Paw Patrol (3)

On March 26, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

This is the last of the 3 puzzles in one box we purchased at the thrift store. Beautiful Ravensburger puzzles that are cute, premium quality, and quite fun to assemble.

I always enjoy putting together a small piece count puzzle, whether it’s for children or adults makes no difference. It’s nice to be able to complete a puzzle from start to finish in one sitting, and it brightens up my mood. Fortunately my mother has a moderate thrift store shopping addiction and there is definitely no shortage of puzzles for me to choose from! She has gotten better though at being a little more choosy about the puzzles she buys, but she can still go a little crazy once in a while. 😉

If you read this blog regularly you already know that Ravensburger puzzles are my favorite brand, their quality is absolutely excellent. If you buy puzzles for children the brands I recommend most are Ravensburger, Cobble Hill, and Eurographics; although in my mind buying puzzles for kids is a fantastic idea whatever the brand.

You’ve heard it from me before, assembling jigsaw puzzles is good for your brain and especially for the developing brains of children. It promotes hand/eye coordination, spatial awareness, problem solving skills, patience, and perseverance along with many other benefits. Give a child a puzzle and you’re helping to grow a young mind, what better gift could you give?

Stuffed Animal Collection

On March 25, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

IMG_E4370 — Stuffed Animal Collection by Susan Rosenthal – Milton Bradley – 300 pieces

I didn’t enjoy this puzzle as much as I thought I would. The bears don’t seem very cute to me and the fit was pretty loose. Perhaps this puzzle was assembled many times – I’ve never had a large piece MB puzzle that fit this loosely.

The pieces were thick, but the image reproduction seemed a bit blurry. It’s difficult when you’ve got stuffed animals because they’re actually fluffy, but the pieces seemed a little more fuzzy than furry. Overall I wasn’t a fan of image, so that also plays into how I feel about the puzzle in general.

Whether it was the loose fit or the image I just wasn’t feeling this one and didn’t have as much fun as I’d hoped. As I sit here now typing up this post I’m struggling for things to say, either good or bad. I didn’t care for this puzzle, but in general Milton Bradley puzzles are very good quality – especially their 300 piece EZ grip puzzles.

Like this image? I say if you find this puzzle and it looks like fun, go for it! Everyone’s puzzle preferences are so different; the characteristics that I think make a good puzzle could be the one thing that you really can’t stand. The thing you love could be the one thing I can’t tolerate, but luckily there are so many brands and so many images that there’s always something for everyone.

The Sewing Box

On March 24, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles1 Comment

This was a super fun Springbok puzzle that mom and I assembled together. We love a collage and putting together each little compartment of the box made for a great afternoon. It was a little bit of a bummer that it was missing a piece, but c’est la vie – that’s life.

Springbok quality is sometimes hit or miss, thankfully this one was a hit. The pieces fit together well and didn’t require having to force connections; sometimes I find their fit is much too tight, but this one was just about perfect. The image reproduction was crisp and beautiful, and the image itself made for such a great puzzle!

I love our Fridays when mom and I spend the day together. We assemble puzzles, talk, laugh, and generally just enjoy each other’s company. When the hormones are raging and I can’t stand anyone, mom is the only one I want to be around; no matter how I’m feeling, spending time with mom is always good for me. Lately we’ve been doing smaller piece count puzzles, we are having more fun being able to do more than one puzzle per day.

I love a thrift store puzzle, there’s always a chance that it may be missing a piece but you can find such interesting, fun puzzles at deeply discounted prices. Yes, this puzzle had a piece missing – but it only cost us 99 cents. For less than a dollar we got to spend the afternoon together putting together a really entertaining puzzle – what a bargain!

Paw Patrol (2)

On March 23, 2018March 23, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

This is the second of three puzzles that come in one box. They’re absolutely wonderful quality, and even when there are only a few pieces like this one they are so much fun to put together.

I love that each puzzle has it’s own poster to help with assembly and that the backing of each has a different pattern so you can sort them easily. They fit together easily but with enough of that signature Ravensburger “click” that you know you’ve got the right piece in the right place. Puzzles like these are great for beginning puzzlers, they stand up to rough handling and have great images that kids love.

Paw Patrol is crazy popular right now, so if you’ve got a little one in your life who loves them I definitely recommend these cute little puzzles – we loved them!

Secret Garden (Biddlestone Manor)

On March 22, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw PuzzlesLeave a comment

This was just a quick break in the middle of working another puzzle, it was definitely something I needed. I’ve been having trouble being able to puzzle lately, and I needed to get a puzzle done quickly and feel some great wooden pieces too. Thank goodness I have a bunch of these Wentworth micro puzzles around for times like this. 🙂

Secret Garden is a pretty difficult image, it’s only 40 pieces but it took me almost 20 minutes to get it assembled! At least I’m hoping it was because the image was challenging and not because of my recent puzzle problems.

It was a fun challenge though, and I absolutely love the times when I’m puzzling and the rest of the world seems to fade away and all that’s left is the pieces and how they fit together. When the only thing that registers is the patterns and colors, that’s when assembling a puzzle is the most fun for me. Times ceases to exist and I can be shocked at how much of it I’ve lost. Jigsaw puzzles are the best!

The image isn’t one I would normally choose, but when there are only 40 pieces I’m a little braver and a little less picky. I don’t think I’ll ever do Starry Night in a larger piece count, but I didn’t hesitate to get it in the micro size. Whatever the image, Wentworth micro puzzles have a deceptively challenging cut and are great fun to put together. This was exactly what I needed!