When I got the email from
MomSelects saying that I had been chosen to
be a party host for
Creativity for Kids I could hardly believe it! As you know,
we LOVE their craft kits!! And
when we came home one day from town to find two huge boxes waiting at
our door we were even more excited!! I'm sure the neighbors could hear
the girls squealing as we lugged the boxes into the house! :)
We
couldn't believe how lucky we were to get in on such a great party and
the girls were simply over joyed and quickly set to making their list of
ten girl friends to come and get crafty with us!! A few of their
friends couldn't make it so we ended up having a few last minute invites
to fill their spots and when all was said and done, on the day of the
party I had 12 little girls on my back porch ready to get creative!!!
There
was a total of four crafts that the girls got to make so I'll step you
thru each one and let you know what we thought of them! :)
The first craft was the Stuck on Fashion Tote Bag...
Now, at first glance, this was the craft that I thought was pretty lame.... When they are folded up in the box the totes look MUCH smaller than they actually are, and to be honest I thought the girls were going to be done in two minutes and bored with the project in a heartbeat... BOY WAS I WRONG!!! I think this craft was SO MUCH BETTER than anticipated!! The bags actually fold out to be much larger than I thought and also came with a square bottom to insert to make them sturdier and a matching wallet to decorate too!! :) We had a wide range in ages of girls (3-13) and this was a huge hit with all of them!! They all spent so much time putting the included stickers on and were so proud of their creations!! I thought that with the stickers being all basically the same only in different colors (butterflies, flowers, circles etc) that the bags would end up being pretty much the same but was pleasantly surprised when the girls started creating all sorts of pictures from the different shapes!! These girls really had the creative juices flowing!!
Some decorated with random placing of shapes....
While some decorated with a favorite color....
And some made pictures out of the shapes!! Aren't those bunnies cute?
And take note of the little fish with bubbles!! I just thought that was a great idea!!
This craft FAR exceeded my expectations and was a HUGE hit with the girls. I loved hearing them visitng while they worked and all the ideas they came up with for what they were going to use their bags for. I think in the end a lunch bag was the most popular idea... the possibilities are endless!!
Next we made the Pop Art Necklaces!
I liked this craft right away for the options it included. There were stickers that were premade and colored that could be used but also the option of coloring their own pictures too! :) Again, I love how the girls got creative and really enjoyed seeing what they came up with! No two were the same! :) The only bad thing I could think of would be that it needed more pink options in the kit... ALL the girls wanted pink and there just wasn't enough to go around. That being said tho, the girls really liked the necklaces and from the view point of a mom, I think it was a great kit and would be really fun for a birthday party etc!
The third craft we did was the Fashion Headbands!
While the head bands were a big hit with the kids, they required A LOT more help than the other crafts and I realized that because I was having to help with the gluing and the wrapping of ribbons, I didn't get to take any pictures of us making them! Ooops! This project was a bit much for the littler ones and I ended up having to get out my glue gun to get the ribbons to stick. I think that it would have been a GREAT project to let the older kids run with, I think it was too much for the little ones and they didn't get to be as hands on and creative as I would have liked.
One big downside that I saw with this craft that I didn't see with the previous two was that it really wasn't created equal for ten little girls to be making at a party. There was only enough for each girl to chose one ribbon (with no left overs) and there were only three of the flowers/butterflies. Now I know, that sometimes kids don't get everything that they want and that disappointment is part of life, but it shouldn't be like that at a party with fun crafts! We ended up having to draw numbers for who got the three fancier items for their headbands and over all it all worked out ok but I think it should have included something bigger and fancier for everyone. For those who didn't get one of those three fancier things, there was the option of feathers and gems and they did end up being happy with those but there was still a sense of being disappointed and who could blame little girls for wanting the bling!? :)
That being said tho, the girls really didn't care that I had to do much of it for them and when asked, the headbands were one of the favorites of the day! :) Sorry I wasn't able to get pictures of it in progress!!
The final project of the day was the Fashion Bracelets
This craft was better than the headbands but still not at the top of my list. Again, the kit came with enough bracelets to make 15... but all were not created equal... there were only 5 of the big chunky, easily decorated ones and then 10 smaller much harder to decorate ones. This kit did come with plenty of ribbons etc but was hard for the littlest ones to do. I think the suggested age should have been 10+ instead of 7. That being said, if I were to buy this for me and my girls to make I think it would be ok but in a party setting I think it was just too much.
The ones that the older kids made turned out really cute! :)
All in all this was SUCH an AMAZING party and I can't thank Creativity Kids and MomSelect enough for letting us host it!! In addition to all of these great crafts they also gave us kits and coloring books to send home with each child and a few other kids just for my kiddos to get crafty with!! This was such a wonderful afternoon of girlfriends hanging out, crafting and enjoying one of the last days of summer! :)
Since I don't like to put children's faces in pictures on my blog, I smugged them out to be able to share this picture... but that just looked kinda creepy so I added in some artwork faces! I tried to match them with the faces they were actually making and love how this picture turned out! lol
THANKYOU Creativity for Kids and MomSelect!!
Disclosure: I received no payment for this publication. I was given the kits but my opinions are my own...
Now, at first glance, this was the craft that I thought was pretty lame.... When they are folded up in the box the totes look MUCH smaller than they actually are, and to be honest I thought the girls were going to be done in two minutes and bored with the project in a heartbeat... BOY WAS I WRONG!!! I think this craft was SO MUCH BETTER than anticipated!! The bags actually fold out to be much larger than I thought and also came with a square bottom to insert to make them sturdier and a matching wallet to decorate too!! :) We had a wide range in ages of girls (3-13) and this was a huge hit with all of them!! They all spent so much time putting the included stickers on and were so proud of their creations!! I thought that with the stickers being all basically the same only in different colors (butterflies, flowers, circles etc) that the bags would end up being pretty much the same but was pleasantly surprised when the girls started creating all sorts of pictures from the different shapes!! These girls really had the creative juices flowing!!
