Holiday Traditions #6 – Personalized Puzzles

Here’s one of my favorite traditions - our Christmas Puzzle. Each year I make a collage of my favorite pictures from the previous year. (I make the collage in a Digital Scrapbooking  Software such as My Memories Software) The puzzle is a fun way to help the kids remember all the fun we have together! They get the puzzle as one of the activities in our advent drawers. It is fun to make the puzzle together and the kids really enjoy talking about all the fun memories we had. They love making the older puzzles and seeing what they looked like as babies.

We started our tradition in 2007 – when our oldest (Goofy) was 2 and old enough for a simple puzzle. We got this  6 piece puzzle with large pieces. Sorry I didn’t write down where it came from & it did not include a box that listed where it came from. However, I did find a 6 pieces puzzle at Jigsaw2Order for $15.95 & it included a puzzle tin. They also have various other sizes available.

UPDATE: We ordered our 2011 puzzle from Jigsaw2Order and it is my favorite to date!! The pieces are very well made & the image is AMAZINGLY sharp! I love the big sturdy pieces and the larger size option. The box is small (good for saving space) and has a sticker of the image on the box. This is our new go-to place!! (12/18/11)

 

In 2008 we tried out Venus Puzzle and got a 30 pieces puzzle. The pieces were pretty small for toddlers, but great for 5 years old and older. I love the compact box it came in. Since we ordered last they have added a 12 piece puzzle with extra large pieces ideal for toddlers for $24.95.  They have various other puzzle puzzle options available. Note: this company is in Europe so the shipping is a little higher if you are outside of the US; if you follow from Europe – this may be a GREAT option for you!

I have been very pleased with Portrait Puzzle quality, very durable pieces. They have nice boxes to store them in too. I like that not only are the pieces larger, but the overall puzzle is 16 x 10”. We have ordered from them the last 2 years trying out there 15 and 30 piece puzzles.

Other Companies that have great reputations & produce Personalized puzzles:

• Personal Creations has a 25 pieces puzzle for $29.99. The puzzle is 11 x 14” and comes with a gift tin (a nicer feature than the boxes)
• Shutterfly is always has a discount code and would be good for older kids as they only have 252 piece puzzles which run $24.99 without a coupon. However, I have to say I am not thoroughly impressed with them. Everyone else had the image silk screened on the box, shuttfly puts a sticker on top (there were there bubbles under the sticker)!

Linking up to: