Tag: cozy hobbies

Ceaco Thomas Kinkade Disney The Little Mermaid Falling in Love Jigsaw Puzzle Review

I recently took a little break from working on jigsaw puzzles to begin my adventures in diamond painting. When I found the Ceaco Thomas Kinkade Disney – The Little Mermaid Falling in Love puzzle at the thrift store, I knew it would be the perfect project for when I needed a diamond painting break. This beautiful puzzle is based on a Thomas Kinkade painting, and features our favorite characters from the Disney animated classic The Little Mermaid. Let me tell you why this jigsaw puzzle was so much fun to put together!

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This puzzle is one of many designs in the Ceaco Thomas Kinkade Disney collection. It has 750 pieces, and measures 24″ x 18″ when completed. It comes in a square box that is easy to stack and store. As mentioned, I found this at my local thrift store. It was brand new and just $2.99! The puzzle retails for $14.99 on the Ceaco website, or $12.99 on Amazon. Ceaco puzzles are Made in the USA. Unlike the Peggy’s Garden puzzle I reviewed recently, this one does not say it is made with recycled materials, so I must assume it’s not.

The first thing I noticed when working on this puzzle is that the individual pieces feel a lot sturdier than the previous Ceaco puzzle I completed. I also did not have a problem with the image peeling away from the cardboard. However, several of the pieces were not fully cut when I opened the box, and I had to separate them myself. These pieces also do not lock together, so it’s very challenging to move sections around while working because they just fall apart.

Despite the pieces falling apart easily, it was an absolute joy to put together this puzzle! I began with sorting the pieces, and was able to put together Flounder, Eric, and Ariel right from the start. I then moved onto the edge, and worked my way around the border with the castle, ship, and coral sections. The sky was my favorite section to complete! I felt like pieces were going in so easily as I reached for them!

The most challenging part of this puzzle is the blue water. That being said, the art has many hints in the water that help guide the puzzling along. For example, King Triton and his castle can be seen in the water, as well as different schools of fish. The water also has different shades of blue that I used to help me sort through the pieces. I ended up putting small sections of light blue together before adding them to the main puzzle.

I also love how this puzzle features so many different elements from The Little Mermaid. While Ariel and Eric are the main focus of the image, you can see that Ursula is spotted in the scene along with Sebastian’s crustacean band. I really enjoyed finding all of the different details in the image as I worked on the puzzle!

Just like the last Ceaco puzzle I completed, this one comes with a high quality print of the puzzle image. This allowed me to use both boxes for sorting. I definitely referred to the picture a lot while working on the blue water area in particular.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

  • Beautiful artwork
  • Sturdy pieces
  • Quick and fun to complete
  • Included print out of image
  • Made in USA

Cons:

  • Pieces do not lock together
  • False fits (happened twice)
  • Some pieces not fully cut through during manufacturing

Final Thoughts

I am so glad I found this puzzle at the thrift store! I completed it in one weekend, and had such fun doing so. Even though the water was a bit difficult, I never felt frustrated or stuck. Plus, there were a lot of unique elements in the artwork that I enjoyed discovering. I think this is a great puzzle for beginners and Disney fans alike! Ceaco is continuing to be a budget-friendly (even at retail price!) puzzle company.

Follow me on Instagram @PolishlandReads to see more of my puzzle adventures!

Ceaco Peggy’s Garden Fanciful Jigsaw Puzzle Review

My jigsaw puzzle craze continues with another review of a puzzle I completed! I found the Ceaco Peggy’s Garden Fanciful puzzle at the thrift store for $3.00. I was excited to discover that it was still brand new when I got it home! I love flowers, and the bright colors on the box are such a cheery image. It may be snowing outside right now, but I can at least imagine a sunny, floral atmosphere with my puzzle!

This post includes an affiliate link. All opinions are my own. See my Disclosure Policy for more information.

Ceaco makes a few different versions of Peggy’s Garden, with this one being the Fanciful edition. This is a 1000 piece puzzle that measures 26.6″ x 19″ when completed. It comes in a square box that is small and easy to store. Just as with the White Mountain puzzle I completed recently, this puzzle is Made in the USA in my native New England – this time in Massachusetts! I once again love that the brand uses recycled materials to make their puzzles. This puzzle typically retails for $12.99, but it’s currently on sale on Ceaco’s website for $4.99! It is also available on Amazon.

The pieces themselves are made of cardboard, and they measure on the smaller side. I did have issues with the image peeling a bit off of the backing whenever I would try a piece in the wrong spot. It’s almost like the pieces would get stuck together! The image is high quality, but it is a bit glossy, which reflected the sunlight when I worked on the puzzle during the day. I needed to get right over the pieces to avoid glare.

All of that being said, the pieces fit together really well, and it was obvious whenever I put a piece in the wrong spot. It can be tricky to move sections of the puzzle around, though, as the pieces do not lock together strongly. I carefully slid sections around, and only moved small groupings at a time.

In terms of difficulty, I found this puzzle to be quite the challenge! I began with the edge, and then moved onto the middle of the flowers that have the small dots at the center. I then built out the flowers from there, and kept working outwards. The leaves in various shades of green came last! Once I got the flowers done, the rest moved pretty quickly, and it was satisfying to see everything come together so nicely.

One thing I absolutely loved about this puzzle is the included poster of the puzzle image. This allowed me to use both sides of the box for sorting. I definitely used the image to help me lay out many of the pieces, specifically the colored circles in the background. I appreciate that the colors in the print match the puzzle exactly!

Pros & Cons

Pros:

  • Beautiful artwork with vibrant colors
  • High quality image
  • Included print out of image
  • Made in USA of recycled materials

Cons:

  • Pieces do not lock together well
  • Image peels off easily
  • Glare due to glossy finish
  • Puzzle dust

Final Thoughts

Overall, I really enjoyed putting together the Ceaco Peggy’s Garden Fanciful puzzle. It was a nice challenge for me, and the issues I did have with the pieces did not detract from the puzzling experience too much. Instead, it just felt more like a “budget” puzzle, which makes sense since the original price is $12.99. I will definitely keep my eye out for more Ceaco puzzles!

Follow me on Instagram @PolishlandReads to see more of my puzzle adventures!