All About Puzzles
If you’ve been following along on Instagram for more than two days, you know I am a puzzle FAN.
It’s a fairly recent development for me – I didn’t really get into puzzles until the last five years or so.
And then the pandemic really kicked it into high gear (like about a zillion other people).
It’s one of my favorite ways to relax in the evening after the girls are in bed and there’s nothing I like better than turning on a good audiobook and puzzling away. It’s also something Tally and I really enjoy doing together when the other girls are at school.
Here are the answers to some of the questions I get asked most about puzzles.
All About Puzzles
Where do you get your puzzles?
Some puzzles I get as gifts from puzzle manufacturers, some I borrow from friends or family, and some I buy at Target or Amazon or Zulily. I even have picked up some from library sales or thrift stores – it doesn’t bother me if a few pieces are missing from a puzzle I bought for fifty cents.
Where do you do your puzzles?
In our old house, I did them on our coffee table or the play table in our basement family room. When we moved to this house, we had a plastic folding table in our dining room that I used for puzzles and over Christmas, we upgraded to an actual dining table which is where I do all my puzzles now. I really need to get a puzzle mat so that I can move them off the table if we need it for games.
Is the rest of your family into puzzles?
Ella and Tally (who are 11 and 4) are my most interested. Ella got into puzzles when she was about 5 and has done dozens of them over the years. Tally often does them during quiet time in the morning when the other girls are at school and we spend a lot of time doing them together too. Bart is not that into them, but occasionally will sit down and work on them with me.
Do you have a puzzle method?
I usually flip over all the pieces first, pulling out the edge pieces as I see them, then assemble the edge and then do sections as the colors or patterns stand out to me. I don’t use any sorting trays (although they are cool!).
Do you use the box image or do you think that’s cheating?
Absolutely I use the box image!
What sizes of puzzles do you like best?
If I want something I can do in an afternoon, 500 is the sweet spot for me. If I want something that will take me a couple of days, I like 1000 piece puzzles.
What are your favorite puzzle brands?
I pretty much like any puzzle as long as it’s high quality enough that the pieces actually snap into place, but my go-to puzzle brands are Galison, Workman, Cobble Hill, and Ravensburger.
Do you ever give up on a puzzle?
Yes and I use the same method I use for reading – if it’s sat untouched for a few days, I know it’s not one I’m really excited about and I move on to one I’ll actually enjoy. I just gave up on this puzzle last weekend and I have no regrets. WAY too much white space.
What do you do with puzzles when you finish them?
I enjoy it for about five minutes and then break it up and put it back in the box. For me, a puzzle is all about the experience, not a final product, so I feel no need to save them or frame them or anything else. When I’m done, the puzzle has done it’s job and can go back in the box.
Do you ever re-do puzzles?
Yes! Every couple of years, I revisit old favorites. I’m also happy to loan them out to family members or friends.
Where do you store your puzzles?
We have a big bank of cupboards in our basement family room and two of them are dedicated to puzzles. I store them vertically so that you can pull out the puzzle you want without having to disrupt a whole stack.
And if you’re curious about some of the puzzles I’ve done recently, you can see a bunch of them here! (This Mixtape puzzle and the Stickers puzzle are some of my all-time favorites).
If you liked this post about puzzles, you might like these posts too:
- 20 Fun Activities for Kids to Do at Home
- Jigsaw Puzzles for Kids
- Diamond Painting: The Craft My Girls Are Obsessed With
Photos by Heather Mildenstein
I also enjoy puzzles, great for the long, cold winters in Minnesota. I often take a picture of my finished puzzle “just for fun.” I recently did a puzzle with my grandgirls that was a “glow in the dark” going to Grandma’s Christmas scene by Bits and Pieces. (#45515). We thought the “lights” and Christmas tree in the puzzle would illuminate, BUT, no, it was the snow on the ground and on the trees and house roof! The girls (and I) LOVED it.
A few tips we love:
*When you are done, put the pieces in a ziploc bag and then put back in the box for storing- that way if the box ever spills open, the pieces don’t! 🙂
*Also, we’ve started writing our names and the date we completed the puzzle on the inside lid and when we share, people also make their mark, too! So fun! When we pull the puzzle out again, it’s fun to see the little notes!
We are a puzzle family. One puzzle that everyone in the family enjoyed recently, 4 yr old and 6 year old, was the Lego brand-Minifigures. Yes, it was difficult for them but they enjoyed the challenge of finding each little person.
We’ve been a 1000 piece puzzle family for about a decade. We own probably a dozen White Mountain puzzles that we purchased on Amazon. Love the quality and they have a humongous selection.
Have you tried the Magic Puzzles????!
I’m a puzzle lover too! And I got this puzzle table for Christmas and it’s a game changer! You can use the legs and sit in the floor & watch a movie while doing the puzzle or fold up the legs and do it at a table and it makes it so easy to move wherever you want! Super great quality and it has fir sorting drawers that you can store all the pieces in & they are magnetic when shut do they don’t open when you move the bars around! Highly recommend to anyone who loves to puzzle!
Jumbl Puzzle Board Rack | 23” x… https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08D6VYX5L?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
WAIT, there are people who think using the picture on the box is cheating??? How do they ever finish any puzzles?!?!?!
I have a puzzle table (just a semi-cheap one we got from a Target auction 16 years ago and has been taken up and down as needed) in my office for the winter and it has been WONDERFUL for being able to leave a puzzle going without using up the whole dining table. Makes it harder to get to the vacuum but still worth it.
I’ve been writing the date I finish puzzles on the inside of the box which is fun to see how many times I’ve done each one!
I really fell in love with doing a puzzle while listening to audiotapes this past fall. I find that it’s one of the best stress relievers I can do. However, I think I’ve learned a lot about what I like and don’t like in puzzles. The best puzzles have clearly identifiable mini-sections or scenes that break up the overall puzzle. Lots of text can also be really helpful. If everything is the same color or pattern, it just gets too frustrating to make it enjoyable.
I also LOVE my sorting trays I got for Christmas. I spend a good hour or sorting all of the pieces into color groups and edges at the very beginning and that makes the rest of the puzzle process so much faster and neater since the pieces are all in trays and sorted.
I also love puzzles, right now my favorite is 1000 pieces. My favorite brand at the moment is eeBoo (a woman owned company). I get them from amazon, and I check for deals daily on them. On deal you can get them for 12 to 15 dollars. However, yesterday they had Berlin for 10 dollars. Otherwise they are about 20 dollars. They are sturdy, shiny pieces and no dust and a poster. I also love Galison, Remarks and Mudpuppy. I do like Ravensburger but they have no poster and always labels on the box so you can’t fully see picture and they have tons of dust.