I was at the thrift store looking at puzzles. This young woman calls me the “Puzzle Lady,” because I only buy puzzles. Sometimes I only find one. Then she tells me to spend more, so I get rewards back.
I did find some beautiful puzzles, see below.
MY BEST LUCK though came when I was standing in line for check out. I happened to look to my left, it was the men’s section. On a shelf with some golfing stuff was this “1,000,000 dollar puzzle.
What… Was I seeing correctly? It was so amusing. What were the chances of seeing that type of puzzle?
I mean, we just started a NEW YEAR. I felt like I hit the jackpot!
The Universe was sending me a “Good Luck” sign. It was a brand new puzzle too. Of course, it will be FUN to put together, ALL those bills at my finger tips. Wow!
So, I bought my Good Luck charm for 2026!
Here are the others I found, really lovely, in great condition, based on authors.
I don’t normally pay attention to cars / trucks, but this one caught my eye. The paint job is fantastic. It’s just perfect. A lot of thought was put into the color. Look at the details.
It’s a truck for holiday magic.. Just needs a Christmas tree in the back with some presents.
I recently did this puzzle. It’s so darn cute. We’ve become so casual, I don’t see people dressed like this. In fact, my mother recently went to the Opera, she said it was a shame, people did not dress up at all.
When my children were young, we always had a chocolate Advent calendar.
Well, this year, I learned that there are Advent Calendars in PUZZLE form. Yes, see photo. You do one puzzle a day and by Christmas Eve, you have the entire puzzle scene finished.
As you can see, I got a little excited and kept puzzling. Each day, in this particular puzzle, there are ~50 pieces a day. So, it’s fun and easy.
I really liked this stained glass Christmas scene. However, they have puzzles that are not religious in nature and where each puzzle stands alone. So, this can be for everyone who enjoys puzzling.
Anyone else out there doing an PUZZLE Advent Calendar?
I’ve wanted to try this Ravensburger puzzle, Title: Colors on Colors, designed by Karen Puzzles for a while. It looked fun. However, I didn’t want to pay $24.99 for it.
Months have gone by, and I was at the thrift store and “there it was!” I got excited, but then my heart sank. The box was not taped closed. So, we know what that means… most likely pieces had fallen out.
Still, I had wanted it and for $1.99, it was worth a try.
From the get go, there were no end pieces. Not one. Were they lost or was that the design?
I continued… I was NOT enjoying this puzzle. It took me a while to figure out why.
Look at the photo below. The puzzle design from the box shows the distinct design of each puzzle piece. So, of course, we imagine that’s how “we” would be piecing the puzzle together.
Well, the designer did not think this through. The manufacturer put the puzzle cutting grid above the design. The result was a big mess, making this puzzle feel like your eye sight was out of focus. Definitely not like the design photo on the box.
At any rate, these things happen. I was glad I didn’t pay $24.99 for it.
I was amused at how many pieces were missing. I still think this “could have been” a FUN puzzle.
I was at Hobby Lobby recently. They were having a puzzle sale, 40% off. Now, that was a good deal. So, I looked at my options. I found this one by Brother Sister Design Studio. I was curious about the “soft touch.”
This was a fabulous puzzle. First off, it’s so cheerful. I was surprised at how huge the puzzle pieces were. I give a comparison, see the blue puzzle piece, it’s from a 1,000 piece puzzle I’m working on. Then to the right was a puzzle piece from this puzzle. Fun, but it did feel a little bit like going back to grade school.
Finally, the finished product. HOWEVER, it’s hard to fit the pieces in the box, see photo. I mean, who wants to “carefully” stack puzzle pieces in a box, so they will fit?? Not me, but I do LOVE this puzzle.
In December, after a snow storm, longing for the beach, I decided it was time for a new puzzle. A purchase that should have taken 15-20 minutes turned into 2 hours of searches. As I wasn’t sure what type of puzzle I wanted, my search took me in all sorts of directions.
Did I want to spend time making a puzzle of Italy, cupcakes, stamps, Ireland, doors, dogs, Spain, so many choices. Nothing seemed appealing, until I came upon this simple beach scene that reminded me of my childhood days on Lake Michigan. BINGO! I smiled and made my purchase.
I enjoy doing puzzles while listening to an audio book. When my puzzle FINALLY arrived, it was not in stock, so a 2 day delivery turned into a 4 week wait, I headed to the online library. I like books by Jeffrey Archer; unfortunately, so do other people, wait times were way too long.
As I searched for alternative books, I came across this book, by Phaedra Patrick, “The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper.” I liked the cover and the title made me smile. I decided to give the book a try. So far, so good. It’s an interesting story about a man whose wife died and he finds a charm bracelet she had which he had never seen before. Wthout spoiling the story, I think you can tell where this tale is headed — YES?!
The key to any great audio book is the narrator. A good narrator can give a book a 5 Star rating. This narrator, James Langton, doesn’t disappoint. He uses such funny voices for the different characters, it’s a joy to listen to him.
I just started. On the puzzle, I always start with the border first, then I try to find something easy to make, like the pink surf board, so I feel a sense of accomplishment at the “get go.” Next the umbrella AND then to find out WHERE Arthur goes in discovering the story behind his late wife’s charm bracelet.
Clever story idea. Don’t they say everyone has a secret even long term marriages, 50+ years, where life seemed rather dull and routine, suddenly a secret is revealed. The other amusing part of this book is how children are used to their parents being a certain boring way and when something changes, and they see their parent with energy or enjoying life — they don’t like it! The children suddenly become suspicious of their parent and their new life motives! LOL
Let’s see where this story goes… Personally, I want to see Arthur start enjoying life!
Brilliant Viewpoint 