- In 2022, I was at a thrift store and I found a small collection of wooden jigsaw puzzles and I didn't really know what that world was until I found those.

And we took 'em home, I put one together.

It had a very tactile feel, it was very satisfying and I kind of fell in love with the world.

So we did some research.

It seemed like maybe there was a commercial opportunity because they sell quickly online.

So we dipped our toes into the world of jigsaw puzzles.

- [Chris] After dipping his toe in the jigsaw puzzle pool, Jason began to explore what materials he would use for his puzzle project.

- Wooden jigsaw puzzles, not only do they have that tactile feel, but the shapes of the pieces are all different.

So on a traditional puzzle, you have a lot of pieces that look and feel the same.

A lot of 'em are cardboard, some of them aren't very good quality, but with wood you can feel it's almost a 3D shape.

It was a whole nother layer of discovery when we were going through that process to create puzzles and enjoy them.

- [Chris] Cardboard puzzle pieces weren't cutting it, but Jason's son had an idea to help the process and increased the quality of their creation.

- My son kind of challenged me, he's a teenager, he's like dad, just make 'em yourself, right?

So we said, okay, well let's go figure out how to do that.

So he and I joined a local makers network.

We learned how to use a laser.

We scoured the state for high quality wood that would work well with the laser.

And then it became, okay, what artwork are we gonna put on this?

And so we reached out to a bunch of local Michigan based artists, or at least artists who had deep roots in Michigan.

And we had to sort of figure out, you know, what makes a good puzzle?

And that could be color blocking on the image, it could be patterns on the image, it has to feel like a good image for a puzzle.

And then we reached out to those folks and we said, Hey, we'd love to partner with you.

You know, you can get a percentage of every sale.

We love your work.

And luckily, a couple of them said yes.

And we started making these puzzles and you know now we have folks sort of that are asking us if they could join our little movement we have.

- [Chris] There's a lot of creativity involved when you're designing a puzzle and that includes some specifically designed pieces.

- What we do is we start with the artwork and then we say, if we're gonna create shaped pieces that are themed to this artwork, what would those be?

So we typically on a large puzzle that's between like 30 and 50 shaped pieces.

So if we're using an image that's like the Grand Hotel at Mackinac, we pick things that are themed to Mackinac Island.

So there's a horse and buggy.

We picked the fountain that was in front of the Grand Hotel.

We picked bicycles and all those things that you would find on the island.

And then we sort of, we create those, we draw those, we digitize them, we lay them out on the canvas, and then we create the pieces that interlock between those.

So there's little people, then there's, you know, there's shapes like instruments, sometimes animals.

And it's almost like you get to discover this world as you're doing the puzzle and you're sort of getting into the mind of the designer of the puzzle.

Like, oh, they must have thought this was interesting for this part of the puzzle.

We put masking on the front and the back of the puzzle because lasers create residue and we don't want any of that residue to be on the puzzle when it's finished.

So it's an extra step we take and not everyone does, but we want to have a flawless puzzle when we're done.

And then once it's cut, it sits in our shop here for about a week while sort of the burnt smell goes away and then my wife and I will box them up and get them all ready to go.

- [Chris] Puzzles.

The pieces require connectivity of course, and that connectivity can include the people who are trying to complete the fun project.

- Puzzles are definitely a great way to connect.

We have a lot of people that are on the holiday times will tell us as they're buying the puzzles, we're buying it cuz we're gonna have it out at Christmas for the family.

And we've had customers send us pictures of those moments.

So I think, you know, in this digital age, right, when everyone's scrolling on their phones, you know, having something that's on a community table, everyone can put the digital away for a few minutes, you know, have a chat over a puzzle and try to figure out the interlocking pieces, I think it is something, you know, it's a throwback to a simpler time, which I think in general wooden puzzles are.

We called ourselves Lighthouse Puzzles because the state has more lighthouses than any other state in the union, right?

So a lot of what you see in our puzzles are representing the shores and the beauty of Michigan.

I think it naturally is a gorgeous state.

So it wasn't hard to find art that was reflective of that.

It's more challenging to say, okay, of these, you know, 20 pieces of art that are of the shoreline, which one is the best representation?

- [Chris] A Michigan entrepreneur creating Michigan focused art from Michigan products with your home as the destination.

- It's all been here.

We started in our basement and you know, at some point we moved up into the garage and now we sort of have half of the garage as our workshop.

And as we grow, you know, we may get a space that's bigger than this as we have multiple lasers, but for right now everything comes outta one spot, it's right here in our house.