Puzzle Review: White Mountain’s Bird Crochet

I was so excited to work this new 1,000-piece puzzle from White Mountain: I love birds, I love crochet, and I love brightly-colored collage puzzles! Plus, while this puzzle features birds, White Mountain has also recently released Crochet puzzles featuring flowers and Halloween-themed items as well…all in my wheelhouse.

With art by Jessica White, this collage-style puzzle features twenty-four birds in their respective habitats, each crocheted with colors that pop and charming details. Pieces are a nice size, with standard shapes. What I especially love about this puzzle is that the art is so vibrant, the crocheted pieces look almost 3-D; taken as a whole, the art feels almost textured.

I also liked the varying shades of border around each bird, making the pinks, blues, and yellows easier to tell apart when looking closely.

Overall, this puzzle is a nice challenge (but not so challenging as to frustrate) with wonderful artwork and a fun theme. I give it five out of five puzzle pieces.

 

Puzzle Review: White Mountain’s Love Stamps

Looking for a fun way to celebrate Valentine’s Day? This colorful 1,000-piece puzzle featuring 27 U.S.A. LOVE postage stamps from over the years makes a great gift or together-time activity (be sure to pair it carefully with chocolate-drizzled strawberries and a favorite beverage!).

I had a lot of fun working this vibrant puzzle designed by Lois B. Sutton. But first, I had to manage putting together the edge pieces, which were quite the challenge. As you can see from the photo below, the edge pieces are black on the bottom and include the scalloped edges of the stamps on top. Some scallops also offer color to sort by, but others don’t, and in many cases, the “squiggles” almost appear to be a new language. For this 24″ x 30″ puzzle, working the edge pieces took me much longer than usual.

Once I did finish preparing for the heart of the puzzle, the stamps themselves offered a mostly easy endeavor. I especially liked that not all the stamps were pink or red or even featured hearts, and they included a variety of styles and sturdy pieces.

All in all, I think you will, ahem, love this puzzle. I recommend it for ages 12 and up (not ages 6 and up as listed by the manufacturer), and give it 4 out of 5 puzzle pieces.

National Puzzle Day 2024 Puzzle Review: White Mountain’s Storytime

It’s one of my favorite annual celebrations: National Puzzle Day. And what better way to enjoy it than by working a fun puzzle that focuses on a passion of mine: picture books (I write them and love to read them too). This 1,000-piece puzzle from White Mountain features the covers of classic childhood stories such as The Snowy Day, Corduroy, Pippi Longstocking, The Little Engine That Could, and Madeline, among many others. It’s made of sturdy, vibrantly-colored pieces, which feature fun, unusual cuts…no boring rectangles or squares here.

This puzzle is a walk down memory lane, for sure, but also an enjoyable way to spend a cold January day (whoever made National Puzzle Day occur in January instead of June knew a little something about getting through Winter!). It’s easy to work, so I recommend it for ages 10 and up, and give it five out of five puzzle pieces.

Puzzle Review: Gibson’s I Love Winter

What better time than during an arctic blast of below-zero temperatures to work a puzzle titled I Love Winter? And because I, personally, do NOT love cold and ice, I prefer to enjoy winter instead through this Mike Jupp art that shows a funny and fun side to this season.

This 1,000-piece puzzle from Gibsons (also available from All Jigsaw Puzzles as Mike Jupp’s I Love Winter) features a chaotic winter scene with pops of color to break up the white snow. Humorous vignettes include a skiier with his pants falling down, a man encased in ice, a runaway snowball that’s swept up numerous people on its roll to the frozen river, and a bevy of characters waiting on the bus (though one woman with blue lips is sporting a look of horror on her face, which is pretty odd).

All in all, this is an easy puzzle to work. I recommend it for ages 10 and up and give it four out of five puzzle pieces.