Holiday Puzzles Any Time of the Year
Who loves holidays as much as I do? From good food, cozy family time, and extra days off of work (hopefully), does it get much better? Add in the fun decorations, and maybe some wacky family traditions, and I tend to love each and every holiday!
One of my best friends is an avid Halloween celebrator. I remember working with her the first Halloween I knew her. We had a potluck that day for work, and I brought my standard bags of chips and dip. But my friend? She brought homemade cupcakes decorated like pumpkins. Chocolate covered pretzels with ‘webbing’. Chocolate covered strawberries with added assorted eateries to look like spiders. Chocolate covered Oreos with green sprinkles. Puppy chow with candy corn. She also dressed up as a ventriloquist doll with a full face of makeup. She absolutely LOVES Halloween!
If we’re talking that kind of love for a holiday, mine would have to be Thanksgiving or Christmas! Let me first start by saying: I don’t cook. I got incredibly lucky that my husband learned to cook (and is really good at it) just from sheer self-preservation, as he dislikes spending money going out to eat! But Thanksgiving? I go all out! I make a champagne turkey, homemade mashed potatoes, homemade stuffing, from scratch green bean casserole, and then several different desserts. Hubby takes care of the gravy and the cranberry sauce. The one and only time (knock on wood) I’ve had covid- I got it two days before Thanksgiving, and I lost my sense of taste and smell. I was absolutely devastated.
Thankfulness | New York Puzzle Company | 1000 pieces
If I love Thanksgiving for the food, then I love Christmas for everything else! I LOVE snow, the cold weather, wrapping paper, and presents- both getting and giving them! I LOVE Christmas music, relaxing at night with only the light of a Christmas tree, and the smell of warm hot chocolate with fluffy marshmallows melting on top.
Smore Fun | Cobble Hill | 350 pieces
So, with such love for holiday seasons, wouldn’t it make sense that I would love to puzzle holiday themed puzzles any time of the year? Maybe help spread out that Christmas love any time? Celebrate Halloween 6 months early with a puzzle? Remember the fireworks of fourth of July when it’s snowing? Well, at least for me, I NEVER did this. Why? Because I was staunchly ‘Holiday puzzles need to stay in their own lane’. I used to think- I will do my Halloween puzzles for Halloween, my Christmas puzzles for Christmas, and so on and so forth.
But here’s the thing: for the past five years or so, the holidays would come around, and most, if not all, of my holiday puzzles would stay in their pile untouched. I would get caught up in the business of the holiday season - decorating, family, cooking, etc, and my puzzles would get put on hold. Year after year, my stack of holiday puzzles just grew, and throughout the rest of the year, I would look at them longingly, but kept telling myself to wait until the appropriate time. I have officially decided- NO MORE! I want to do my Halloween puzzles, and I want to do them NOW (said in the lovely voice of Veruca Salt)! So I’m going to officially change my stance, and advocate for holiday puzzles ANY time of the year!
I did a deep dive into my puzzle stash- and here are all my holiday themed puzzles! And these are really just the puzzles that are specific for a holiday. If you broaden your interpretation of a holiday puzzle and really think outside the box, then I would have many, many more! Things like Edward Gorey's artwork with Pomegranate- which I tend to find decidedly eerie and slightly macabre- would be perfect for Halloween. All of those beautiful snowy scenes from Michael Storrings with Galison would be perfect for Christmas.
Brooklyn Bridge | Galison | 1000 pieces
Here is one holiday puzzle I did get done last year during Halloween: Around Midnight from Enwood Games. If you have not tried an Enwood Games puzzle- run, don’t walk, to get one! The owner Francisco is an avid puzzler himself, and I tend to find that puzzlers make the best puzzles. He licenses one of a kind artwork, and all of his puzzles are pure perfection! This Halloween puzzle, with this amazing, spooky, vintagey vibe was such a blast to piece together. This is a 500 piece random cut puzzle, and was the perfect balance of challenge and fun!
I also did this super cute puzzle, Cupcakes from Eurographics. I would probably peg this for Valentines day, or any love themed holiday (an anniversary, sweetest day etc), but if you look closely- it has Christmas, Halloween and Easter themed cupcakes too! This was such a fun little puzzle to put together, because I basically sorted into small cupcake sections and built each delicious one separately. The background, which may look challenging, was actually a breeze because there is a subtle gradient from darker to lighter.
I also couldn’t help myself, these adorable holiday themed puzzles are on my wishlist, amongst many others!
Ferris Wheel Kiss | Buffalo Games | 300 pieces
Halloween Carousel | Vermont Christmas Co | 1000 pieces
Special Delivery | Re-Marks | 1000 pieces
If I accidentally skipped over your favorite holiday, I apologize! But here’s the thing- Puzzle Warehouse makes it so easy to shop for any holiday you would want to puzzle. At the top of their website, click on the dropdown box by Jigsaw Puzzles, click the ‘view more’ under Theme, then choose ‘Holiday Jigsaw puzzles’. From there, you can choose what holiday you’re looking for. I was blown away at the pages and pages of holiday themed puzzles we can choose from!
So, I say it’s time to stop with the madness! Why do I keep torturing myself with these amazing holiday themed puzzles I never let myself do? Enough is enough. Let’s decide to live in the moment, and do our holiday puzzles whenever we want! Who’s with me?
Amanda @600hoursofpuzzle
