Adults and Crafts is a monthly DIY subscription that helps subscribers "learn new crafting techniques to help you create useful, beautiful products you will be proud to have made."
This box was sent to us for review purposes. (Check out our review process post to learn more about how we review boxes.)
About Adults & Crafts
The Subscription Box: Adults & Crafts
The Cost: $33 + $6.95 shipping per month, with discounts for 6 and 12-month prepaid subscriptions
The Products: A kit with printed instructions for an adult-level project to use or display in your home.
Ships to: US
Adults & Crafts Cork Burning Kit October 2018 Review
The project for October is a cork burning kit. The print-out listed all the materials included, materials needed and step by step instructions with pictures to complete the project.
A soldering iron, two large cork sheets, and four small cork sheets were included to solder on designs of your choice.
Transfer paper is included to help transfer the designs from paper to cork. Sample designs where included for inspiration.
Additional materials were included to further embellish your designs. The materials in the box included:
- Darice Crafter’s Toolbox Soldering Iron – Retail Value $14.99
- 1/2 Darice Craft Designer Cork Collection - 5mm thick 12x12 inches , 4pc – Retail Value $6.49 (Buy 1 – 4pc pack for $12.99)
- Darice Craft Designer Cork Collection - 5mm thick 4x4 inches, 4pc – Retail Value $3.29
- Darice Jute Twine, 12 ft – Retail Value $0.99
- Darice Nickel Plated Thumbtacks, 40 pc – Retail Value $1.79
- 1/8 Darice Small Springs Clothespins, 24 pc – Retail Value $0.41(Buy 1 – 24pc pack for $3.29)
- Darice Super Hercules Glue Instant Adhesive, .10 oz – Retail Value $1.99
- Darice Rose Floral Embellishments – Parade Prints, 15 pc – Retail Value $4.99
- Transfer Paper
- Sample Designs
- Buttons
MSA Reviewer Note: Darice does not list pricing on their website without an account. I contacted them to get the MSRP for the items included in this box.
Additional materials needed but not included in the box were tape, scissors, and a pen or pencil. I also used my glue gun.
I was excited for the opportunity to try this Adults and Crafts project and learn a new crafting technique. I’ve never used a soldering iron so, I read the warning and instructions on how to use the iron appropriately before I got started. I’m proud to announce that no one was harmed in the making of this craft!
The first step was to pick the designs. A few designs were provided for inspiration but I decided to pick my own. I used a combination of stenciled designs and freehand designs. For the four coasters, I choose to freehand geometric designs. For the hot pad, I choose my family initial. Instead of the bulletin board, I decided to create a welcome sign for my office door.
I used a ruler to draw the lines for my geometric shapes on the coasters.
For the hot pad, I printed a copy of the letter ‘H’. To transfer the design to the cork board, I placed the transfer paper on top of the cork, placed the stencil on top of the transfer paper, taped everything down to keep the papers in place and traced the stencil. This step was easier than I thought it would be.
For the welcome sign, I followed the same process to transfer “Welcome” to the remaining cork board. I drew the stems of the roses and thorns free-hand.
Now it’s time to start soldering!
For the coasters, I started to solder the lines and found out just how difficult it is to solder bone-straight lines! But I did my best and by the final coaster, I felt like a pro!
Do you know what’s more difficult than soldering super straight lines? Curves! I took my time and exercised patience soldering the letter ‘H’ for my hot pad. Keeping the width of the text uniform was also challenging. Overall this was a fun and relaxing activity. Also, the smoke from the burnt cork smelled so good.
Having had practice with the letter ‘H', soldering in ‘Welcome' for my welcome sign was much easier. I was finally in the groove and well on my way to becoming a soldering expert!
The welcome door hang was the only item I wanted to embellish. For this design, I used the paper roses, twine and attempted to use the super glue. The super glue didn’t work. It wouldn’t adhere the flowers to the cork board. Also, when I applied the glue to the cork, there was smoke! Comment down below if you can tell me why that happened. I used my glue gun instead to attach the paper flowers. I soldered holes in the corner of the cork board, ran twine through the holes and tied the ends so that I could hang the sign.
Here are the final products!
I love how the coasters came out despite the lines not being super straight. I added small marks throughout the designs to add more texture.
My ‘H’ on the hot plate is perfectly imperfect. I like how it came out and I’m pleased with this design choice!
I plan to hang this welcome sign outside my office door. I worry that the cork may not be sturdy enough to hold the twine overtime. I tried to reinforce it with the super glue. I may use the clothespins if it doesn’t hold up.
Verdict: This craft project was fun and not too difficult. The time estimate is 2-3 hours and I think that is accurate depending on the designs you choose and how intricate they are. The most difficult part of the project was being exact with the soldering iron – especially curves on the textured cork. Overall, I like how the project came out. The coasters are my favorite.
To Wrap Up:
Can I get this box if I sign up today?: If you order now you won't receive this box however, you can order the Cork Burning Kit from the Adults and Crafts shop for $34.
Value Breakdown: The cost of this box is $39.95 ($33 + $6.95 shipping) and creates four coasters, one hot plate, and one bulletin board, plus the soldering iron that can be used for future projects. The retail value of the materials is $34.94 not including the transfer paper, sample designs, and buttons. This is almost the cost of the box itself! I think this is a good value.
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