In my last blog entry, I wrote about
how I got inspired to look into activities that did not revolve
around technology, and one of the activities that came to mind was
puzzles. I had not done jigsaw puzzles in a long time, so I decided
to do a little research to see what was available today.
There are a wide range of puzzles
available but I just wanted to find something cheap, so first I
checked the local Dollar Tree store. Surprisingly, they had a very
good selection of puzzles to choose from. They had simple puzzles for
kids, up through 1000 piece puzzles for adults. I decided to pick up
one that had 500 pieces.
Dollar store items can be hit or miss
as sometimes the item can be a great bargain while other times, the item may turn out to be junk. So the question is,
are the puzzles from the dollar store any good? The quick answer is yes!
The 500 piece puzzles come in a sealed
box that must be cut open. I cut 3 edges of the box which allowed it
to flip open and stay connected. Inside are the loose puzzle pieces. I
dumped them out onto a flat surface. There was some “puzzle dust”
as many new puzzle have so I moved the pieces around to try to
separate them from the dust.
The pieces themselves are fairly thin
and pretty small in size. The full puzzle comes out to dimensions of
11 x 18.25 inches. They fit together as expected, but they do not
have a very secure interlock, so if you bump it while you are
working, they can come apart. It is ok, you just have to be careful when working on it.
The puzzle took me about a week to complete,
working on it a little bit each day. Overall it was fun and relaxing
to do. It was challenging at time as sometimes you can put a piece in and it
looks like it should fit, but then later you figure out it is
actually in the wrong place. I was very satisfied with the finished product.
Overall I really enjoyed the puzzle and
would recommend them to anyone who is looking for a cheap puzzle. I
will probably pick up another one next time I am at the dollar store.
These puzzle provide hours of entertainment for just $1, which is
pretty much unbeatable. Not only that, once you are done with the
puzzle you can take it apart and give it to other people to enjoy! 
The Dollar store puzzles are cheap but worthless. Every puzzle I've purchased & there have been many, Every single puzzle had a missing piece. You khow how frustrating that Is after you put a 500 piece puzzle together to find a piece is missing and cannot be replaced!!
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