T’s General Store

On April 16, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles14 Comments

This puzzle is called Trump’s General Store on the box, but I didn’t want that title on my blog – I’m sure you understand. I don’t talk politics on this blog, we’re all about jigsaw puzzles and puzzle people here – that’s it. For my purposes I’ve renamed the puzzle, and apparently so has Ceaco; it’s available for purchase now under the name “General Store”.

This was such a fun image to assemble, and it was fascinating how the tiny look-alikes were made for the photograph. A quick look at the image makes you think it’s just the inside of an old general store; but a more detailed inspection reveals that not much is what it seems to be at all.

There are 156 common items that fool the eye in this image: playing cards are ceiling tiles, checkerboards are floor tiles, bathtub stoppers are light fixtures, etc. To be honest I didn’t try to find them all, but it was fun to find things as it was being assembled that I hadn’t seen at first. I’d absolutely love to find more of Joan Steiner’s “Can You Find?” puzzles like this one. ❤ Here are my favorite look-alikes…

Cut crayons are substituted for deli meats, and the front of the deli case is a light switch cover…

T's General Store 1

A razor, paper fasteners and nail clippers as vacuums…

T's General Store 2

Grenade as a fireplace, cinnamon sticks as logs…

T's General Store 3

It’s an average Ceaco puzzle, not terrible but not great either. This puzzle was all about the image and seeing each element close up as you assemble it. I had a great time! Sometimes we find the most interesting puzzles at the thrift stores. 🙂

Hey There

On April 15, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Such a ridiculous pose for a dog made me think of those soft focus “pretty” pictures people used to take. “Hey there big boy”. LOL

Super quick kids puzzle that made me happy to assemble it, what more can you ask for?

Fall on the Farm

On April 14, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles4 Comments

This is a cute Americana image from Bits and Pieces. I think this may have been the first 300 piece puzzle of theirs that I’ve done. I was surprised by the very blocky shaped pieces, and that it was more difficult to assemble than it looks.

I’m not always happy with the quality of this brand, it seems to be hit or miss in the quality department for them. The last two Bits and Pieces puzzles that I purchased new were so awful to assemble that I only buy them second hand now. (Horribly loose fit and pieces shapes that were so obvious it almost obscured the image itself) Taking chances on iffy quality isn’t a good idea in my book, but I don’t mind so much if I’m only paying a dollar or two for a puzzle.

This one was pretty good quality though, and although more difficult than I thought it would be, it was an enjoyable assembly.

Yellow and White Labs

On April 13, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments

I absolutely adore this image, but the puzzle itself was not good quality at all. I enjoyed the assembly though, even with the questionable quality. When the image is entertaining enough I can forgive quite a bit.

It’s the chance we take when we buy puzzles from the thrift stores, they could be poor quality, missing pieces, or both – like this one. But how could I pass up those beautiful labradors?

Pardon?

On April 12, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles3 Comments

These puzzles weren’t named on the box. I’m naming them as I go, with titles that make me smile. I got a box with three kids puzzles at the thrift store, and I found these pieces at the bottom of the box; two of them were bagged, but this was just scattered at the bottom; that’s probably why there’s a missing piece.

The quality was fair, with a good fit and good enough thickness. I really do wish there were more kids puzzles with better quality, kids aren’t the only ones who put them together. Many times parents or other adults help children with their jigsaw puzzles, and everybody appreciates good quality.

In my head these are two best friend kitties, and it’s them against the world. They put up with zero nonsense, and can make you feel awful about yourself by saying nothing at all and giving you the look you see above. Pardon? Did you really just say that out loud?