'Tis the season for gift-giving so I thought I'd share something I purchased for myself that would be a good gift to give - or gift to yourself like I did!
I have always LOVED doing puzzles. From a young age, I was so drawn to them and I love that Paul has gotten into puzzles, too. I used to occasionally do a big puzzle, especially during the cold winter months, but that has not been possible since having mobile kids. If I had a puzzle out on our dining room table, I just know Paul would walk off with a piece - not to purposely mess with my puzzle but because little kids do things like that! So for the last 6 months or so, many nights I have done a puzzle using an ap on my phone. It's surprisingly satisfying, although kind of easy because the pieces are orientated the way they fit in the puzzle. You can make it more challenging and not have them be properly orientated - so you could have an option to turn a piece by 90 degrees until you got it orientated right. But that sounds really frustrating to do on my tiny iPhone screen so I haven't challenged myself in that way.
But then this fall, Modern Mrs. Darcy shared a post all about puzzles (check out her post if you are into puzzles - she highlights some of her favorite puzzle-makers!) and she mentioned a puzzle mat! I had no idea such a thing existed! If she was recommending it, surely it was worth the $13 it cost! So I said Merry Christmas to me and ordered one.
You guys - it's amazing!
I didn't think to take pictures until I was almost done, but on my last night of working the puzzle, here it is all rolled up.
The more the puzzle is completed, the easier the rolling up process is. But it still worked, even when I only had the border assembled the first night.
I hadn't done a puzzle since 2019 when Paul was not walking yet. Phil ended up helping with that puzzle because he hated having our dining room table covered with puzzle pieces! So he also loves this new puzzle mat. Each night I would take out a little card table, unroll the puzzle mat, puzzle away from a hour or so, and then put it away!
So if you have young kids or are clutter-resistant, this is the product for you!
Do you enjoy puzzling? I assumed everyone did but have found that is not the case!
8 comments:
Isn't it SO satisfying to find a new product (bonus points if it feels affordable) that really fits a need! This mat looks like an absolutely ingenious tool to help make storing an in-progress puzzle so much more feasible - one of my major issues with puzzles is how much space they take up!
I haven't jumped on the puzzle bandwagon yet - we tried a 1000 piece puzzle as a family early in the pandemic and it was just...too much! But, if we do, this puzzle mat feels like it would practically be a "must-have."
I bought a Thomas Kincade 4 pack of Disney puzzles a couple years ago and they entertain me plenty of the holidays when my family hangs out more often. I might have to get this mat for Jeff's mom as she is retiring this winter and looking for hobbies to keep her busy until she can start gardening again.
I love puzzles and this is a pretty one. I've got a New Yorker one in the wings for after Christmas and I can leave it up a bit!
That's a great idea! We are not big puzzle people, but they are okay. I think I like the idea of doing a puzzle more than I actually like doing the puzzle. haha! The boys used to do them pretty frequently when they were younger. Last winter we did a couple and left them out on our bar in the rec room in the basement, and that worked out well. I would sit and putz with it while the boys practiced piano, etc. When my parents were visiting I kept finding my Dad standing at the bar trying to put a couple pieces in (the guest room is in the basement, so he would walk by it frequently. haha!). But we don't do them too often, overall. We have a couple in the closet I got for the boys - one of the London skyline, I think, and another- that we should plan to do this winter. We also have a round table in our sunroom that would be a good puzzle table (currently housing my Christmas village, but after that goes away for the winter, I mean!). Definitely would be difficult with little ones around to keep a puzzle intact, though!
I love doing puzzles and early in the pandemic, I used to do one every weekend. It was a way to differentiate the weekdays from the weekends. Now I have a huge pile of them and I wonder if there's every a time when I'll do them regularly again!
I have been thinking about getting one of those puzzle mats because I used to love doing puzzles, but wasn't sure how it would work with having cats, lol. But what a perfect gift idea - the puzzle mat with a fun puzzle to complete. I'll have to remember that for next Christmas!
I think you mentioned it on one of my posts recently - that's such a great gift. I don't have kids, but also no room/spare table to leave a puzzle out, so that mat would be PERFECT!
I don't think I am a puzzle person. I haven't done a puzzle in so long ... like, I don't think even once since I've been an adult. Probably not since I was a kid. I do not enjoy searching for the pieces, and find them more frustrating than fun, ha!
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