Birdhouse Celebration

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Birdhouse Celebration by Lori Schory – Sunsout – 1000 pieces

My first shaped puzzle (other than a circle) than I’ve completed. I’ve started several shaped puzzles and for one reason or another I haven’t completed any of them. Perhaps I had a mental block about them and just thought a puzzle should be rectangular or square. Whatever the reason, I finally got an entire shaped puzzle completed! (Mom and I assembled this one together, I have to give her a shout out. Hi mom!)

It’s a beautiful  image and mom and I enjoyed the assembly very much. It’s even got a little bird who’s coming to visit but didn’t quite make it into the puzzle. How cute! This puzzle would be great for the family around July 4th. Have everyone over for the holiday and you can have them help assemble a puzzle while you’re waiting for the fireworks!

This was the first Sunsout puzzle I assembled that I thought had very good quality. The previous ones I’ve worked I wasn’t pleased with the amount of cardboard backing that didn’t get cut all the way through or was hanging on the back, and the pieces that fit together too tightly so you actually have to work at attaching them.

This puzzle however, had neither of those issues and we enjoyed this puzzle quite a bit. It was nice to be able to pick out the pieces for a small section and work on it without having to refer to the box constantly. The pieces fit together very well and there was no excess cardboard or paper hanging off the back of the pieces.  The colors were bold and beautiful and even though the piece shapes didn’t have much variety it was still a fun assembly. The quality of this puzzle was quite good to my surprise, and I’m glad! Sunsout isn’t a company I normally purchase from, but if we can check out the pieces at the thrift store first then I’m all for it.

Follow Your Nose

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Follow Your Nose – Karmin – 500 pieces

This puzzle is adorable and was quite fun to do even though the quality wasn’t stellar. I’ve found that sometimes if the puzzle image is something that you really like or connect with that even a poorer quality puzzle is a fun assembly. The pieces of this puzzle were very thin and they were easily upset if you accidentally bumped up against them.

Although the quality left something to be desired, mom and I still had lots of fun working on this puzzle together. It was well worth the 69 cents we paid for it at the thrift store!

Butterfly

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Butterfly – Remarks – 250 pieces

Only 250 pieces, just enough for a fun hour or so – perfect! This was another thrift store puzzle we thought we might give my honorary grandson, but after seeing the pieces I think they may be too small for him just yet. He has excellent fine motor skills for an almost 4 year old, but I think this puzzle might be more frustrating than anything else, so I’ll hold off on giving it to him for now.

Excellent puzzle from Remarks, pieces fit together really well and we had a great time putting it together. The image quality was amazing and the colors were really sharp and beautiful. Awesome quality from Remarks, the best I’ve had so far.

We should try to find more 250 piece puzzles, this was fun!!

Sugar Plum Fairies

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Sugar Plum Fairies  by Bill Bell- Ceaco (Glitter & Glow) – 100 pieces

Yup another 100 piece puzzle! If I do them I might as well put them on the blog – puzzles are puzzles no matter the size!

This puzzle would be difficult for a young child I believe, because a couple of more “mature” ladies were laughing while trying to assemble this because we found it a bit taxing!!! Not kidding. 😮

Typical Ceaco puzzle, nothing new in the quality category. Image reproduction and piece shapes are good, but the pieces are a bit thin and the puzzle doesn’t always lie flat when completed.

I know this is a bit feminine for a boy, but why not give him a chance to assemble it? He may find the increased difficulty a fun challenge, you never know,  right?

Beer Caps

Beer Caps by Charlie Girard – White Mountain – 550 pieces

Mom and I finished this in an afternoon while visiting. She didn’t think she was going to like it, but once we got going she was enjoying it. After a while we were doing the same stuff we always do when we’re working on a puzzle together and cracking each other up. Fun puzzle (although neither of us are beer drinkers) – and perfect for St. Patrick’s Day! 🙂

This was the first 550 piece White Mountain puzzle I’ve done, and I was surprised that the pieces were random cut instead of grid cut. I don’t have anything to compare it to so I’m not sure if that is usual for the smaller piece count puzzles or not. It made the puzzle a little more of a challenge, but it was still very entertaining.

My only problem with this puzzle was that the image on the box wasn’t correct. It was just a small deviation, but one that confused us at first. The second beer cap in the bottom row is red in the actual puzzle, but black on the box. It was baffling for a minute before we figured out what was wrong.

Otherwise the quality of the puzzle was quite good, I’ve never had a problem with a White Mountain product. This one was no exception, and was great fun – White Mountain has the best collage puzzles!