Hopetown Light

On March 31, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

I love this image with it’s bright colors and warm feeling, but it’s deceptively difficult and gave us a bit of a challenge. It’s beautiful to look at, but much harder to put together; the brush strokes are what put us to the test.

Mega Puzzles quality is fair, I’ve had some that were poor quality and some that have really impressed me – it’s a gamble, so this isn’t a brand we purchase new. The pieces are on the thin side and don’t always lie flat as well as having very little variety in piece shape. On the positive side, the image reproduction is very good, and the pieces fit together very well.

Mom and I are almost exclusively doing smaller piece count puzzles on our visit day, mostly because I haven’t been able to puzzle much lately and she’s helping me make sure I have puzzles to post here every day. We enjoy being able to do multiple puzzles in one day, there’s always something new and fun coming up next!

Backpack Kitty

On March 30, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

This was a fun puzzle that’s perfect for working with a friend, but sadly it didn’t hold up well to multiple assemblies. Still, isn’t that a cute kitty? 😻

This is a Bits and Pieces puzzle purchased at the thrift store. For me, their puzzles are hit or miss in the quality category and this seemed like more of a miss. I can’t say for sure how many times it’s been assembled, but this puzzle had some problems. There was image lift on several pieces, and many other were bent. The pieces seemed a bit thinner than usual for this brand, but on the plus side the fit was quite good and we loved the random piece shapes. All in all the quality was disappointing, but we still enjoyed putting it together.

I love when a puzzle seems made for working with more than one person – you take the green backpack and I’ll take the red and we’ll meet in the middle. I think that’s also part of the reason I love collages so much, they’re perfect for working with others as well as on your own. It’s easy to pull pieces for a section and work it by yourself, but you’re still working together. Mom is my favorite person to puzzle with and we have a great time no matter the image, but it’s even more fun when it’s so bright and charming and gives us our own little sections. Neither of us are “cat people”, but you can’t deny the adorable factor of the kitten in the backpack – so cute!

Even if the quality was less than premium we can still enjoy the puzzle itself as well as the time spent together. Thrift store puzzle that’s cute and fun to assemble – 99 cents. Time well spent with someone you love – PRICELESS.

Children’s Globe

On March 29, 2018 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles3 Comments

Mom found another puzzle ball for children, as usual she couldn’t help herself even though the last two puzzle balls we’ve gotten had pieces missing. Always the optimist! Luckily for us not only were all the pieces there, we liked the image much more than the last one and it was a lot of fun to assemble.

The quality of these 3D puzzles is very good and I find them quite entertaining. The pieces are made of thick plastic and fit together very snugly so that they stay together without glue. All the pieces are also numbered on the back with an arrow underneath the number pointing in the direction that the next number should go. You can assemble the puzzle using only the numbers, only the image, or a combination of the two.

I like to separate the pieces by the numbers in groups of ten, then flip them over and use the image to put them together. We’ve put them together only using the numbers before, and it’s just not as satisfying for us. But puzzles are supposed to be fun, and whichever way makes you happy is the way you should do it.

Ravensburger has puzzle balls from 54 to 540 pieces, and I think they’re a lot of fun. If you come across one in a thrift store give it a try, you just might have a great time!

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.