Wednesday, December 1, 2010

The Puzzle of 11 Months and a Day

 Last Christmas, one of my bestest, bestest in the whole wide world bestest friends gave me a gift. Yes, we all receive gifts, but THIS one is the grandaddy of them all! It is/was a puzzle... a Vintage Coca-Cola puzzle. You see, I collect all things Coke (the Classic Style) and she (yes, YOU, Karen!) thought this would be the best gift in the universe.

Alrighty... puzzles are grand, but... THIS puzzle is 2,000 pieces. Yes, you saw that right. TWO THOUSAND PIECES!

And so... my wonderful helpful husband broke open the packaging late night on New Year's Eve of last year... December 31, 2009. We worked diligently until 3 a.m. The frame was set and a couple of patches of pieces were placed together. And that was that.

The puzzle sat on a banquet table in my family room from that day on. Sure, it got pieced together bit by bit, piece by piece. It was difficult and time consuming. Various friends and family members helped when they could. Many pieces were extremely odd-shaped. May pieces had so many shades in them, and the puzzle itself was made up of areas composed of reds and browns (cola, ya know!). My eyes would start to burn and I'd grow dizzy from working on it too long.

And yet... after months and months of slowly being put together, this puzzle started to take shape... until you see what it has become (above). Today was the day! I pieced together the last remaining pieces, as best I could. Until... this is all that was left undone:
The completed puzzle is approximately 34 inches by 42 1/2 inches. HUGE! See the missing piece? I do! But you know what? I'm still going to Modge Podge it all together, then create a frame and UP it will go onto my wall! After all that work, I am not going to let a missing piece get in my way. What about the missing piece? Heck! If anyone even notices it... it'll be a great conversation starter of my grandaddy puzzle story.

It was a marvelous experience and took 11 months and one day from start to finish. But next year? I think I'll get more scrapping and crafting done!

No comments:

Post a Comment

Thanks for sharing the luv! Feel free to look around to other posts. I so appreciate you stopping by and commenting. Love to know you were here! Have a happy day!