Cuisine & Culture the Chinese Family Way
If you have ever wandered through Kyoto’s Gion district at dawn, you will recognise the quiet magic this kit captures. The moment I opened the box, I was transported back to an early spring morning strolling along the empty Hōkan-ji walkway – soft light, crisp air, and the faint scent of cherry blossoms lingering like a whisper. That same sense of calm and wonder is exactly what this DIY book nook brings to life.
One of my favourite pastimes is to do a jigsaw puzzle hence my sister-in-law passed me a mixture of four 1000-piece puzzles and one with 500 pieces to do. Whilst I love puzzles, I hate clutter so I decided to do them all in quick succession.
Another month, another puzzle done! This time around, I have been piecing the panorama-shaped puzzle that I had bought from Erasmus Darwin House’s puzzle sales. This is quite an unusually shaped puzzle, I have had to use two white foam boards to make the base for the puzzle. I loved the scenery depicted in the picture, but it is quite inconvenient to physically move around to puzzle to piece it, especially as the puzzle is wide. It is not my favourite shape to do. Nevertheless, the end result is amazing!
Another month, another jigsaw puzzle completed. Whenever I have spare time, I like to keep myself busy with my hobby! Piecing jigsaw puzzles together! Recently, my friend, who is selling her house, has been clearing items and gifted me two of her puzzles. Both puzzles were at least 15 years old! The quality was okay. One thing I love about jigsaw puzzles is that they are evergreen items. It doesn’t matter if it’s 10 years or 20 years time, the puzzle will still be in good condition if it’s stored properly.
Normally I don’t like to go crazy with buying jigsaw puzzles, but this hobby has become more and more serious for me. Therefore, can you imagine how I felt when I saw an advert for the largest jigsaw puzzle sales at Erasmus Darwin House (15th March 2023)? I did give it a lot of thought as to whether I should swing by at all as I already have 8 unopened puzzles at home! Since it was the first day of the teachers’ strike, I decided to pop out with my daughter to check it out.
Last Christmas, I bought a lot of brand new jigsaw puzzles during the sales and came across Clementoni. I didn’t know they made jigsaw puzzles. I only knew of this brand through STEM toys that I had reviewed. I did wonder if the quality of the puzzles is any good, but still ended up buying six boxes of the Clementoni jigsaw puzzles. In total, I must have bought 10 boxes of random puzzles! My new year resolution is to challenge myself to do a puzzle a month.
One of my favourite hobbies is solving jigsaw puzzles. I do sometimes find them quite stressful, but at the same time, very satisfying when I find the missing pieces. I probably do an average of 4 – 6 puzzles a year. Recently, I’ve done more than usual as I bought three packets of Gibsons puzzle lucky dips. In total, I have 9 different puzzles to do. It didn’t take me long to complete them all; a 1000 piece set will probably take me 3 or 4 evenings.
This unique 3 Pictures in 1 Jungle jigsaw puzzle’s illustrations were created by the artistic duo Carnovsky. Using three different images that sit on top of each other, the resulting picture is mesmerising.
By using one of the three different colour viewing glasses (Red, Green & Blue provided in the puzzle) to help you to isolate each layer of the image, turn one puzzle into three stunning pictures or you can scan the QR code to turn your mobile device into a magical viewing lens.
One of my favourite hobbies is doing a jigsaw puzzle. I always find it so satisfying and get a great sense of achievement! Of course, besides that, they are a great work out for the brain and can be beneficial for improving problem-solving, motor skills and eye coordination for all ages.
Did you know the benefits of piecing jigsaw puzzles? First, they are a great tool for mindfulness. What I mean by mindfulness is that by focusing on placing the pieces together, it helps you to shut out day-to-day stresses and worries, especially during times like these.
If you are looking at things to do with your child or things to do just for yourself during this horrible lockdown period, why not sit down and enjoy some time out with a jigsaw. Did you know that piecing jigsaw puzzles are a great tool for mindfulness? By focusing on placing the pieces together, it helps to shut out day-to-day stresses and worries. Not only that, but regularly participating in mindfulness can also have long term benefits.
A Night in with Jumbo Twitter Party Alert! You are all invited to ‘A Night in with Jumbo Twitter Party’ which is on today Thursday 7th November from 4.30 to 5.30 pm! So remember to make yourself available for an hour as there will be fantastic prizes to be won!
I will be taking part in this Twitter party along with other fellow influencers to join in the fun and to share our thoughts about Wasgij and Falcon de Luxe especially their Christmas puzzles!
Today, we’re super-excited to introduce you two amazing Disney Pixar Toy Story 4 movie collections and a 4in1 puzzle pack from Jumbo Games! I’m sure many of you will know that the long-awaited fourth film Toy Story 4 has recently broken global box office records for an animated movie! It comes 24 years after the first film and we love the previous movies!
This half term, we have been busy by piecing the Ravensburger 3D Children’s World Map Globe. This is a 180-piece 3D puzzle ball featuring beautifully illustrated animals on the world map and comes in a rotation stand. It is suitable for aged seven and above.
We are no strangers to Ravensburger 3D puzzles! In fact, over the years we have pieced many of these Easy Click Technology range of puzzles!
Incredibles 2 is the new sequel which sees Mr Incredible, Elastigirl, Violet, Dash, and Jack-Jack encounter a brand new nemesis that puts the family’s powers to the ultimate test. To celebrate the release of Disney Pixar’s Incredibles II animated movie, Jumbo Games have released two brand new children’s puzzles that are available to buy in good toy retailers and online!
