Grateful House Puzzles

This article starts with an email interview with the Grateful House Company Owner then there are reviews for following three Grateful House Puzzles. The Company has several more puzzle images as well as mats, trays and box stands. Their products also come with posters and other extras. Super quality company too! 


Grateful House Interview 

Q. For our Readers, where is your business located and how long has it been established?

Grateful House is located in Cody, Wyoming, USA. However, our brand is established in both the USA and Australia as we live between the two countries. We were established early in 2018.

Q. Why did you decide to start a jigsaw puzzle product business?

We faced some hardships in Australia with the drought and had to make some tough decisions. Our lives changed dramatically as we left the land and business that we loved. I really wanted to stay home with our 5 children. I wasn’t sure how or what I was going to do, I just knew I was going to do something that allowed me to be with them.

My son Jake had broken a few bones in a row from sporting accidents and he was doing a lot of puzzling. His younger sister Piper kept “helping” and losing his pieces. Grandma suggested a puzzle mat! This was news to me; I did not know such a thing existed. They were horrible quality, and I could see a business opportunity right away! I felt confident that people would want to safely store their puzzles after hours of working on them.

Q. What was your first puzzle product?

Our very first product was the roll up puzzle mat. After a lot of market research, we improved them substantially and continued to improve them as we learned more from our customers. We invented and patented a tube that helps secure the roll. Its very helpful for little hands and senior hands as it helps to grip the felt for a tight roll.

Q. How many products do you carry now?

We currently have 18 products including colour variations. We have some very exciting products coming soon. It has been a challenge to develop products due to limitations on raw materials and the costs of freight. We are working hard to get through this. Our puzzle trays are one example of delays with production due to these issues.

Q. How do you select your puzzle Artists?

I spend hours and hours looking on the web, social channels, word of mouth, and puzzle groups! My aim is to find artists who have never been seen on a puzzle. It’s an honour to introduce their work to the puzzling niche.

Q. It is stated on the back of the jigsaw puzzles box, "Made responsibly in China". Can you explain what that entails?

We vet our factories to ensure they are manufactured by companies that have produced them in an ethical manner, focusing on fair working conditions and that they are not harmful to the environment or to society.

Q. Do you plan to expand beyond jigsaw puzzle products?

We are focused on providing puzzlers with the highest quality products that solve their problems. I have become very passionate about our customers’ needs and will stay true to the niche for now. In the future if we do expand our line it would be related to the category in terms of crafts & hobbies. Creating Grateful House has been the most rewarding and beautiful experience as its brought us closer to puzzlers all over the world.

Q. What jigsaw puzzle products can we expect to see in the future?

We are just about to launch a modern tilt table and a box lid holder. They will be available in a couple of weeks. We are also working on puzzle desks, chairs, lighting, glue, and of course puzzles! This is just to name a few!



AMAZON-STORE-Banner

We have collected a massive list of jigsaw puzzles in numerous categories on our Amazon Store link. It's a quick way to browse most current puzzles and/or specific seasons, accessories and themes. Makes for a terrific one-stop jigsaw puzzle gift giving shopping centre. CLICK HERE



My Grateful House Mats Review

For the full review with images see Grateful House Mats

I first tried the Grateful House grey mat. Before I get into it, you should know that I have used the green Rollo puzzle mats - the Grateful House puzzle mats are comparable by product name only, being called puzzle mats. The thickness and quality of these Grateful House mats is the finest of all felts I have ever touched. Now, my puzzle table is smooth and shiny, but the weight of these mats have such minimal movement that it did not give a negative experience. The touch of the felt is that of luxury.

After rolling out the mat and sorting the puzzle pieces, I started with the border of the first puzzle. None of the pieces move on the mat. The pieces are picked up individually and put into place. There is no slippage or sliding - again, that did not give a negative experience.

When I was partially finished with the puzzle, I tested the 'Roll-away' process on the puzzle. The test was to see how well the Tube would work. Along with Hubby's assistance, we discovered the proper way to inflate the Tube as it is designed to hold the air as it is blown into, then seals instantly to hold the air - that makes for a quality airtight hold. When it is time to deflate the Tube, the air-intake- nozzle must be pinched open. So pinch the air-intake- nozzle to fill it with air and pinch the air-intake-nozzle to deflate it.

Then I followed the instructions to easily roll the puzzle around the tube and conveniently wrapped the ties around the puzzle mat. Once that was completed, I packed it into the carrying case that provides the drawstring to seal it closed and easy to carry handles. Clearly, the puzzle pieces are VERY safe and still in the exact place when re- opened.


My Grateful House Trays Review

For the Grateful House Trays images see the Welcome Back Puzzle 

I am using the Grateful House sorting trays. I have tried and tested to see IF all the pieces could be laid out flat into the 8 trays. It has been determined that if the lid is used to lay out the edge pieces, then yes, the other 8 trays will allow for the rest of the pieces to be laid out flat.

The images to the left share my sorting process. I laid out all the trays around the box of pieces. See the image to the right. I took handfuls of pieces and laid each one face up and according to the colours or patterns I placed them onto the trays. I was quite pleased they all fit.

I only needed to work from the one tray that had the edge pieces for the border, which meant I could hold it in my hand as it was not a large foam board like I have used in the past.

Once the border was completed, I was able to pick pieces from the trays that had bulk-colour-patterns. Once again, I was able to hold the tray in my hands.

At some point, I found myself, sifting through the trays and using the stacking method as a space savour tactic. That worked out quite well.

These trays are made of some pretty high grade plastic. As a matter of fact, they are heavier then I expected them to be. The bottom surface has a nice light grain surface and they all stack up to nicely with the

lid sealing the top. The only thing missing is a sling around the eight trays that attach to the lid so they can be carried.


My Grateful House Jigsaw Puzzle Review 

Brand: Grateful House Puzzle

Title: Barn Quilts

Artist: Julie Pace Hoff

Pieces: 1000 size

Size: 19.7" x 27.5"

For full review with images see Barn Quilt Jigsaw Puzzle

Overall Experience: Great Cut Quality: Great Board Quality: Firm Shape Cut: Grid-like Image Quality: Good Hardest Area: Red trees Puzzle Dust? next to none Finish Quality: Smooth linen

Box Quality: Great Sealed Pieces Inside Box: Yes Was this purchased new? no Price: Picked for review Recommend Level: High Time: 9 hours

The Grateful House puzzles come with a full size poster that is the same measurement of the assembled puzzle.

The first image below to the left shows there is zero puzzle dust, indicating a nice clean cut of the pieces. Although, a nice clean cut does not indicate whether the pieces are going to be loose fitting or not.

The back of the box shares a lot of information regarding the details of the jigsaw puzzle, such as the size and the artist. It also includes the Grateful House contact information and the fact that the product is "MADE RESPONSIBLY IN CHINA". We now know what that means.

The border was completed quickly enough by joining the blues at the top and the greys/people at the bottom.

The image to the left share the high quality of the grey mat and more importantly, how flat it lays - it's very smooth to the table.

I included the image to the left to show how the puzzle border compares to the puzzle poster. A puzzler can easily build the puzzle right on top of the poster. That's a handy trick for puzzle images that are extremely difficult.

So my work in progress started with the blue sky and grey base at the bottom, then moved onto the yellow, purple, and darker blue buildings. Next I started working the patterns. That left the big fiery red trees, the roads between the buildings and the rooftop patterns. Again, you can see how the pieces are lying flat on the mat.

The following is an example of the 'color-match' between the puzzle pieces and the poster. This is common due to paper types used for posters. Often puzzlers will need to make this adjustment when assembling pieces according to the image. Notice the different color matches between the pieces and poster paper below, where the arrows are pointing. It may throw you off at first but once you identify the correct color, you can easily adjust.

Some puzzle cuts that are grid cut can be tricky if the tips and knobs are too similar. Sometimes, pieces even fit into other pieces which becomes daunting. To the right, you can see some variations in the way the pieces are cut for the puzzle piece knobs. Again, that's a small 'tip' that can make a big difference in solid dark colors. Plus I wanted you to see the closeup fibres on the puzzle mat.

The next section of images shares close up views of images, and you can see the clear image, the cut pattern and the quality of the pieces. These are important aspects of the puzzle and Grateful House passes as a winner!

The different shapes to the tips helps with the grid-like cut, so they are not too similar. Maybe it also helps with the interlocking as you can see to the right, I have been able to lift the entire puzzle without the pieces falling apart.

A great big special thanks to Grateful House puzzles for giving me the opportunity to review their products.


Grateful House Products Reviewed

Brand: Grateful House Puzzle

Title: Barn Quilts Puzzle

Artist: Julie Pace Hoff

Pieces: 1000 size

Size: 19.7" x 27.5"

Brand: Grateful House Puzzle

Title: Barn Quilts Puzzle

Artist: Julie Pace Hoff

Pieces: 1000 size

Size: 19.7" x 27.5"


Brand: Grateful House Puzzle,

Title: Welcome Back Puzzle,

Artist: Antonio Dulk,

Pieces: 1000,

Size: 19.7" x 27.5"



Brand: Grateful House Puzzle,

Title: Welcome Back Puzzle,

Artist: Antonio Dulk,

Pieces: 1000,

Size: 19.7" x 27.5"


Brand: Grateful House Puzzle

Title: Cats Playing Poker Puzzle

Artist: Julie Pace Hoff

Pieces: 1000 size

Size: 19.7" x 27.5"

Brand: Grateful House Puzzle

Title: Cats Playing Poker Puzzle

Artist: Julie Pace Hoff

Pieces: 1000 size

Size: 19.7" x 27.5"


Grateful House Mats

Premium Felt ROLL UP Puzzle Mat for Jigsaw Puzzles

Wool Blend lays Perfectly Flat

Comes Rolled & NOT Folded

Fits 500 1000 1500 Piece Puzzles

Size 46 x 26 inch

Grateful House Mats

Premium Felt ROLL UP Puzzle Mat for Jigsaw Puzzles

Wool Blend lays Perfectly Flat

Comes Rolled & NOT Folded

Fits 500 1000 1500 Piece Puzzles

Size 46 x 26 inch