Holiday Traditions

I have a confession to make. Christmas Day itself is not my favorite holiday. However, I adore everything about the pageantry that surrounds the lead up to the day – carols, cookies, festivals, and of course…puzzles!

My favorite Christmas tradition is putting up the tree. Did you know in many Eastern European countries finding a spider or web in your tree is lucky? This is due to a legend about a poor widow who couldn’t afford decorations, but woke to find spider webs shimmering on her tree on Christmas morning rendering it beautiful. Hmm…I may have to add a spider ornament to the 100 + ornaments my husband and I have collected over the years! I look forward to unpacking them every year, which is why I enjoyed this gorgeous 1000-piece Christmas Ornaments puzzle from Eurographics. Those dark nooks and crannies and the grid cut were challenging, but I went out of my comfort zone and once I went out onto a limb, the variety of colors got me hooked on the build!

Christmas Ornaments by Eurographics

This 550-piece Cozy Christmas puzzle by Vermont Christmas Company captured many traditions I hold dear. Once the tree is up, there’s nothing I enjoy more than lighting a fire like this and taking it all in. As I child, I always set out not only Santa’s cookies and milk as seen here, but also carrots for the reindeer. The stockings, which we always saved to open last, are stuffed with presents. And the train set reminds me of the one we inherited from my father-in-law who used to take childlike glee in setting it up.

Cozy Christmas by Vermont Christmas Company

What’s my favorite pastime as I soak in the splendor of the Christmas tree and fire? Watching one of my favorite Christmas movies or reading a cherished Christmas book!  I’ve read many featured on this 1000-piece Holiday Books by Re-marks, but several were new to me. As with many of Re-marks’ collage puzzles the poster inside is critical because the entire image is never shown on the box.   There’s lots of reds, blues and greens on this puzzle, but each panel is a shade different, enabling you to get a good read on what goes where. 

Holiday Books by Re-marks

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer pops up several times on this puzzle and here's a fun fact for you…he was created as part of a marketing campaign for Montgomery Ward by copywriter Robert May, who became a widower raising a 4-year old daughter on his own the year he brought Rudolph to life. To ease his workload and heavy heart, the retailer tried to pass the project onto another copywriter, but May said he “needed Rudolph more than ever” and finished the project. Later, when May was struggling financially, Montgomery Ward even handed over the copyright to May. Now, that makes my heart – if not my nose – glow!

Detail of Holiday Books puzzle

As I live in Florida, it’s been a while since I’ve been able to build a snowman. A pity as it’s estimated that this isn’t only fun, but also burns approximately 238 calories per hour! However, they are my favorite Christmas decoration and you’ll find snowmen throughout my home. So, of course I had a (snow)ball completing this 500-piece Find Joy by Debi Hron made by Turner. I “found a little joy” discovering the re-usable plastic bag inside the box (a present every puzzle manufacturer should give)! While a grid cut puzzle can sometimes send a chill up my spine, the patterns on the sweaters and trees ensured I kept my cool as I assembled it.

Find Joy by Debi Hron by Turner

Speaking of sweaters, I got a giggle out of the ones pictured on this 1000-piece Ugly Xmas Sweaters by Cobble Hill. There were lots of similarities in the sweaters, which I initially thought would pull the wool over my eyes, but once I noticed the little details, such as that the polka dots or snowflakes were sized a tad differently, it enabled me to knit this together quickly. On behalf of my Jewish friends who struggle with finding puzzles that include Chanukah images, I also appreciated the inclusion of a sweater with a menorah. 

Ugly Xmas Sweaters by Cobble Hill

Now that I have my ugly Christmas sweater on as you can see here…

I can move this blog outside and show off Holiday Havoc by Springbok. I enjoyed all 400 pieces of it with its varying puzzle pieces and hilarious takes on the much-loved traditions of Christmas shopping, skating, “drinking” hot chocolate and elves gone wild! Perhaps the drivers of this vehicle should have put out a bowl of porridge the night before their ride – Scandinavian legend has it this will prevent you from being the victim of elves’ pranks!

Holiday Havoc by Springbok

Some people have an elf on their shelf…but there is no room for that in my house, as I have too many puzzles on them! Yet, additional ones Santa can put in his bag for me that deal with Christmas traditions include these 1000 piece puzzles - Christmas Market by Galison, Wasgij Christmas 16: The Christmas Show by Jumbo, Vintage Christmas Cards by Eurographics and Cookies at Christmas-Something’s Amiss by PuzzleTwist.

In the words of a favorite Christmas carol, here’s wishing you all the best of Christmas traditions – “parties for hosting, marshmallows for toasting and caroling out in the snow”…and I’ll add on, puzzles that make you go “ho, ho, ho!”

 – Lisa@lisalovespuzzles