Clearance Steals at Chapters

I was at Chapters last week to do a return (accidentally bought a book I already had), and of course I had to go check out the clearance table (my favourite place in the store). I had checked out calligraphy and fountain pen kits the last time I was at the Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, QC  and REALLY wanted them. Well, I found BOTH kits at Chapters! For uber cheap!

Manuscript Calligraphy Set - reg. retail price $25, sale price $5

This set comes with looks great! It comes with two fountain pens as well as a selection of nibs and colour cartridges, practice pad, and guideline sheets.

Manuscript Quill Correspondence Set - reg. retail price $50, sale price $8

I'm SO excited to try out this set. It comes with a quill with 3 nibs, a bottle of ink, red and gold sealing wax, wax seal, and stationary.

I am extremely excited to try out this set and I'll have to share some of my work once I get started :)

For more information on Manuscript products, visit www.calligraphy.co.uk

 

Kiwi Crate April 2014 Review

My son Hudson's 6th birthday was in April and he chose to put his birthday money towards a Kiwi Crate subscription (www.kiwicrate.com). Kiwi Crate is a monthly children's craft subsciption box. For $19.95/month you receive a crate with around 3 themed activities/craft projects geared towards ages 3-8 (themes include Wild Safari, Secret Agent, Fairy Fun). Hudson had the option to choose the theme for his first month (other months are a surprise theme), and he chose Medieval Fun (that's my boy!). Here is everything that came in the crate:

The kit came with supplies to make a knight's face mask, princess hat, banner, and catapult, as well as instructions to turn your crate into a castle and make puppets.

First, we made the medieval dress-up items. We used to Kool-Aid in water to dye the silk scarf (for use in either the princess hat or as a banner).

While we let that dry, we worked on the mask and princess hat.

The mask and hat were very simple to make. Only the princess hat required cutting, otherwise everything was perforated. Ribbons were attached to the hat and mask to fasten on each kid's head.

Hudson's completed mask:

Aislinn's completed princess hat (minus the silk scarf - still drying):

We next worked on the catapult. It was also really easy to make, mainly just a matter of assembling the pieces. Here is the completed catapult:

The crate came with small pom-poms, a large pom-pom, and a ping-pong ball to try in the catapult. Here are the little pom-poms in action:

I was happy that the crate came with enough supplies so that both of the kids could do the crafts together. I also really liked that the activities required a variety of skills to complete. Each activity had an accompanying book with a difficulty rating, which is nice to see in advance so you can be prepared with how much the kids will need your help to complete the activities.

Hudson's rating of this month's Kiwi Crate was "Awesome!".  His favourite thing to make was the catapult. I'm excited to see the next month's activities, and so are the kids :)

One other great thing about Kiwi Crate is that they have a referral program. When you refer someone, they receive $10 off their first month, and you receive a $10 credit! It's a win for everyone! Here is my referral link, so if you are interested in subscribing, please use this link to receive your discount. :)