A Little Yule Cheer, Day 15, 2021: Christmas Puzzles to Enhance Your Holiday Cheer

A few days ago, I mentioned doing puzzles can generate or enhance holiday cheer. My husband, Jay, and I enjoy working on puzzles together. We discovered our shared love of puzzling when the COVID quarantine first sequestered us at home. Our inaugural puzzle was a 1000 piece glow-in-the-dark version of Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night. It took us days and days to complete and still remains the hardest puzzle we’ve ever worked on. Somehow, that puzzle managed to hook us on puzzling.

I find working on puzzles to be both stimulating and restful – relaxation with a goal. It’s satisfying to see an image gradually appear, especially when the picture is one that brings me pleasure, either because of its beauty or design, or its theme. I’ve discovered focusing on a Christmas puzzle really does generate holly jolly feelings for me. After a long and stressful day at work, I look forward to unwinding with Jay this way. We make hot chocolate or London Fogs for sipping, put on Christmas music, and settle in to some companionable puzzling.

To tempt you into giving puzzling a try, I’m sharing some examples of Christmas puzzles I would love to try which are currently available. I tend to like very graphic designs (I love working on Charley Harper puzzles) and intense colors or very painterly images. Also, I usually prefer to work on 1000 piece puzzles because I like to settle into a puzzle. I also just enjoy the challenge of puzzles with more pieces. The suggestions below reflect these preferences.

Clicking on any of the images below will take you to a website, where you’re sure to find puzzles that appeal to your particular aesthetic. If 1000 piece puzzles feel too daunting, you can find puzzles in many different piece counts that may be more your speed. Finally, at the end of the post, I’ve listed numerous puzzle companies which I feel produce quality products that are a pleasure to assemble, as well as websites I frequent when I’m looking for a new puzzle.

1. **Pit Stop** by artist Susan Brabeau. Produced by SunsOut. 1000 pcs.

2. **Ugly Xmas Sweaters.** Produced by Cobble Hill. 1000 pcs.

3. **Twas’ the Twilight Before Christmas** by artist Charles Wysocki. Produced by Buffalo Games. 1000 pcs.

4. **Angel and Dove** by artist Lynn Bywaters. Produced by Springbok. 1000 pcs.

5. **Stained Glass Holy Night** by artist Randy Wollenmann. Produced by Vermont Christmas Company. 1000 pcs.

6. **Holiday Books**. Produced by Re-marks. 1000 pcs.

7. **Christmas Carolers**. Produced by White Mountain. 1000 pcs.

8. **Santa’s Team** by artist Greg Giordano. Produced by Piatnik. 1000 pcs.

I don’t want to scare anyone away with difficult puzzles and high piece counts. There are beautiful puzzles in lower piece counts, too. These are two of my favorites: