All That White
Are there any cold weather and snow lovers out there? No? Just me? Hopefully there are a few of you to join me in my love for all things winter, because I am 100% a snow baby for sure! When we moved here from Minnesota, I was in fourth grade, and always tried to walk to school in shorts and a T shirt in the middle of winter. To avoid Child Protective Services getting called, my parents compromised that I had to at least wear jeans, and pack a coat in my book bag so I could prove I had the necessary warm attire. Later on, when I went on a skiing trip with my youth group in high school - I definitely skied in waterproof pants … and a T-shirt! For me- the colder the better!
In a past blog, I talked about how much I love holiday puzzles. And I really do. I’m such a sucker for anything holiday themed. But something I’ve noticed that I subconsciously avoided, and maybe why Christmas puzzles aren’t my favorite holiday themed puzzle, is because… well, let’s just say it… all that white! For someone who loves snow as much as I do, I definitely try to avoid it as much as possible in puzzles. So I figured, why not dive head first into all that snowy delightfulness, and see how it really is to puzzle all that white.
Hill of a Lot of Snowmen by Cobble Hill
I started pretty tame with this gorgeous snowman puzzle from Cobble Hill. I mean- I just could not get over the title: Hill of a lot of Snowmen. Is there anything truer than this puzzle title? It is so descriptive and adorable- all at the same time!
There’s definitely white, but it is mixed with a lot of other colors, so of course the colorful parts went together first, and then I filled in the background of the whites/off whites/bluish whites etc. This one wasn’t easy per se, but it certainly wasn’t a huge challenge. I was able to make continual progress, and never felt stuck. The pops of color kept me interested, and the fun random Cobble Hill puzzle cut helped quite a bit too!
I upped the ante then, and decided to just dive into my next puzzle: Christmas Choir by Piatnik. I definitely needed to work up the courage for this one, because whew, there is so much white! And I won’t lie to you, this one was definitely a challenge.
To begin, I started from the top- and pretty much got the sky, those rolling hills, and the trees done. The trees were really easy to sort out, so it was a good place to start. Then I moved onto the buildings because again, those pieces were standouts against the white, and easy to identify. Then I literally pulled all of the pieces that had mostly color in them, and piecemealed it together. I matched colors to colors- which meant I was usually building snowmen hats and scarves, plus some of the adorable decorations as well. From there I pulled any pieces that had any sort of color (even the smallest bit counted), which helped me fill in the cute little snowmen faces, and finally start to connect the dots of this puzzle map.
This puzzle was certainly a piece by piece puzzle- meaning I wasn’t really able to sort into large piles of like minded pieces and get big chunks of puzzle done. And that is ok. Even though it was definitely a challenge, the absolutely adorable little snowmen and snowwomen faces just made this puzzle so much fun to work on, and I thoroughly enjoyed it all!
So, the consensus on all that white? Though it definitely adds a layer of challenge to the puzzle, it is NOT unmanageable, and should not be a deterrent to your puzzling choices during the Christmas season! Especially if you’re drawn to cute little snowmen puzzles like I am! If you want some ideas for some adorable puzzles with all that white- check out these images:
If you want to dip your toes into the snowy puzzle scene, I would recommend starting with this sweet puzzle image from Pierre Belvedere - I just cannot get over all the hearts in this one!
A Gift from the Heart by Pierre Belvedere
This Lang puzzle with those sweet and adorable woodland critters has just enough splash of color that I think it wouldn’t be too challenging!
The white really takes over in this puzzle- but I think the night sky and the patterns in the snow covered ground would make this puzzle totally sortable!
A Smoky Mountain Christmas by Heritage
Need some holiday humor? Check out this over imbibed bat and that judgy looking deer in the background!
Lots of white in this adorable Santa puzzle- but definitely worth it for the super cute reindeer and that amazing glowing Christmas tree that I would absolutely love to have in my living room (although I expect it would be much like getting blinded by Clark Griswold and his overzealous Christmas lights!)
Until next time my jigsaw junkies, enjoy the snow and stay warm!
Amanda @600hoursofpuzzle
OH I just got a Piatnik for Christmas and SUPER excited- I LOVE blind as a bat- how cute is that?!?! Did you try the Lang out? I always read they have loads of false fits.
