Showing posts with label Crafts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Crafts. Show all posts

Wednesday, 21 March 2018

Make Fun Fuse Bead Designs Without an Iron or Glue {A Review}

Are you looking for fuse beads that you don't need to use an iron on to make stick together? Super Beads by Zirrly are it!  All it takes to use them is water, wait time, and what comes in the package!


Super Beads Mega Pack

We received a
Mega Pack of Super Beads for review and have been having fun with them.
 
My daughter (10) said she wanted to describe them for this review.  She said:



"I think
Super Beads
are great for passing time.  They are also good if you want to improve your fine motor skills and make designs.  You can make multiple types of stuff. 

In the kit we got, you had your boards and your beads, a water bottle, and you also got pixelated pictures that go underneath your board.




You place the beads on the colors that show on the picture to make a design.  You have to make sure the line on the beads is facing up. That's pretty easy, but not when the electricity has gone out.  (We did some by candlelight.)



After all your beads are on the board, you press the design down nice and tight, and, then, the cool thing about Super Beads is that, instead of ironing them, all you have to do is spray them with water and wait about an hour (or more!) and, then, use a special little tool that is included to remove them from the board.  It is sometimes hard to remove them, but not too hard.


Once you peel your designs off, you can set them out throughout your house or play with them.

Oo, if you touch the beads, you have to wash your hands, and wet hands stick to the beads.  Use dry hands!



We made two elephants with our friends, a turtle, an apple, and I also made a little sign.

We still have lots of beads.  I am going to use them more, and I think crafty people would like these.


When I asked her sons for their input, my twelve year old said:



"I enjoyed making the apple with my friend, and we sent it home with him.  The things we kept, I don't play with.  It takes a very, very long time to make things, and, then, I never even play with them.  So, they are not very worth it to me, but if you like that kind of stuff, then, they'd be good.


They take a lot of patience and use fine motor skills."
 
My other son, at seven, said:




"They are beads that stick with water.  I like using them to make signs.  Sometimes they pop off the boards, and you have to use one particular side of the beads, so you have to be patient.  It takes over an hour for it all to be done.  It is worth it depending on what type of person you are.  If you need to practice fine motor skills, it is good.  If you are crafty, it is good.  If you want to pass time, it is good."


As you can see, the consensus around here , then, seems to be that:
  •  The beads are not hard to use, but take patience.
  • You get a fine motor skills working with the beads.
  • Crafty kids like these beads.
  • The beads are fun to share with friends.
  • You can easily pass time with these beads.  
 

    We have used our Super Beads on multiple occasions so far, including during an Art-Music, and Poetry club meet up when the children made designs while listening to poetry read aloud and classical music playing, at a playdate when then kids wanted to make signs for a "town" they are making, and during a power outage when the children chose to pass time using the beads by candlelight.





    We inadvertantly discovered that the beads make a great sensory fun tool for littles, too.




    Our young friend (who knows not to put small things in his mouth - which would be a caution for other young friends) had fun playing and pouring with the beads when he wasn't placing them into designs the other children.




    The Mega Pack comes with:
    • 4500 Super Beads (including limited oranges and blacks and plenty of whites)
    • 5 X 4 Assorted Design Templates (which means you have repeat designs, not 20 different ones)
    • 2 Spray Bottles (which are used to wet - but not soak - designs so they can fuse together)
    • 4 Boards (which connect together for larger design patterns)
    • 1 Design Tool (for removing your designs fro the boards once they dry)
    • Instructions

    We did find some defective beads in our kit, but not too many, and we still had plenty more to use and are enjoying doing so! 

    Learn More
    *******

    Zirrly sells a variety of fun kits with crafts meant for ages 5 and up.  Some are:


    Super Beads

    Super Beads Jungle Animals

    Super Beads Jewelry Set

    Super Beads Bird Set
    Super Beads 3D Car and Truck
    Super Beads 3D Animals
    Super Beads Spinning tops



    See what 100 Homeshcool Review Crew families made with
    Super Beads by clicking through the banner below.


    Super Beads {Zirrly Reviews}




    *******

    Find Zirrly on social media at:
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    Monday, 6 November 2017

    Thin Stix Creativity Pack Review and Giveaway

    If you've been visiting here for some time, you already know I am a fan of no-mess, quick dry, tempera paint sticks from The Pencil Grip, Inc.  My children, our friends, and I just love how easy it is to create vibrantly colored crafts and artwork with them, and, we are now excited to be creating with the 24 paint sticks that came as a part of the Thin Stix Creativity Pack we recently received for review!



    When our
    Thin Stix Creativity Pack came in, my children noticed the new colors in right away:


    Thin Stix Creativity Pack

    Bright neons...
    Thin Stix Creativity Pack


    ... and handy metallics...

    Thin Stix Creativity Pack

    ... came in the pack along with the regular rainbow of bright colors, black, white, and brown that we were already familiar with


    Right away, my daughter asked if she could break into our new Thin Stix Creativity Pack.

    And, since, then, our Creativity Pack has been being grabbed for all sorts of uses, including my youngest making wrapping paper, all my children painting for fun...




     
    ...and, my oldest making "St. Peter's Keys" for his All Saints Day costume by using our new metallic Thin Stix to paint cardboard cut outs.



    The paints have also come in handy at group gatherings - including our St. Luke celebration, where I needed something easy to paint with outside at a breezy beachside playground in honor of St. Luke patron to artists and painters...




    ... and All Saints Day party, where toddlers to preteens enjoyed creating artwork at the "St. Luke's Studio" table using Thin Stix and other supplies.



    The simple uncap-twist-up-and-paint design of Thin Stix made them super-simple for children of all ages to enjoy at our party.  No water cups, smocks, or paint palettes were needed.





    The handy plastic tray our Thin Stix came in also made  it easy for the children to respect our materials, taking a paint stick, using it, and putting it back with ease.  Not a single paint stick got lost or destroyed during our two hours of frolicking faith fun despite each and every stick in the pack, I think, getting use!



    So, obviously, our family and friends love and appreciate our Thin Stix Creativity Pack both for its ease of use and for the fun we have painting with it.

    The paint sticks can be used on paper, wood, posterboard, and more, and the solid paint is washable, nontoxic, and nut-, egg-, and gluten-free.  It also dries in 90 seconds with a true paint finish that won't crack.  Truly, these paint sticks let you have all the fun of painting without all the mess and make painting things relatively large (like St. Peter's keys!) or small easy.



    Want to try them yourself?  You can find
    the Thin Stix Creativity Pack online at BJ's Wholesale
    for the discounted price of $19.99 (regularly priced for $24.99). You can also enter our giveaway!

    Enter our Thin Stix Creativity Pack Giveaway

    Thin Stix Creativity Pack


    We love our
    Thin Stix Creativity Pack and are delighted that The Pencil Grip, Inc. has been generous enough to offer an additional set of these fabulous no-mess, quick-drying paint sticks for us to giveaway to one lucky Training Happy Hearts reader over the age of 18 from the United States - maybe you!  (Sorry if you are not a U.S. resident, but this giveaway is only open to U.S. residents.)


    a Rafflecopter giveaway

     
    One winner will be chosen at random and announced on our
    Facebook Page as well as through an email.  So long as that winner responds within 24 hours, the Thin Stix are theirs.  If the person doesn't, another winner will be chosen.  Good luck!

    Of course,
    to win, there is no purchase necessary, the number of eligible entries received determine the odds of winning, and please void where prohibited by law.
     
    Learn More


    The Pencil Grip, Inc

    You can find The Pencil Grip, Inc. on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter.



    Thin Stix Creativity Pack {The Pencil Grip, Inc. Reviews}
     

    See what 100 Schoolhouse Review Crew families created with the Thin Stix Creativity Pack by clicking through the banner.

    You might also like our prior reviews:


    http://traininghappyhearts.blogspot.com/2016/05/kwik-stix.html 
     
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    Tuesday, 25 July 2017

    Sculpt Away with this Quik-Sculpting Kit! {An ACTÍVA Products Review}



    If you have tactile kids who loves to craft, then a Rigid Wrap and CelluClay Quik-Sculpting Kit from ACTÍVA Products could be a huge hit in your household. If you have a sensory defensive child who gets squeamish with anything goopy or wet, then you may still welcome
    this product as a therapeutic sensory diet tool which is big on sensory input, yet relatively easy to use and clean up and which also just happens to be 100% wheat- and gluten-free, non-toxic and non-carcinogenic!
    {Disclosure: Some links which follow are affiliate ones.}

    Rigid Wrap and CelluClay Quik-Sculpting Kit

     
    Our Experience



    In my home, we have two children who love to dig in and get their hands dirty and one who has an aversion to many textures.  Thus, I opted to review Rigid Wrap and CelluClay in hopes of delighting my two tactile kids, while possibly enticing my sensory-defensive child to join in on some creative fun.  So far, only the former has happened. 


    My two "hands in" kids have wrapped, shaped, sculpted, and painted, creating their own little projects, while their tactile-defensive big brother circled round, got curious, asked a lot of questions, and observed, but has yet to jump in on the fun. 

    Because my oldest, unfortunately, has been having a tough summer, I did not "force" - or even strongly encourage him - to use the
    Rigid Wrap and CelluClay with us.  For I knew that it would only exacerbate things.  What I did do, though, is quietly ask my younger two to keep their projects small, using only a portion of our kit, so big brother could use some later. 

    Of course, when my oldest heard me suggest saving some of the plaster cloth and quick-set papier-mache mix for him, he declared that he has no interest in trying them.  However, as an observant mother, I could already see his curiosity piqued and his brain ticking with ideas for how the materials might be used.  And, okay, I admittedly fed my son's quite-active brain by letting him happen upon me browsing project idea videos on the
    ACTÍVA Products website.

    "Mom, can I watch to... Oh, that's cool... I wonder if..."

    Yes, as my son commented while watching videos of various applications for
    ACTÍVA Products, seeds were planted.  I am confident that as they germinate into visions of original projects for a future homeschool fair, products that might be sold at our church bizarre table, or a 3-d design that my son's imagination has cooked up, my son will be asking to use our remaining Rigid Wrap and CelluClay.  Years of parenting my child has proven to me that patience and timing are everything.  So, I am excited to have this easy-to-use, versatile sculpting media on hand for when the ideal time for overcoming sensory aversions while making visions realities arrives for my oldest.

    Meanwhile, my younger two have been asking to use some more of it.



    They had fun experimenting with it.



    My daughter decided to adapt an idea from the FREE, full-color
    ACTÍVA Products' Favorite Sculpture KIDS CRAFTS e-book in order to craft a St. Anne doll for our upcoming feast day celebration.



    My son asked if he could make Daddy a tiny football to keep at work.



    Then, my daughter decided to make an even tinier one.

    Our Creations So Far



    My younger two children both had fun cutting
    Rigid Wrap plaster cloth, dipping it, wrapping it, and smoothing it.  Then, they patiently waited overnight for their projects to dry before finishing them off.

    Their projects could have been dried more quickly in a microwave, but we don't have one in our kitchen, so just left their projects out overnight.



    The children only used Sharpies and paint to finish their projects off - but I hear other finishing media can work, too. 



    My daughter also used white glue to attach a baby Mary to her Saint Anne statue.  Hot glue or more plaster strips would likely have worked just as well, I'd guess.

    Our Thoughts




    Overall, I was quite pleased with the
    Rigid Wrap and CelluClay Quik-Sculpting Kit and can attest that is just what it is advertised to be: 
    "A paper mache kit ... (and) excellent way to try the materials before moving on to larger projects... ideal for kids crafts and science fair projects (with)
    • 2 - 4" rolls of Rigid Wrap
    • 8 oz. of CelluClay
    • Complete instructions for 12 projects"

    The only thing the kit lacks, in my opinion, is clear, easy-on-the-eye instructions on how to use the materials and build the suggested projects.  (Inside the box is only a photocopied page with relatively minuscule print.)  This drawback is easily remedied by going to the ACTÍVA Products website, though, where you'll find loads of helpful resources and ideas, such as:


    Truly, the physical kit, when paired with the website, can easily unleash sculpting and creativity in children!  I am happy to have been introduced to this crafting media.



    My youngest, at seven said:

    I liked the texture of the dry strips, and liked how it sticks (when it is wet).  It was easy to clean up.




    My daughter, at ten, said:
    I liked how you can wet the Rigid Wrap and wrap it around your cardboard.  It was fun, but messy to use, because it was dry and had holes, then, you wet it, wrapped it, and, then, rubbed it to make the holes disappear.  It wasn't too messy though.


    I let mine dry overnight, and, then, I painted it.  My project was a statue and it was good. I even made a baby to glue to it. 

    I want to use this stuff again.  My brother also made a football, and I did, too.

    Learn More

    Rigid Wrap and CelluClay Quik-Sculpting Kit {ACTÍVA Products Reviews}

    If you'd like to see what all 85 Review Crew families who reviewed Rigid Wrap and CelluClay Quik-Sculpting Kits made, just click through the banner and take a peak.
     
     
    ACTÍVA Products 

    You can find
    ACTÍVA Products on:


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