I finally treated myself! I’ve wanted a wooden jigsaw puzzle for a very long time, and I decided it was time, I deserved it! (I could say it was a reward for the 1 year anniversary of the blog, but honestly it was just because I finally decided I wasn’t going to wait anymore to get myself a wooden jigsaw puzzle 😉 )

Artifact puzzles are very reasonably priced compared to many other wooden puzzle companies in my opinion. Many companies are $100 or more for even a small puzzle! And if you’re looking for the “Rolls Royce of Puzzles”, Stave puzzles are the most expensive I’ve found. The smallest puzzle starts at over $800 for a 100 piece, and if you would like a 1000 piece Stave puzzle, be prepared to spend almost $7000!!!!  😮 Even if I were a millionaire I don’t know that I would be able to spend thousands of dollars for a puzzle! My small puzzle cost only $38 dollars. That may seem like a lot to some, and perhaps it is; but I really wanted to treat myself and I make no apologies, I’m worth it!

First of all the box feels luxurious, the pieces are wrapped in tissue paper inside a beautiful blue box with a magnetic clasp. And for me, I loved the smell of the pieces. They smell like Michigan to me. I know that sounds bizarre, let me explain. I grew up in Michigan, and in our house we had a wood-burning stove. The smell of these puzzle pieces reminds me of the smell of our house in fall and winter when we had the woodstove going. It smells great and makes me feel nostalgic.

I chose this image because it’s colorful and fun, and I like the shape of the pieces. On the website artifactpuzzles.com you can see a preview of the pieces that each puzzle contains; so you can choose a puzzle with pieces that you’ll like. I didn’t want regular looking pieces, and I wanted an image that would be fun to do over and over. I chose Night Village; it met all of my requirements. If you want to treat yourself click on the link above and see what they have, there’s a wonderful catalog of reasonably priced puzzles to choose from.

The assembly was a joy! Somehow I found the willpower to wait two whole days before I started working on it because I wanted to put it together with my mom on our weekly visit/puzzle day. We had the best time, and it was just so damn cool working with the wood pieces for the first time! I love the way they fit together, I love the feel of the pieces as they “plunk” into place, I love the image itself and the interesting piece shapes; in short – I loved this puzzle! 😍

If anyone is looking for a gift for me…..there’s a link 2 paragraphs up, pick out something fun! 😁

Details:

• Title:                  Night Village
• Artist:                Karla Gerard
• Brand:               Artifact Puzzles
• Piece count:     164 pieces
• Size:                  Approx. 7 x 9 in. (18 x 23 cm)
• Purchased:      New

Quality:

• Board:               1/4″ thick wood
• Cutting:             Excellent, laser cut
• Image:               Excellent
• Box:                   Excellent box with magnetic clasp
• Fit:                     Normal/Average (I’m not sure this applies)
• Puzzle Dust:     2 tiny bits of broken off wood, did not affect the image at all
• Piece cut:          Random cut – amazingly detailed and intricate
• Piece shapes:   Designed specifically for this puzzle (awesome!)
• Finish:               Matte finish, lays flat

Overall Rating:      Excellent,  most highly recommended