Piecing it all together

So many of the colors were exactly the same, it was very challenging,” she said. “I almost didn’t finish it, but I soldiered on and got it done.”

Puzzle manufacturers’ websites demonstrate each brand’s unique spin. Most of the sites allow you to shop by number of pieces, difficulty and specific themes, such as “flowers” or “sports,” which allows puzzlers to choose designs they’re willing to stare at for hours as they assemble the images on card tables or dining room tables or any other available surface.

Dunis builds her puzzles on a special table made of Masonite. The board has a smooth, flat, hard surface with skinny trays that slide out like drawers on the side. It allows her to move the puzzle around while she’s still working on it.

“I sort the edge pieces first, then use the trays to sort the other pieces by shape or color,” she said. If she wants to use the dining room table for something else, she “shove the drawers back in, pick it up and carry it elsewhere.”

Once she finishes a puzzle, “I stare at it for a while, snap a photo with my cellphone, then crunch it up,” Dunis said. “I take the puzzles I’ve done whenever I’m going to see people who might enjoy doing them. Just like books, I pass them on.”

Making it your own

Jigsaw puzzles can also be personal treasures and unique gifts. Eloise Ragsdale of Decatur has done a lot of photography over the years and found a great way to share it with others.

“We’ve been going for about

40 years to south Florida, Sanibel Island,” Ragsdale said. There, Ragsdale and her daughter, Emily Grasso, collect seashells. “In fact, we’re going to become Shell Ambassadors there.” Shell Ambassadors are specially trained volunteers who answer beach visitors’ questions about the shells they find.

Ragsdale said that after about a week, they gather their shells and arrange them on the sand to be photographed. Then, she chooses a photo, edits it on Photoshop and sends it off to be made into a puzzle that she gives as holiday gifts to some friends.

“You’d think they’d be easy enough to do,” Ragsdale said. “I mean, they’re not all like blue sky. The shells look different.” But she admitted that she didn’t finish hers.

She said that one of her friends received a 1,000-piece puzzle, and “he put it together so fast, I sent him a second one.”

Puzzle places

Jigsaw puzzles turn up all over the place. Stop by the gift shop of your favorite