Arts and Crafts Reviews

My 2 daughters spent a long time painting the plates and did some beautiful designs, only for them to start coming off as soon as the paint dried. The painted plates are useless, if even a drop of water hits the paint it comes off --Since the product is using glass plates which only older children can handle I think they would be responsible to handle proper glass paint as well. WHat a waste of our money and our daughters' time. The initial "fun" factor was higher but quickly dropped to zero (but I had to select at least one star!) after the girls realized the artwork wouldn't last

Painting the plates is a fun activity because you can be creative. The only problem is that you have to be careful or they could crack or break.

This was so much fun to paint...BUT, once we let the finished product dry...the paint came right off. Did not stick to the plate. My daughter (7) was so upset, she worked so hard on it. I won't tell you NOT to buy it...but just wish you more luck then we had. Sorry paint a plate company...had to be honest.

I would never reccomend this kit to ANYONE. I tried this and it took 2 hours just for the black outline paint to dry. The stain glass paint was all runny and sticky. It was all gloppy and really didn't show up on the bottles and I just bought the kit 2 days before. The black outline paint had almost no paint in it. This kit stinks and I will never buy this again. This happend the other 5 times I have bought this kit. It is a waste of money and has no educational value.

My sister recived this toy for a birthday present. A couple days later we started doing the craft and it is JUNK. I can't tell you how much you should not buy this toy it is a waste of money and the paint starts pealing off an hour after you paint it, and you can't even see the paint. Never Get This Toy. We just wanted to warn you!!!

This is a great product and toy for children- even I enjoyed it as a parent, However, the coloring paint is thin and doesn't paint on smoothe. I had to but a different set of paints from the store so you could see the color and/or eliminate stripes.

Its to bad my daughter (age 4) likes to try to use this machine, because it never works the way it should. The paper never flows though the machine with ease. It uses batteries very quickly, and the light is not bright at all. The sticker paper is very thick so, little light shines through. After you make a sticker, there is such a waste (of the sticker paper) by the time you get the sticker to come out. Even on manual feed, the paper still has a tough time comming through the unit.

All you can do with this toy is trace stencils onto sticker paper or plain paper and put clear plastic over the top surface. The stencils are good but there is no scope for your child's imagination or creativity. If your child only wants to make 1 sticker or wants to use the sticker they have just made instantly, in order to get it from the paper feed, you have to waste 6 inches of sticker paper (which is custom and very expensive). On our toy, the paper is not flush against the light box & the light is not very bright so you have to press hard on the sticker paper to see the stencil. I can't comment on the durability as the toy is new & my child got bored after making 3 stickers. Amazon does not allow a rating to be left blank, non-applicable or not known, so I gave it 3 stars for durability

My son loves this machine, however let me forwarn you that once you run out of the sticker paper (which goes your first or second time playing), you mush reorder the paper and it takes 4 - 6 weeks for delivery. So it's very inconvenient.

i bought this toy for my 10 year old daughter and she loved it!She kept playing with it.SHE MADE ALL THE HELLOKITTY STICKERS.i give this toy a 4 ,the only thing i wish is it came with more stickers!

Hi,
I just found the company info that makes the Hello Kitty Sticker Maker!!

You can call the company at 212-255-8388 and ask for customer service. If you want to use a credit card, they can take your order right then. It is $4.95 and that includes 1 color sheet, 1 paper roll and 1 roll of tape. There is no tax and no shipping and handling.

If you want to mail a check, you can mail it to:
Blue Box Toys
Attn: Customer Service
200 5th Ave. Ste. 838
New York, NY 10010

You just need to include your check and something that gives your name and mailing address.

The service rep I spoke with stated that very soon we will be able to buy these supplies in stores!!!! Won't our kids be thrilled!!!!

My daughter received this item for Christmas and in one day used up all of the tape and stickers. Had I known that there were no replacement parts available, I would not have bought it. I do NOT think that it is a good value for the price of $14.99 because she was only able to use it for one day!

I can't believe that so many people have problems with this toy. I had my first shaker maker when I was 6 (1981) and I was always able to make the figures. The only problem can be, when somebody waits too long. When you make every step closely then everything works well. (Never read the introduction between the steps because that costs too much time)

The mix and the directions for this toy leave much to be desired. After one failed attempt, we went out and bought plaster of paris - the molds worked very well with it. Also, there is not a lot of paint to go with the set, so we had to buy additional paints before my son could paint his second one. For the money you are essentially getting three great molds, and the rest of the set is junk.

My almost 6-year-old daughter received the Princess Shaker Maker from Santa and was thrilled .... until she tried to make it. My husband did all of the shaking but the mixture never flowed through the mold. We wound up with a pink glob and our little princess asking why Santa would bring something that didn't work!

My five year old wasn't impressed with this = the paper gets caught and doesn't rip well. The markers don't stay in the holes - the desk is clunky and akward. Buy a coloring book and call it a day!

When i saw this i thought 'how fun and educational' - which it is. it's teaching kids to write letters the 'old - fashioned' way without emails and how to do fun, creative art. I LUV IT!

I bought this for my daughter to use in her 1st grade art class 2x/week. We are very happy with this product. It is easy to slip into and out of. It is durable and protects her clothes from the paint. The sleeves have elastic around the cuff which stops her shirt from slipping out.

I didnt care for this item to much, the sleeves were to tight, and they are plastic, which made it very uncomfortable for my 7 year old to wear.

This diary is a nightmare! We made the mistake of making it a gift from Santa for our 7 year-old. Now, we have to explain why Santa would give such a lame gift. The diary, itself, is smaller than my hand. The pages were all stuck together. I actually had to separate them page by page. It looks NOTHING like the picture on the box and, most annoyingly, the lock is absolutely impossible to open. Even the directions warn you that the lock is very difficult to open with the key. We're going straight out to buy a good old-fashioned diary. Shame on this company for promoting such a disappointing product!

This book is not anything like what it showed on the box. I was hoping for a larger diary and the dimensions in the descriptions were mis-leading. The diary is not that large. The pages are thin like tissue paper. I plan to return this item. It's way overpriced. I have seen better quality at the "Everything's a $1.00" store!

The lock did not work.
The diary sent did not match the image on the box.
The lock shown on the box did not match the lock on the book sent.
The diary does not appear to well constructed or durable.
Over priced.

We got this for my twins shortly after they turned 1. My daughter has never shown much interest in it. My son liked to push the button that made the music play, and would sometimes stand on the blue surface, which would also make the music play. Neither child has really used it much for "fingerpainting," and this toy is really not up to the task. The mushy blue surface just doesn't work that well for drawing. I tried showing my kids how to use the plastic pieces to create shapes on the screen, but it still didn't seem to capture their imagination. The kids are almost 3 now, and still don't play with it. My son long ago lost interest in pressing the music button, and now it's just a big, heavy, unused toy taking up space on the toy shelf.

Also, the stand on the back is flimsy, and after repeatedly falling off, we just took it off, and tried using the toy laying flat. I thought this toy looked really cool when I bought it, alas, the kids just never really got interested in it.

For what its worth, other moms in my twins club seemed to have the same disappointments with their kids.

I see a lot of these being unloaded at yard sales these days.

This toy plays fun calypso music, but that's the only good thing about it. You have to press really hard to "fingerpaint" on the screen, and my toddlers were not able to do it. They played with the shapes that accompanied the toy, but would just ignore the rest of it.

My daughter received this as a gift when she was approx. 7 months old. She loved it from the get-go. The music entertained her from the beginning and she still dances whenever she hears it. At first she just watched while Momma drew on the colorful screen and made the music, but now at 1 year she can press down hard enough to make color and make music. She also likes to move the bar back and forth to clear my artwork - although it does take considerably more than one pass - but she doesn't mind at all. She even puts her little feet on it and does a little tap-dance to hear her music. Her dad and I love to see her shaking her little behind and bobbing her head to the tropical tunes. Just one question: What easel? Mine didn't come with one. I took it out of the packaging myself and never noticed the cut-out shape until just a few moments ago when I ran to her room to check it out after reading a few reviews. That is a minor point, though. Even if your child doesn't have the strength to make a colorful musical mark yet, she will get plenty of fun out of watching you do it, and she'll learn from you as well.

My 6 year old and I spent a great rainy afternoon making masks and then putting togeather little skits that we performed for his Mom. I liked that there were many options that helped my son bring out his creativity. Something different from the usual action figure stuff. He also liked the carrying case.

I bought this kit because i love to do paper crafts, but when i opened it I was very disappointed, it was not what i expected for the money i paid. The cut and color masks are a little scary for smaller children, there is only 2 in the package that is acceptable for young children the rest are scary dinosaur faces. I was expecting cute animal faces. I did get glue and scissors in the package which isn't stated in the picture and description. Overall the purchase was a big disappointment, I won't be purchasing it again.

We ordered two of these for christmas gifts and when we got them we turned around and sent them right back. Inside the vinyl holder was a very small pack of materials, it just looked like very little for [the money]. We didn't open the small package of materials because we knew it was going back. When we spend [money] on a gift it has got to be more substantial than this.