There were squeals of excitement when our latest box of review goodies arrived from Yellow Moon. The Madhouse kids have come to learn that there are always lots of fun, simple kits that produce some really lovely and often useful handcrafted items, so they couldn't wait to see what was inside. Once again, they weren't disappointed, and the fact that many of the packs contain multiple kits means that there wasn't even any squabbling when we shared everything out !
Pierre was the first person to try one of the items from the box because he was off sick from school and feeling very under the weather (but also bored) on the settee. He decided to have a go at the Gnome Windchimes and after just a few minutes with some felt tip pens, he'd created this funky fella ! We thought about putting it in the garden so the wind would make it tinkle, but then decided that the felt tips wouldn't put up with the rain. We hung it up inside the kitchen window instead so it still gets a draught when we open the back door to let the dogs out. (£3.49 for 4 kits - an absolute bargain !)
When Juliette came home from school, she wanted to get involved too and had a go at these Kaleidoscope Scratch Art Hanging Decorations. (There are loads of other scratch art kits available, including bookmarks, windmill kits, badges, magnets and masks.) You get ten in a packet, along with lots of little scratcher tools, so all three of the Madhouse kids had great fun with these. You can either scratch off blocks of colour, as on the left, or get creative with swirls, stripes and dots, as on the right. (£2.99 for a pack of 10 - another bargain and these would be great for kids' parties, either in party bags or to keep them entertained during the party.)
I wasn't sure how the younger Madhouse kids would get on with the sealife-themed sewing kits, because they are both complete novices. The chunky plastic needle, thick wool and precut holes made it all an absolute breeze though (they just needed some help with tying knots).
The kits contain everything you need - the pre-cut felt pieces, needle and thread, stuffing and also some stickers to complete the design -the white stripes, black fin and googly eyes. The whole project took ten minutes to make and the kids were really pleased with the finished article. As well as this Nemo clown fish, there is a whale and a turtle - £3.99 for 3 kits.
Pierre remembered that there were some little cardboard fish-shaped boxes in the box too and coloured one in with his felt-tip pens. There was also a big jar of coloured sequins in the box, so we might have a go at creating a design out of sequins next time. (£2.99 for a jar of sequins, £2.99 for 4 fish craft boxes.)
Funnily enough, when I went to check the price of the fish boxes, I see that they had the same idea as us using the sequins - the sparkly design looks faulous so we'll definitely have to have a go at recreating that.
All of the Madhouse kids were excited by the idea of putting suncatchers in their windows.
The instructions said to use glass paint or glass pens but, as we didn't have any, we had a go with some metallic gel pens and some regular felt tips, which worked quite well. If the colour fades over time, we'll just have to colour them in again ! (£3.49 for 6).
We still have some fabulous Trainer Money Banks to colour in or paint (regular felt tips work on these too) (£3.95 for 2), as well as some blank notebooks to customise and some seaside themed foam stickers.
It's a delight to see the kids getting creative and producing some lovely items that they are proud to put out on display in their bedrooms. Older children or adults could create some truly stunning pieces but the kits appeal to crafters of all ages and levels. I'm regularly amazed by the really good value prices too.
for more information : http://www.yellowmoon.org.uk/
Disclosure : We received the products in order to write an honest review.
looks like great fun
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