Review: Bake Your Own Cupcake Shrinking Craft

Hello, friends of Hazelnutt House, 

I was looking through the Toys R Us catalogue and  this 4M cupcake craft kit which retails at $10.90 for members caught my eye.

I told Kiddo about it and she hunted it down the next time we were at the store.

There is also a Glow-in-the-dark Fairy Buttons kit which I am also tempted to get coz I of the pretty good experience with the shrinking cupcake kit. 

This kit comes with 20 pre-cut cupcake sheets, coloured pencils, some chains and beads as well as jump rings that you'll need for turning the shrunken cupcakes into earrings or pendants. The small cake stand is made of plastic and you'll be able to hang the finished products on it.  

I don't think that the beads and strings that came with this set is enough for this jewellery making project that Kiddo has in mind.  It doesn't matter as she has a Totally Me! bucketful of beads which I have mentioned in an early post.

This is how the cupcake sheets look like and you're supposed to colour in on the rough side.  I tried colouring in with pens and markers but they didn't stay on the sheets.  I guess only coloured pencils work for these sheets. 

When you're done, pop them coloured side up into an oven set at about 170 degrees Celcius. 

Within a few seconds, you'll see the sheets curl up and shrink right before your eyes!

Here are the shrunken cupcakes which are slightly bigger than a 10 cents coin.  The colours became darker and more vivid after the shrinking process.

I noticed that the cutting on most of the cupcake sheets were askewed and that upset me a little.  Coz as you can see from the shrunken ones above, there is a thick white border on some areas while in other areas, they are really close to the outline. 

This picture below shows that the outline on the left of the cupcake has been cut off and there is a wide border on the right.

So for the next pair that Kiddo and I coloured in, I trimmed the sides with a pair of scissors.  We have not placed them into the oven coz it was already time for bed but these with the sides trimmed off should look better than the first two that we made. 

I highly recommending this craft kit, coz it is easy to work on and the end product didn't fail.  Kiddo is already making a list of aunts and friends who will be receiving these cupcake bracelets, keychains or earrings that she is gonna be working on.

At $10.90 and for the fun and success of this kit, it's definitely a hit for me.

I should be getting the Glow in the dark Fairy Button kit the next time we go to Toys R Us.

What toys/products to avoid for Christmas or birthdays

Hi hi friends of Hazelnutt House (",)

After a long list of what's good to buy a kid for Christmas Part 1 and Part 2, I am gonna feature some items that are really not worth buying.  Hopefully this helps in some way when you are deciding on what to buy kids for Christmas or on their birthdays.

Pardon me if these products are meant for girls.

1) Melisa & Doug Princess Crayon Set

I mentioned that I really love Melisa & Doug products but this Princess Crayon Set was a total letdown. 

It doesn't come with the Disney princess sticker.  Kiddo stuck it there. 

So, the plastic case looks pretty and I was very pleased with the grip of these three-sided crayons.

The bad:

1. The formula is really dry and it requires adult strength to produce enough pigmentation when colouring in.  
2. The pastel pink and fuchsia sticks looks very different but on paper, they look similar.  (4th and 5th shade from the left)
3. There is NO GREEN!  Granted that this is a 'Princess Crayon Set'  but don't princesses go to the garden to admire flowers in bloom?  My kid had to look for a green crayon from another set to colour in Daddy pig's (Peppa's dad) green shirt. 
4. Way too many pink/red shades... they should remove one of these shades and just add in a green. 

2) Hello Kitty Spectacular Spinner and Whirl 'n Wear Spectacular Spinner (click on link for reviews on Amazon.com)

I bought the Whirl 'n Wear set and on closer look when I saw the Hello Kitty set, they look like they have the same concept.  Even the prints and words on the box is similar. 

So, I included a picture of it here. 

So the concept is, you add the charms into the slots of the round spinner, then as you spin, the elastic thread should run in through the charms effortlessly.

The charms are lovely and that was what caught my eye.

The bad:

1. It was really difficult loading the spinner which is the big round object that you see on the box.
2. You need to aim very well to ensure that the charms sit within the tiny slots.
3. The spinner always get stuck and it was difficult to spin the thread through the charms without having to stop to adjust something.
4. It was really difficult to fasten the ends of each jewellery with the fasteners provided. 
5. If fastened wrongly, it is impossible to remove the fastener and try again.  

Although this toy set is meant for kids 5 years and above, it was awfully tough for an adult to operate.  And you know, when an adult can't work the toy, kids get impatient.  Not a good sign. 

3) Hello Kitty Aqua Beads

The concept of this crafting set allows you to arrange beads on a board using the template cards provided.  There are holes on the board to allow the beads to sit in.  Once completed, you spray the beads with water and it will expand and become gluey, attaching onto neighbouring beads.  Once dried, you have your beaded item. 

The bad:

1. The beads are a nightmare.  They fall everywhere even with the placement casing provided.  
2. It wasn't easy to place the tiny beads onto the board, if you upset one bead, it may cause the rest to get out of place.
3. The beads smell of glue once wet and when dried, the beaded item still carried the smell of glue.
4. Drying time is long, about an hour or so.  Not suitable for impatient kids and we know that most kids are impatient. 

4) Hello Kitty Crystal Creation Kit

The idea behind this kit is that you'll be able to create crystal stickers following the numerous templates that the kit provides. Once the crystals are laid out on a sticky pad, you adhere a layer of something on top and load it into Hello Kitty's back and you'll pull out the completed crystal sticker from in front. 

This toy looks good when displayed on Kiddo's shelf but it was a total nightmare to work with. 

The Bad:

1. The crystals are TINY... difficult even for an adult to handle.
2. It is not easy to stick the crystals onto the sticky pad.
3. The sticker layer that needs to be adhered onto the crystal tends to crease and once that happens, it is almost impossible to undo coz it is ultra sticky.

These are some of the crystal motifs that we made and I am sooOOooo glad that we ran out of crystals. I believe that I can use the crystals that I have for crafting but I don't wanna go through the hardship and nightmare working on it with Kiddo.

So, look out for these frustrating and unrewarding items and try to avoid them as gifts.  (",)

Toys for Christmas or birthdays - Part 2

This second entry is a continuation of the earlier Toys for Christmas or birthdays. 

There are two brands that I like to look out for when I am at Toys R Us.  They are Melissa & Doug and the Totally Me! range.

These aren't really toys, they are more like crafting and accessory making kits except for the first Melisa & Doug dress up set.

I bought this for Abby & Emma magnetic wooden dress up dolls for Kiddo last year and a year later, both of are still having lots of fun playing dress up with this set of good quality and sturdy wooden dolls.  The change of outfits and clothing items are substantial for creating lots of different outfits for different occasions.

Next up from Melisa & Doug, are their wooden stamping kits.  

I bought this Melisa & Doug Fairy Garden stamping kit for a girl who will be turning 4.  She's having a fairy theme party, so I thought other than frilly fairy dresses and princess dolls, this will make a good gift.  This set goes for $30ish and can't recall the exact price.

 Also from Melisa & Doug, here is the Sticker Collection sticker pads.  They are the size of drawing blocks and Toys R Us is currently having a buy 2 get the third free deal.

Kiddo has this Melisa & Doug Sweets & Treats sticker pad with 16 pages of desserts and candies which you'll need to decorate.  The stickers and pages are of really good quality and the colours are absolutely beautiful.

The next range of kits that I will be talking about are from Totally Me!

This huge bucket-ful of over 3000 beads and beading parts was $50is when I saw it last month.  When I went back to Toys R Us for some shopping this month, I was thrilled to find that the price has dropped to $36 or $39.  I happily bought two buckets... one for Kiddo and the other for her cousin.

Pink and purple wooden beads and charms

Yellow and blue beads and charms

Coloured strings and ribbons

I've not tried these Totally Me! Jewellery Craft sets but I guess girls of 9 -14 will probably get lots of fun time out of these sets. 

Kiddo has this Totally Me! 3-in-1 Designer Sketch Book kit.

It comes with 3 booklets of full body, upper body and face as well as leg templates.

The stick-on accessories like bows, glasses, earrings, nail art, jewellery are abundant.  There are also a wide variety of stencils of dresses, skirts, pants etc. 

Kiddos' friends of 11 and 12 years old enjoyed playing with this designing kit as much as she did.  Kiddo is 4 by the way.

Check out what toys/products to avoid on my entry here.

Toys for Christmas or birthdays - Part 1

Hihi friends of Hazelnutt House (",)

Christmas is approaching and kids are bursting with excitement and anticipation.  Presents! Presents! TOYS! TOYS! TOYS!!! 

As much as I like imaginary play and educational toys, Kiddo also gets to play with toys of her choice when we go to the toy store.  

Kiddo has received quite a lot of presents during birthdays and X'mas.  Some are fab and some are not.  Those that are not so fab are really frustrating to play with and I will show you ladies a few of them coz it is best to avoid them.  I'll start off with what kiddies like and post the not so fun ones in another entry.  Click here for what to toys to avoid. 

The toys that I feature are available at Toys R Us.

On the very top of Kiddo's long list of presents that she yearns for, is the Barbie Mariposa.  One of the girls in Kiddo's ballet class mentioned Mariposa and all the girls' faces lighted up.  So, I am quite sure this doll will be a hit with most girls of 3- 6 years old.

This is Catania the Fairy Princess.  Both dolls are at $49ish and their wings/skirt transforms when a button is pressed. 

The next item that Kiddo wants dearly is the Moxie Girlz Magic Hair Bendy Braids.  I saw several lil' girls bending down to admire this upper-half-of-a-person doll while at the store, so I guess this toy shouldn't go wrong.  Girls can have fun braiding and colouring the hair as well as adding accessories here and there on the doll.

I'm gonna include this range of Lalaloopsy doll sets here for reference.  I absolutely love these loopy whimsical rag dolls... but Kiddo absolutely hates them.  She always looks at me in exasperation each time I made her wait while I admire these dolls.  To pull her leg, I'd say that I am getting her one of these dolls and you should see the look of horror on her face.  
Not all kids share similar taste as my kid, so I believe that there are lil' girls out there who will love these as much as myself.

If the girl that you're shopping for is not much of a doll person, maybe this Hello Kitty Electronic Piano will make a good gift.  Kiddo received this toy when she was 3 years old and a year later, she is still playing with it.  This electronic piano comes with many sheets of musical notes represented by different candies and fruit.  The child has to press the candy/fruit labeled keys according to what is shown on the music sheets.  There is also a recording function as well as several selection of instrument sounds.

Enough of girl toys at the moment... here are some gifts that are suitable for both gender.

This Crayola Sketcher Projector looks like it would make a fab gift for a child who loves to draw.  You'll be able to project whatever that is drawn on the transparent plates onto the ceiling or the wall.  I've gotten this for a boy as a gift and he absolutely loves it.  The projected images are not exactly sharp but it is still fun to work with.  There is a 20% off for Crayola products right now and the price shown below is before discount.

NOTE: MARKERS AND BATTERIES NOT INCLUDED.

The last three items for this entry are games that the entire family can play together.  

I have the first edition of Pictureka and The Hubs and I love playing with it so much that we bought the app for our iPad.  I've also bought this for a set of brothers and each time I visit them, they will never fail to get me to play this game with them.  Pictureka is like 'Where's Wally' with a twist.  It is a series of picture based puzzles.  You draw a card and based on what is on the card, you have to look for e.g. 'things that light up', 'things that are cold' or 'three stars' etc.  A fast paced board game for great family fun!

The Hubs and I were hooked on Upwards... oops, I meant UPWORDS for some time.  Unlike Scrabble, you're allowed to place letters adjacent to or on top of existing letters to make new words.

Taboo is best played with at least 3 or more people and it's such a good ice-breaker or time filler when friends gather.

I have Part 2 of Toys for Christmas or birthdays... click on the link to read more (",)