Make Clay Charms

SuLuUnited States

Hours of fun & creativity in this modestly priced little kit!

I was looking for activities to keep my grand-daughter entertained during her summer break (she'll be in fourth grade) and she had a lot of fun with this kit. I was a bit hesitant to buy a kit because I have often been disappointed when only one small project can be made, or it is impossible to make it turn out nicely or that after five minutes all interest is lost, or you need to buy a ton of other stuff..I am happy to say that this was not the case with this kit! This kit definitely gives good value for the money-the book is much nicer than I expected and shows exactly how to shape lots of different charms, and there are plenty of little screw-eyes and rings for attaching them to jewelry. There is only one bracelet, though (I think three would have been better considering the amount of clay that is provided) but okay, I'll just pick up a few more from the craft store...The blocks of clay are small, but there are quite a few color choices, and a surprisingly large variety of charms (very cute) can be made. The clay doesn't harden until it is baked at low heat (care must be taken not bake at too high a temp or for too long because of the potential for harmful fumes) and the directions for making the rather small charms, works, well--like a charm. Once she started improvising--making tiny figurines and pendants, it was a little harder to judge baking times because they were so much bigger and thicker than the charms. With my help, we managed to burn one batch (I guess the heads of her little statues were too close to the heat (oops, I wasn't too popular--luckily they can be painted!) and the next time, I guess they didn't bake long enough because they seemed a bit soft after cooling down--so we put them back in and they warped a little bit and the jewelry fittings pulled out (oops). I don't get asked to help very much anymore although I was asked to order a larger refill of clay! (they make glow-in-the-dark clay, too! that will be a surprise for next time!) Overall, this was a great purchase--many hours of fun for my grand-daughter and a great value, as well!

znaticUnited States

Wonderful book and kit!

I love this book! The instructions are very clear and the charms are so cute. This is a great activity if you have a large age range, as both the big and little kids are interested, and the big kids can help the little ones. The kids immediately pounced on it and started making things. The 9-year-old was able to replicate the charms in the book. The 4-5 year olds not so much, but they were happy making their own (larger) interpretations. Fun for the whole family. It's not a lot of clay but enough to make a lot of tiny charms. You'll need more clay if you have younger kids! They used up the clay that came with the kit, so I went to stock up on more oven-bake polymer clay at Walmart (bought the Sculpey brand for a buck per block). The book comes with a generous quantity of metal screw-in charm loops and jump rings, but only one charm bracelet. (I ended up buying extra chain and lobster clasps at Walmart. With the kit's included jump rings and some good pliers, I made a bunch of extra charm bracelets so everyone could have their own!) There's also a glaze to make the charms shiny, and a folding paper stand so you can hang the charms while you glaze them. It's a very well thought-through kit. We used our toaster oven to bake the charms per the book's instructions and they turned out great. Highly recommended! It's best to screw the charm loops into the clay so that they don't pull out after baking, rather than just sticking them straight in. This is hard for little hands to do, so an adult can take over. If they do pull out, just use a dab of super glue. And if you run out of the eye screw charm loops, there's a bunch of suppliers on Etsy that carry them.

JackieUnited States

Excellent kit that is surprisingly easy to do

This kit was a hit for my daughter's 9th birthday present. We have made so many charms with this kit, over 20 now. I was shocked at how easy this book is to follow. When my daughter said she wanted to make the octopus I kind of made a sigh, like oh here we go, but she was able to do it all on her own. The book includes actual size diagrams of how big each piece of clay should be. The octopus required 4 small balls of clay and one slightly bigger piece. Once you get them measured out you start rolling, they even show you the best way to get the desired shape you need. The legs needed to be rolled out into little round strips and the book gives a diagram for how long to make each piece. It super easy to follow and you are so impressed with what you have created. 20 minutes in the oven at 250 degrees and they are hard forever. If dropped we have had a couple break. I would be worried to put them on a key ring or anywhere that gets a lot of contact and takes a beating. perfect for necklaces, bracelets, or to put on display. Love love love this kit and would buy for others. We have since had to go out and buy more clay since this kit only gives you enough to do a couple of each charm. I also recommend breaking up the colors right away and putting them into separate compartments so they do not get mixed up.

BrittanyUnited States

Easy for adults and kids!

This is the coolest thing I’ve purchased from Amazon. I’m a crafter so it fit very well on my scone of little kits. It’s super easy to follow the instructions except when you rush like me- make sure to bake then put the glaze on the charm, may be common sense but it sticks to the pan if you do - they have critters from food creators to animal creatures. This is really a great gift or activity yo do to pass the time. I’m going to try Klutz other kits