I can hardly believe that it will be Christmas in less than a month! I am not ready in any sense of the word. However, I have been getting more into the spirit of the season by slowing down and working on a fun puzzle. You see, to me puzzles and Christmas just fit together perfectly; it’s a tradition. And when the title is Which One’s Santa? that helps, too!
Ravensburger sent over this seasonal puzzle for us to put together and I must say, it’s been a bit of a challenge. I’m not sure why, but this 1000 piece, limited edition puzzle has been more challenging than some we’ve done in the past. I’m thinking it may be because there are multiple places that any one colour or pattern may fit. Ploughed fields covered in snow…they appear in three places. Santa costumes…several locations, and Christmas lights…they’re all over!
Small town life is jut perfect for us, and the residents of this village are loving it too! They’re on the way to a Christmas party and they’ve dressed up for the occasion in their best Christmas costumes. Christmas pudding, little reindeer, running Christmas trees, and a snowman dressed to match the icy version. Several folks have come dressed as Santa…but is the jolly old man himself making an appearance? Which one’s the real Santa?
As always, Kallista helped me divide the pieces into two piles; edge pieces and centre pieces. I actually started to put the edges together on the bed using our Puzzle Handy, and then relocated to the livingroom because, well, we needed somewhere to sleep.
The next part of the puzzle we worked on were the ochre parts of the main house, the trees in the windows, and the train. The train was the easiest part of the puzzle to fit together due to its colour lines. That house took me right up to about 850 pieces to fully complete!
I had roughly put the pieces into colour blocks in the box lids and all facing up…until Tristan came along, picked up a lid, and swept his hand across it, jumbling up all of the colours and flipping a good portion of the pieces wrong-side-up. I was not terribly impressed…and all he could do was give me a sheepish grin.
So we started over dividing the pieces, and using the box halves from the Puzzle Handy as well to give us more space to work with.
Some of the other houses started to come together, as well as those ploughed fields.
Before long a week and a half had gone by! I told you this puzzle felt more challenging than usual. My excuse is that we were also more busy with trips out of town and around town as well. That’s my story, and I’m sticking to it!
Then the people started to take on some personality.
Then I batted my eyelids exaggeratedly and told Phil how much I’d love to spend some time with him working on the puzzle. I usually work nights after the kids go to bed, but I took a little time out on American Thanksgiving and the two of us clicked pieces into place together while enjoying a cup of tea and some music…perhaps it could have been a better evening for Phil if he didn’t also have to listen to me singing along (badly) to the radio.
Then…on the weekend the snow really did start to fall outside! It happened to be the day of the Victorian Street Fair and after listening to some historical talks, wandering around looking at handmade crafts, and seeing folks dressed up in Victorian clothing, I was starting to feel a little more Christmassy. But we were cold and there was a leak in my shoe so it was time to go home.
Fast-forward a day, and the whole family sat down together and completed Which One’s Santa? between dinner and a family movie night.
What a fun way to share some family time together, as well as a little ‘alone’ time. This puzzle would be a good addition to your puzzle closet, and one that you can bring out again each year to relive the memories.
Which One’s Santa? Limited Edition 1000 Piece Puzzle is available through fine retail stores and Amazon.co.uk.
The Ravensburger Puzzle Handy is also available from Amazon.co.uk and retail outlets.
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If you enjoy a good puzzle, check out these other Ravensburger puzzles we’ve reviewed:
- What If? Christmas Day
- Ludicrous Lighthouse
- Happy Days at Work – The Teacher 500pc
- School Sports Day
- A Day at The Beach
- Best of British No.15 – The Supermarket
- Flying Home
