Welcome to my second experiment with finding a new hobby. This month I decided to take a shot at putting together a puzzle. I also want to take this time to thank all of you who have suggested hobbies for me to try. I have them all written down and I plan on trying quite a few of them. Also, if this is your first time seeing my Operation Find a Hobby series you can find the other two posts here: Operation Find A Hobby | Introduction , Operation Find A Hobby | Embroidery. Without anymore delayed here is my experiment with putting together a puzzle.
Now, I have always hated doing puzzles. So you may ask, “Luna, why are you trying to put together a puzzle if you hate it?” That is a very normal question that I can only answer with, I don’t know. I always found them to be annoying and time consuming. I never thought the payoff was really worth it. So I thought, why not try it? It has been YEARS, maybe my view has changed.
With this experiment I decided to try and give puzzles the best shot. I chose a 500 piece puzzle, 1000 was just to much for an amateur like it. I also decided to get a puzzle I thought was very beautiful and tied to something I already liked. So I happened to be in a local hobby shop and I happened to find a book inspired puzzle. Honestly, what are the chances of that?
The puzzle I picked up was a Nancy Draw one, it consisted of 27 book covers and 5 illustrations pulled from the stories and quotes. They style of the illustrations were varies and I found that to beautiful. It was like seeing an evolution of the character. Below you will see a picture of the puzzle box. If you really like it here is an amazon link to the product, it is not an affiliate link. COBBLE HILL Nancy Drew Mysteries Jigsaw Puzzle.
So a night when I had nothing planned I decided to break out my crafting mat and get to work. I decided to work on the floor so the mat was necessary for the puzzle to lie flat. From a young age everyone always told me to put together the edges of a puzzle first so that is what I did. Now this is just me being curious, does everyone put puzzles together this way or do some of you just find pieces and start putting them together? Anyway here is a picture of when I got the edge of the puzzle put together and the second photo is of the finished product.
First off I will say, NEVER do a puzzle on the floor. My back, which never really hurt me, was so sore and it hurt. For the next few days I had to continuously stretch it until it got better. Complete a puzzle at a table where you can sit at a chair and you wont be bent over for so long.
Anyway, the puzzle took me about 4-5 hours to complete. The pieces were approximately 3/4 of an inch roughly 2 cm, in diameter so they weren’t horribly small so I was able to see a great deal of detail in a lot of the pieces. Others were pretty difficult like the illustrations that were not on the book covers.
Overall, I will admit I was not a huge fan of putting together a puzzle. That is not to say I hated it. While I was very happy when I finished, I just found that it was not a huge pay off for my 4-5 hours. I could have written a bunch of blog posts, read a book, or embroidered something and felt more accomplished. I just don’t think I have the personality for puzzles, I envy those who do. I am going to keep this puzzle and maybe do it with a group of friends one day, but I don’t think I will be buying anymore.
Well, I am going to continue on my quest to find a new hobby!
Which hobby should I try next?
Bookish Luna 
Ahh!! Oh my goodness!!! I need this puzzle in my life!!!
On another note. Have you tried knitting??
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Yes, I have done that in the past. I was the go to scarf maker for my family for years. Glad you like the puzzle!
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I love doing puzzles even though I haven’t done one in along time. When I was growing up we used to have a puzzle in progress on our dining room table when ever a holiday wasn’t around the corner. We would work on it here and there. I know Karen Kavett from YouTube does her puzzles differently https://youtu.be/_ShA2dWsifc
To bad you didn’t enjoy doing a puzzle I’m excited to see what you try next!
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That sounds like a great way to spend family time. I think I would like it better if it wasn’t just me. That way there is conversation and such instead of just hovering over a puzzle for hours. Thanks for sharing the link, I will check it out ASAP.
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We alot of time would leave it on the table and do little bit here and there in days,weeks,sometimes even months
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That’s sounds nice though, I wish I had a place in my house to do that. I might end up liking puzzles more.
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I love doing puzzles but I can’t remember the last time I actually did one. I have always started with the border of the puzzle. I literally go through all the pieces before I start putting the puzzle together to find the edge pieces and once I have them separated I start putting them together. I remember one time when I was a kid I put a puzzle together and somehow my parents like glued it together or something that way I could hang it up. Idk how they did it though.
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That is an awesome way to save a puzzle. I might have to look into that, I felt so bad having to break up the puzzle and putting it back in a box in the closet.
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I don’t know how it’s done but if I figure it out I will definitely let you know.
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Thanks Misty!
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No problem.
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I’m not a huge fan of puzzles. Or sudoku for that matter. 🙂 But the worst thing is when you’re doing a puzzle and then realize there is a piece missing so you can’t even finish it. It makes me murderous. 🙂
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I did a puzzle one time where it was the human body showing the inside organs. The box was sealed and there were no pieces anywhere on the floor or under anything and half of the head was missing. I was so upset, why would they package a puzzle without all of the pieces?!
I enjoy word searches more than sudoku.
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I can imagine and understand your frustration. 🙂
Yeah, I like word searches more too.
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Doing puzzles is simply not for everyone. I don’t mind puzzling myself, but then again I just get so obsessed with the thing that I NEED to finish it. I’ve only done two this last year and the current one has been on the table for two weeks now. [Mont Saint Michel] It has a special meaning for me and the boyfriend so we plan on hanging it on the wall but we have to actually finish it first.. Trust me, you picked yourself a good one. Ours is 1/2 sky and reflection in the water of sky. It is torture, pure torture.
As for other hobbies.. I love baking and messing around in the kitchen. I never eat all of it myself so I bring my baked goodies to work. My colleagues are pretty much happy before they’ve even ate something because they know they’ll get a treat when there’s a brown box in the refrigerator, haha.
Good luck on your search!
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Oh man, that seems like a very hard puzzle. I would have given up lol. I always bring goodies to work. I would feel too guilty if it went to waste.
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I haven’t touched the thing in a week now, I think. I was like “I did that part, now you can do the rest” to my boyfriend and he freaked, haha. We’ll finish it eventually. If it wasn’t for the want to hang it on the wall, I probably would’ve put it in the box again by now. :’)
Exactly! Never let food go to waste!
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I love doing puzzles. That being said, I like to have one ‘on the go’ but only work at it for 30 minutes at a time as a break from doing other things. Sometimes the puzzle will be sitting around for a month. It helps to have the space to have it set up that doesn’t get in the way of your everyday routine.
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Yeah, that sadly is something I do not have so I need to do them in one sitting or give up. I could see working on a puzzle for 30 min here and there being a lot better of an experience.
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