King Dog

On April 9, 2017May 18, 2023 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Who couldn’t love a face like that? One look at this puzzle and we just had to get it and get it done!

300 piece puzzles are fun to put together in an afternoon, or even less time if you’re working with someone else. This puzzle was no different, and we just loved this adorable dog! The pieces weren’t too bad, and it was a large piece puzzle, so the finished product was much larger than we anticipated (18 x 24). That’s alright though, it seems like more of an accomplishment – look at this big puzzle we just finished!

Like I’ve said before, if you really love the image the puzzle is fun to put together even if the quality is less than amazing. The quality of this puzzle wasn’t too bad at all, so the assembly wasn’t a chore. I’m a bit of a puzzle snob, so when I see a puzzle I’ve had quality issues with before I tend to turn up my nose, but I also try to give every puzzle a chance. I’m not always successful, but I’m getting better at it.

It’s especially nice for me when I’m working on a puzzle that may be more difficult or time consuming to stop and work on a smaller or easier puzzle. I’m working on an extremely time consuming 1000 piece puzzle that I absolutely REFUSE to give up on – so it was very nice to spend the day over at mom’s where we were able to start and finish this puzzle in no time at all! This royal pup was too cute!

I love seeing all the different puzzles mom (black belt thrift shopper) finds at the thrift stores around here. They’re not all my cup of tea, but a lot of them I try anyway and find out that it was way more fun than I anticipated. 🙂

Sugar Plum Fairies

On March 25, 2017May 19, 2023 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments

Yup another 100 piece puzzle! If I do them I might as well put them on the blog – puzzles are puzzles no matter the size!

This puzzle would be difficult for a young child I believe, because a couple of more “mature” ladies were laughing while trying to assemble this because we found it a bit taxing!!! Not kidding. 😮

Typical Ceaco puzzle, nothing new in the quality category. Image reproduction and piece shapes are good, but the pieces are a bit thin and the puzzle doesn’t always lie flat when completed.

I know this is a bit feminine for a boy, but why not give him a chance to assemble it? He may find the increased difficulty a fun challenge, you never know, right?

Seavilians

On March 15, 2017May 19, 2023 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Another thrift store puzzle put together to be sure all the pieces are there before giving it to a child. This one wasn’t bad!

You can see from the picture that the pieces don’t lie completely flat and they are a bit thin, but otherwise this a good kid’s puzzle. The image reproduction is quite good and it was fun to assemble. The top blue part took some actual concentration, but it isn’t too difficult to for young child in my opinion. This one is definitely going to my “grandson”, he’s a puzzle geek just like me! 🙂

An Afternoon Remembered

On March 12, 2017May 19, 2023 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles1 Comment

Another very interesting thrift store find. This puzzle has velvet on the back of the pieces!

This image seems lovely and bright but the pieces all looked extremely dark and it was difficult to find the right piece at times. Once we got the lower area assembled we looked at it and were shocked at how light it looks. I like the image, but boy was this a challenge! Full disclosure – I attempted to assemble this puzzle last year, but it was too difficult for me at the time. I think it’s better to do the more challenging puzzles with someone. Mom and I worked this puzzle together and it was still tough, but it’s not so bad when there’s someone with you to talk to and laugh with. Also, the sense of accomplishment when you’re done is even bigger with a more difficult puzzle. You did it! Way to go! 😉

Ceaco has some very interesting puzzles. I’m not a big fan of their regular puzzles, the pieces are too thin for my taste – but they also have some special puzzles that are much better quality in my opinion. We found a puzzle backed with cork (click here for my post about the cork backed puzzle – so much fun!) and now this puzzle backed with velvet – very chic!

The pieces are thicker than normal for a Ceaco puzzle, and then the velvet adds even more thickness. The fit was tight and there was no problem lifting up a completed section to move it. I wish Ceaco would put the extra effort into quality for all their puzzles, because the ones I’ve found that are outside the norm are really exceptional quality. Wouldn’t that be great all the time?

If you can find a Ceaco puzzle that is a special edition, definitely go for it. The special puzzles we’ve done are really unique and fun! If you’re in my area check out the thrift stores, this puzzle is going back – it might be your next fun afternoon! (Bring a friend though, it makes it way more fun!)

A Christmas Story

On December 11, 2016January 30, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

We love A Christmas Story here at our house, so this was a fun assembly even though it wasn’t the best quality puzzle. Ralphie and the gang are always welcome here!

Normally Ceaco puzzles are not my cup of tea. We have found several Ceaco puzzles that were apart from the norm with very good quality. One was backed with thick corkboard and had a lot of whimsies, which was super fun and an excellent buy at the thrift store for 99 cents! We also found a Ceaco puzzle backed with red velvet!

This puzzle, however, was a run of the mill Ceaco. The pieces were on the thin side and the image was quite shiny and difficult to work under lights at night. A majority of the puzzle is the dark green Christmas tree, and the gloss on the pieces made it difficult to distinguish shades and and shapes when working at night. It was a random cut puzzle, which did make it more interesting to assemble, so that was a plus.

All in all, our love for the movie outweighed the quality of the puzzle, and we still enjoyed the assembly. “You should see how it looks from out here!” 😉