Green Kid Crafts Review: Slime Monsters Kit

Last month, Green Kid Crafts was offering a deal on the Slime Monsters kit. I decided to check this out for my three-year-old, and I am very glad I did! The really nice thing about Green Kid Crafts is that you can choose monthly subscription boxes, discovery boxes, creativity boxes, and even STEM science kits, and they are all eco-friendly.

Kiwi Crate Review: February 2015

In January, I signed up for Kiwi Crate because they had the very cool Glow Worm Kit for free. I debated about ordering this subscription because all of the reviews I had seen of it were from other bloggers who had received it for free for review. Boxy pays for 95% of her subscriptions and the ones she receives for free, she usually ends up buying anyway. I feel like there is a difference between a review written by someone who has spent their hard-earned money for it versus someone who was asked to provide a review and received the product for free. Since she doesn't have kids, though, the subscription boxes for children fall to me. Both Boxy and I take pride in the fact that no matter how the product is received the review will ALWAYS be honest, so I decided to try it out and see how I felt about it.

I enjoyed the Glow Worm Kit and went ahead with ordering a subscription to Kiwi Crate to share with my children. This is my first subscription box from them.

Crafty's Rainbow Loom Bracelet Creations

First attempt 

A month or so back, Boxy sent me a picture of a Rainbow Loom Steampunk bracelet that she really liked. I tried to find a tutorial that I could use to make it because I am not great at making my own designs. Well, just last week the creator put out a tutorial on YouTube.

Loom all set up and ready 

Artisan Loom is responsible for the design, as well as the tutorial. However, I played around with the colors and charms a bit. The first one I made I wasn't sure I loved. The beads within the flowers were too big and the flowers were too close to the charm. Although Boxy said it was nice, I just wasn't happy with it. Ultimately it would be hers and if she liked it, I could have stopped there and mailed it to her. However, I really wanted her to LOVE it. To me, this version was just "meh" and that wouldn't cut it. 

So I tried again and had a few runs with bands breaking and trouble getting the pattern right. After I tried two more times, I completed one today. Right away, I sent a picture to Boxy, who was very pleased. Instead of "it's nice," I got "that is awesome." This made me very happy because I wanted it to be perfect for her. I always love making things for other people.

Green Kid Crafts Review: Creativity Art Box

I recently received a coupon code to try out one of the craft boxes from Green Kid Crafts. I browsed their website to pick the perfect craft box for my son and me. Since one of the reason I am blogging and working with Boxy is that I needed to refocus my energy and that I am working to focus on my family and those who matter in my life, this company filled a need I had.

Green Kid Crafts is an eco-friendly green company run by a woman, and I am all for helping out companies run by women. Even more, I love a company that is eco-friendly. Started by a mom who is also an environmental scientist, Green Kid Crafts was a way for her to spend time with her kids without the extra work of getting the supplies and planning the projects. That certainly is one of my goals! I would love to spend more time with the kids, but the added time spent shopping and planning takes away from the time I actually have with them. 

After looking over the site for a VERY long time (it was hard to choose!), I settled on the Creativity Art Box. I figured this was perfect because it included supplies for us to get started and we could use our imaginations to create something really cool!

Imaginative U Review (from Crafty and Son): February 2015

What is Imaginative University? It is a monthly subscription box that sends you all the supplies needed to complete projects for 4-10-year-olds. The projects are arts, crafts, science, engineering, and so much more!

This giant box of fun arrived on my doorstep and my three-year-old wanted to open it right away and make something! We held off for a day or two and then, on Monday when the other kids were at school, we decided to dive in. The kit I received included activities for all ages since my children range from 3 to 9.

Upon opening the box I noticed how well organized everything was. The bags have color-coded stickers on them, along with the age range and project for which they are designated. All of the activity packets are also age- and color-coded. This makes it easy to match the packet of supplies with the activity, as well as choose the right activity for each kid!

The kits come with just about everything you need to complete each project, and the items that aren't included are underlined so that you know what you need.

My son was really excited to try the activity for kids aged 4-6. I won't lie; I was little nervous that he wouldn't get the point of the activity or understand it since he isn't quite four yet.

The activity was linked to the book, Snowy Day, which was included in the box. After reading the book, we got to make our own snow, in the house, which was very exciting for my son!

The activity itself was to discuss the tracks that Peter made in the book and have the child do the same to help relate the story to real life in a way. Not only was the snow a HUGE hit with my son, but for days now, he has also been telling everyone how he made tracks in the snow like Peter. Since making the snow and the adorable snowman (snowman kit included!), we have purchased the ingredients on our own because "making snow" is becoming a daily activity in our house! The good news is that it only takes two ingredients and they can be found at the dollar store, so I will happily supply that for him.

I can't wait to try out the rest of the projects in this box with the older kids, as well as more with the little guy. This is an awesome program for parents wanting to have fun with their kids while they learn, or even for homeschooling parents to enhance lessons in their curriculum.

Kiwi Crate Glow Worm Review by Little Miss Crafty and Son

This month I took advantage of the free KiwiCrate Glow Worm crate. I debated about it for a while, just because my son is in between the two age ranges and I wasn't sure which one to go with. However, Boxy provided a little encouragement and said we should give it a shot so I did.

The package arrived and we set a date to make our glow worm this morning. I loved the box it arrived it. So cute! One of the older kids said it looks like a lunch box. Inside this cute box was more fun than one mom and three-year-old could have in a morning.

Darby Smart Review: January 2015

Little Miss Crafty has been eyeing Darby Smart for some time, so when they sent over a discount coupon code, she was on it! She was given the choice of any one of their products, with the exception of the monthly subscription kit. It ended up taking two visits at an hour each to finally decide. Here's her review/experience with DarbySmart. 

Darby Smart's individual craft items, as well as the craft kits, are separated into nice categories. You could also be like me and just show all, continuing to search through and hoping you won’t end up adding everything to your cart. I decided eventually to filter by kits and kids, since I liked the idea of it all being in one pack - and I wanted to include the kids in the crafting.

I looked through the choices, and there were so many options! There was DIY bubble gum (this is awesome, but one of my kids just swallows gum without chewing it), a kids' knit book (I thought about getting this for the oldest and only girl in the house, but I wanted something we could all share in), and even Glitter mugs (which I might be buying sometime in the near future).

I finally settled on Magnetic Terrariums. This seemed like a good choice for many reasons: a) the price was right, b) there were three in a set, which is perfect and allowed each kid to make one, and c) my husband had asked for a funky terrarium for Christmas and never got it. Since his birthday is coming up, I figured this could be a cute handmade gift for him. Also, they will stick to his desk, which is even better.

Little Miss Crafty: Clay Charms by Klutz make for great crafting with kids!

Clay Charms by Klutz

Today, the oldest - and only girl - in my house decided it was time to break out the clay charm book she got for Christmas. This kit, Clay Charms by Klutz, comes with supplies and directions to make what appear to be some really adorable charms.

What's Included in the Kit:

• Clay
• Instruction Book
• Shaping tool
• Gloss
• Charm hooks
• Charm Bracelet
• Jump rings