Church

On September 14, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

This is another of the premium Milton Bradley puzzles that we’ve found. Previously I assembled Train Station, Eden Central by Thelma Winter and enjoyed it very much. Click the link above to see that post. I was thrilled that mom was able to find another puzzle from this series, but a little bummed that it’s missing one piece. Oh well, it was still a lot of fun to assemble!

This was the first puzzle with artwork by Joseph Burgess that I’ve assembled, and I have to say his artwork is beautiful and makes for an excellent puzzle; I’d love to work more of his puzzles. I’ve looked through the puzzles with his artwork available at Puzzle Warehouse, and I recognize several that I’ve noticed before and had already added to my online wishlist (and the wishlist I keep in my head 🙂 )

The quality of these premium puzzles is excellent, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed assembling them. The images are gorgeous and make for great puzzles; the pieces feel almost soft, fit together very well, and have a beautiful matte finish. The series has 3 puzzles each from several artists including Royce McClure and Dominic Davison. I’m hoping we find more of them, I love the quality and the pictures are attractive and calming and make me happy while I’m puzzling them.

Vibrant Puzzle Calendar Kit Puzzles 1 & 2

On September 13, 2017September 13, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store Puzzles2 Comments

Butterflies 100 pieces

Puzzle with calendar

Flower Shop 100 pieces

Super interesting puzzles mom found at the thrift store! There are six 100 piece double sided puzzles to assemble and glue for use with a dry erase board calendar; a different image for each month.

The brand is Mega Puzzles, but they are much thicker than any Mega Puzzles I’ve done before. And the most amazing part? This is from the thrift store and everything is still inside the box! All puzzles (I’m hoping all the pieces are accounted for), the calendar, the dry erase marker, glue and a spreader to use with the glue. Wow!

The puzzles are thicker than the normal Mega Puzzle, but one side has an odd finish. I don’t know how to describe it, but you can tell which side of the puzzle you’re working on which I suppose is the reason for it. In my opinion one side looks better than the other, but it isn’t too bad. I enjoyed assembling the first puzzle (well, 2 puzzles) and have shown each side above along with the calendar. I haven’t glued the puzzles, but just placed it carefully so you can see what it looks like. Actually, pretty cool idea!

There are two different editions of this calendar kit that I was able to find online. Mega Puzzles aren’t a brand I would normally seek out, but this one is pretty neat and I wouldn’t mind finding the other edition to try. 🙂 I loved working on a 100 piece puzzle that had a more adult image; stay tuned for the other 5 puzzles!

Prehistoric Cave

On September 11, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

**This is a guest review – Stacey’s daughter here**

Hurricane Irma has us holed up in the house, waiting impatiently for her to pass through. While the men have spent the time watching movies, the ladies have been working on different puzzles. While my mother and grandmother are working on a 2000 piece puzzle, I asked for a smaller one to complete. Out of the two 100 pieces that she currently had, I chose this one for the colors and subject. Who doesn’t like dinosaurs?

This puzzle was enjoyable and only took around 30 minutes to complete. The pieces were sturdy, well constructed and fit together well. With it being a circular puzzle, there are random cuts throughout which kept me guessing whether I needed one or two pieces in certain areas. The only downside I could see was that they were very glossy, which required you to assemble the puzzle at a slight angle to be able to really see the images on the pieces. The colors were both bright and muted; the dinosaurs themselves were very vivid, while the scenery was calm and cooling. I would most definitely purchase this brand again!

Cat’s Got Mail

On September 7, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

The large piece Ravensburger puzzles are so good! This is a 300 piece puzzle and the finished image is VERY big – 27 x 20 inches! (70 x 50 cm) That’s the average size of a 1000 piece puzzle. 😮 It’s quite impressive looking and feels like a big accomplishment!

I enjoyed the difficulty level of this puzzle, it was a bit of a challenge and took me longer than a 300 piece would normally take. Not too easy, not too hard – it was just right! I typically don’t do cat puzzles, but I enjoyed this one very much. Mom’s been finding some awesome images at the thrift stores lately and they’ve been so fun to work.

I am having a great time with the smaller piece puzzles. Maybe it’s because I spent the better part of 6 months working on one enormous puzzle, I’m not sure. But I really do enjoy the smaller piece counts as well as the puzzles 1000 pieces and above. Perhaps I just love to do puzzles, no matter the size! 🙂

Cracking Castle

On September 6, 2017September 6, 2017 By Stacey at myjigsawjournalIn Jigsaw Puzzles, Thrift Store PuzzlesLeave a comment

Horrible Histories are a series of books published in the UK that are designed to engage kids in history by presenting the gory, unpleasant, or unusual aspects in an amusing way. I hadn’t heard of them before, but actually they sound like a wonderful read! I’d be interested in checking them out. 😉

This puzzle reveals some of the truths about living in a castle long ago, and it’s a pretty fun assembly. The pieces are very thick and sturdy and the image reproduction is very sharp and colorful. The only problem I have with it is that the finish is extremely shiny and you can have glare on any of the pieces. Other than that minor detail, this was quite a fun puzzle that went together rather quickly. It comes with a “loathsome leaflet” filled with “foul facts” that will make you want to read the books to learn more horrible things!

Galt Toy jigsaw puzzles are mostly large floor puzzles for younger children, they do have a few 100 piece puzzles and they carry 4 puzzles from the Horrible History series. They are a UK based toy manufacturer, so it may not be easy to find more of them here in the US. I’m hoping to find more though, the quality was excellent and I love the concept. I’d love to find the Rotten Romans puzzle. 🙂