Harry Potter Book 1

On January 5, 2019 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles4 Comments

If you didn’t already figure me for a puzzle nerd, guess what? I’m a book nerd too! I love reading ❤ Some of my favorites are great book series – all the Little House books, the Clan of the Cave Bear series, Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy, and definitely Harry Potter!

In fact, I’ve read all the books in all of those series several times – but there’s something magical about the Harry Potter books (no pun intended) – they’re comforting, exciting, funny, sad, sweet, scary, and just about everything you need for a great read. And with this FABULOUS gift my daughter gave me for Christmas I’ve got both of my nerdy passions together!

Harry Potter set

I’ve only put together two of these so far, but the quality is even better than the last NYPC puzzle I assembled; thick pieces with a nice fit, and first rate image reproduction. They’re all 100 pieces and they’re all going to be great fun!

Now I’m wondering what other book covers would be great puzzle art, hmmmm. All the Little House covers would be so entertaining for me – I adore every one of those books. Any other ideas?

Innocent Light

On December 15, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles3 Comments

Mom had a successful thrift store trip this week and brought me this Christmas puzzle that was only 100 pieces. It’s such a pretty image! There’s a lot of glitter, but I wasn’t able to get a good picture of it.

Unfortunately this is an E&L puzzle, and the quality was dismal. The pieces are thin and fit together very poorly. You can see by the picture above that the finished puzzle doesn’t lie flat, but being a used puzzle it might be from our fantastic Florida humidity rather than poor quality. Although at 35 cents, it was still money well spent; even with less than perfect quality I can still enjoy the puzzle.

On the positive side, this is a “Sparkles in Light” holiday series glitter puzzle, and the glitter is adhered extremely well. There wasn’t one speck of it anywhere on the bottom of the box – and that’s a rarity with glitter puzzles that I’ve worked. No festive puzzle dust at all! LOL

Highland Cow

On October 17, 2018October 17, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Although the quality wasn’t great on this kids puzzle, it was a bit of a challenge and took my mind off of things for a little while. Isn’t that one of the great things about puzzles? It is for me. 😎

This isn’t your typical image for a kids puzzle, which is part of the reason that I really like it. It’s different, like me. It’s more difficult than normal too, like me! LOL

The pieces were thinner than I like, especially for a children’s puzzle. The fit was good though, and the entire puzzle could be picked up in one piece once it was finished. There wasn’t any variety in the piece shapes, which added to the difficulty; but it was still an entertaining assembly, and I think the finished image is pretty darn cool.

Crafty Critters

On October 11, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

I haven’t posted a kids puzzle lately, and luckily I found a couple here that I hadn’t yet assembled. Crafty Critters was a quick, fun puzzle that was fair quality and makes for a very cute finished image.

This is only the second puzzle from this manufacturer that I’ve assembled, and overall I would say their quality is good to fair. The pieces are somewhat thin, but sturdy. There are a good variety of shapes and the fit is very nice. The colors are bright and fun; although the finish is a bit shiny. Good enough quality, although I wish the makers of puzzles for children would make them a bit more tough to withstand the sometimes not-so-gentle way children play.

As an added note, the first Creative Edge puzzle I assembled had the absolute BEST GLOW IN THE DARK IMAGE I’ve ever done or seen. It was also the best “glow” picture I’ve ever gotten. Check out Creepy Crawlies! if you’re interested, I got some great images!

Spongebob Squarepants

On July 2, 2018July 2, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Another quick kids puzzle that fit together well, but both the box and the pieces were less than ideal. I guess the fit is one of the most important things, but for me I’d like both the pieces and the box to be more sturdy.

Kids aren’t always careful or gentle with their toys, the boxes especially. I think puzzles are important for children to play with – of course I’m most likely a bit biased. Still, if the boxes are sturdy and not easily broken then there is less chance of losing pieces. When you have a box that just opens like a cereal box there is a greater chance of losing pieces; once you lose pieces you also lose the desire to assemble that puzzle – at least that’s true for me.

It’s a fun puzzle to assemble, with bright colors and a fun picture – especially if you’re a Spongebob fan. It didn’t take long to put together, but was a nice change of pace since I hadn’t had any kids puzzles to assemble for a while. For me a puzzle is a puzzle, no matter the piece count. I try to enjoy them all! 🙂