’t really gotten any Mega Puzzles that have been this lacking before, and I’m hoping this was a fluke. I haven’t done any adult puzzles from this company so I don’t have much to compare it to.

Puzzles don’t always have to be cream of the crop quality-wise (I’d love it if they were though 😉 ). I was having a bad day and resting in bed – and even though the quality is less than optimal it was an enjoyable distraction for a few minutes. The image is cute and any kid who is a fan of the Ice Age movies will enjoy this puzzle.

Snow White

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Snow White – Mega Puzzles – 300 pieces

The colors on this puzzle are gorgeous! The image reproduction is crisp and clean and the colors are bright and beautiful. I saved this one for last because Snow White was the first section of Memorable Disney Moments that I did, so it seemed fitting for the last day of Disney week on the blog.

The pieces for the 300 piece puzzles in this box were actually bigger than the ones for the 150 piece puzzles. Odd, it’s usually the other way around, the more pieces the smaller they are. This puzzle measures approximately 11 x 16, still a bit small for a 300 piece puzzle but a good size.

The pieces fit together a little more snugly for this puzzle than the previous ones from this box, which was nice. It makes for a better tactile experience, at least I think so anyway. It didn’t take long to assemble either, and I was very impressed with the image reproduction, it was just beautiful! This was the best puzzle in the box, in my opinion, with the best quality of them all. It’s interesting that they were all from the same manufacturer but had such variation in quality, especially between the sizes.

Today is the day we complete the final assembly of the world’s largest puzzle! It’s going to be a long exhausting day for me, so I will post pictures and info about it tomorrow. Wish me luck – it’s so exciting! 😎

 

 

Cars

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Cars – Mega Puzzles – 150 pieces

This was the last of three 150 piece puzzles in the box, and by pure coincidence the new Cars movie is being released today! Perfect time for this puzzle, don’t you think?

Thankfully all the pieces were accounted for in this puzzle, and it was another quick and easy assembly. Lightning McQueen was easy to pull pieces for, and after he was finished the rest of the puzzle kind of falls into place. Pull the trees and sky, then Mater and Fillmore, and finally Guido and any filler or background pieces left over. Quick and fun, and not too bad quality-wise.

The pieces are thin, but there was no image lift on this puzzle, the pieces fit together well, the image reproduction was very nice, and it’s not so difficult that it would be frustrating for a child. The pieces are small for a child’s puzzle, so I wouldn’t recommend it for very young children, perhaps 6 years or older; the recommendation on the box say ages 6-99.

Disney – Pixar movies were the ones released when my children were young, and hopefully they have good memories of watching them with their parents. As soon as the movies were released on VHS (yes, I’m that old), we all piled in the car and went to the store to buy a copy.  We watched them together as a family, and I have wonderful memories of spending time with the kids – laughing at the jokes and getting emotional at the sad parts – but enjoying just being with them and watching them discover the wonder of Disney movies. Perhaps they will one day share these movies with their own children and create new and wonderful memories too.  ❤🎞