Holiday Gift Guide GIVEAWAY: Jigthings Jigsort 1500 11/28

My husband is a puzzle fanatic. One year, he spent the vast majority of his free time putting together various puzzles. And the puzzles he prefers are no cake walk, either! He likes the huge 1000-1500 piece puzzles that can take months to complete. One of them, a wolf scene, took him 3 months because is was done entirely in 3 colors. Talk about a challenge! It ended up absolutely gorgeous, though, and he was very proud to have finally completed it. Since then, he has done many other difficult puzzles as well. He enjoys the challenge, and he says it definitely helps him to unwind.

One of the biggest obstacles we've had since having babies when it comes to completing our puzzles is having somewhere to do them while making sure that the pieces stay intact. Have you seen what baby saliva can do to a puzzle piece? Not pretty at all! We are also now buried in baby gear, and don't really have anywhere to put a puzzle together. The table in our formal dining room is totally out of the question, since this is where my "yet to be reviewed" products go until I get a chance to post. This way, they stay separate and don't get lost among our everyday items. (Ahh, the life of a blogger!) Coffee tables are out, too, since they're all at toddler accessible heights. Leaving a puzzle out for weeks on any of them would mean that most of the pieces would get lost, eaten, or otherwise destroyed. Not good at all.

That's why I was so excited to discover the great puzzle products at Jigthings. Jigthings is a great UK based company that offers tons of great accessories that make putting together jigsaw puzzles a lot less painless! The prime objective of Jigthings products  is to make jigsaw puzzles more fun for jigsaw enthusiasts. They have 5 main product groups..... With the help of Jigsort, Jigboard and Jigsafe it becomes simple to manage jigsaws in your home during the time that they are being made up. (This is a MUST in homes where curious little hands like to explore!) Jigstore enables you to safely store made-up puzzles and the Jigframe provides a way for you to easily hang them on a wall in a picture frame. You only have to buy Jigthings ONCE and you can then enjoy them for a lifetime with any amount of different jigsaw puzzles.

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I was absolutely thrilled to receive the Jigsort 1500 for my review. This is the Rolls Royce of the Jigsort line, and can easily accommodate even your largest, most complex puzzles. PERFECT for my husband who thinks that bigger and more difficult means better! Of course you can do your smaller puzzles on the Jigsort 1500 as well. If the Jigsort 1500 is just too big, they also offer smaller sizes with the Jigsort 500 and the Jigsort 1000. Here's how the Jigsort works, as described on the Jigthings website:

"All Jigsorts share the same attributes...... At the heart of each one is a rigid Construction Board (a Jigboard) on which the puzzle is made. The board is completely covered in a special soft fabric that makes it a joy to work with. It can be placed on any table or shiny surface without the least fear of scratching. The fabric covering keeps the pieces attached to the surface and this, combined with a raised edge around the board, ensures that individual pieces are never lost.

All of our jigsaw holders come complete with Sort Trays that have the same special soft fabric on the inside. These trays are used for storing the non-assembled pieces but they can also be used for constructing small sections for later transfer to the main Construction Board. Each Sort Tray has its own lid to keep the pieces in place when the puzzle is not being worked upon. Our jigsaw cases for 500 pieces (Jigsort 500) have two made-to-measure Sort Trays whilst the cases for 1,000 and 1,500 pieces (Jigsort 1000 and Jigsort 1500) each have four made-to-measure Sort Trays.

Regardless of which size you choose, you will find that the Sort Trays in all our Jigsorts are made to fit snugly into the Construction Board and by so doing all the jigsaw pieces are kept firmly in place. The whole assembly can then be zipped up inside the attractive carrying case and in this condition partly completed jigsaws can be safely stored or transported elsewhere for use in the future. Please note that because of the large size of the Jigsort 1500 a certain amount of piece slippage may occur until approximately 50% of the jigsaw has been completed. "

Here is a video demonstration of the Jigsort:

MY OPINION:
As you can see, the Jigsort 1500 is quite large. Here it is, sitting on a loveseat. When it arrived, I was actually delighted with its size. This larger size means that no matter what puzzle my husband wants to attempt, chances are, it will fit the Jigsort 1500. This is the perfect universal size that is pretty much guaranteed to fit 98% of the puzzles found on the market today!

Another thing I love about this product is that it incredibly durable and made of the highest quality materials. The fabric case is not at all flimsy, and the carrying handle is very strong and secured well to the case. There are no worries about it coming loose while you're transporting your jigsaw puzzles. Even the zipper on the case is very strong and durable. There's nothing I hate more than a zipper that doesn't hold up to the task at hand. With Jigthings products, this will never be a concern.

I also love the fact that there are different trays to enable sorting of puzzle pieces. When Dan does his puzzles, he often separates the pieces into different categories, such as colors, edges, corners, etc. The Jigsort 1500 makes this very easy to do. I also very much appreciate the fact that each sort tray has its own lid to keep the pieces intact when not in use. The folks at Jigthings really have thought of everything!

But what I believe to be the best feature of the Jigsort is the fact that all of its components are designed to be completely safe for use on any surface, even shiny, highly polished surfaces like nice tables, etc. The product is specifically designed not to scratch or mark even the most delicate of surfaces, making this the ideal puzzle accessory for any environment.

Overall, I love the Jigsort 1500 and think this would make a fantastic gift for the puzzle enthusiast in your life, young and old alike! This product is extremely well made, high quality, and durable enough to ensure years of continued use. I know my husband loves it, and so will the puzzle lover in your home! When Dan gets his next puzzle completed, I will have to check out some of the great Jigsaw Frames available from Jigthings! That's our other puzzle dilemma...Finding a way to display Dan's finished works!

BUY IT:

You can purchase this and many other fabulous puzzle accessories on the Jigthings website.

You can also follow Jigthings on Facebook and on twitter to stay on top of their latest products and promotions!


WIN IT:

I am thrilled to announce that one of you will be receiving an Jigsort 1500 of your own during my Holiday Gift Guide event, hosted by myself and A Time Out For Mommy! How cool is that?!

Please use this handy Rafflecopter form to enter!

This giveaway will be open to US residents 18+ until 11:59 PM on November 28,2011. Winner will be chosen randomly and will be notified via e-mail as well as posted here, on twitter, and on Facebook. The winner will have 48 hours to reply and claim their prize before I am forced to draw another winner.

***Disclosure: I received a complimentary product to facilitate my review. No other compensation was provided, and all opinions are 100% honest and have not been influenced in any way.***

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