Adults and Crafts is a monthly DIY subscription that encourages subscribers to “learn new crafting techniques to help create useful, beautiful products you will be proud to have made."
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About this Monthly DIY Subscription
The Subscription Box: Adults & Crafts
The Cost: $33 + $6.95 shipping per month, with discounts for 3-, 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: The US for $6.95 and worldwide for $20
Adults & Crafts "Heat Embossing Kit" Review June 2020
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In this fun Adults & Crafts project, they have provided all of the necessary items to create a 5" X 7" embossed floral frame.
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Darice Multi-Purpose Heat Tool - Retail Value $27.99
The main component in our embossing kit this month was this handy dandy heat tool. This versatile tool can get up to 650 degrees! Listed uses are for embossing and shrink wrapping. The tool itself has an easy on/off switch, a safety shield to cover the nozzle, and a built-in bracket for support. I found it extremely easy to use, hot, and fast. I've never embossed before, but this worked well without blowing off the powder. My husband was actually a little excited to receive this tool as he is an electrician and could use it for electrical shrink tubing!
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Special Moments 5" X 7" Photo Frame
This project is designed to have us emboss on glass, so we received this 5" X 7" frame to apply our design on. I must say, this frame is lacking quality. While it looks okay, the back is thin cardboard, and the mat is extremely thin as well. I wish they would have sent a frame that was higher quality as it is what will be displayed when finished. I also was a little nervous, because this frame was it...if I were to mess up on my design, I would be out of luck.
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Darice Bright Watercolor Set - Retail Value $9.99
To create the background for our embossed design, we received this 21 color Darice watercolor set. As you may know, I received the van Gogh pocket box in my May Paletteful Packs box, which was the cream of the crop...seeing this set was a little disappointing, especially because the case was damaged. Don't get me wrong, I was impressed with the assortment of colors and the pigment that they did provide, I just have been a bit spoiled! While I have become somewhat of a watercolor snob, I did enjoy painting with these, and was a little less apprehensive about letting my kids dive into them.
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Ranger Black Embossing Powder - Retail Value $6.88
The star of the show that we received this month is this black embossing powder. I have never worked with this material before, but found it easy to use and easy to clean up. A little bit went a long way, so I will be able to create many more projects!
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Ranger Letter W Medium Pen - Buy a pack of two for $5.99
This medium tipped pen features a clear ink that is great for embossing! The nib was fine enough to sketch out my design, and while it was a bit hard to see on the clear glass, it applied in a slightly wet and glossy manner.
Watercolor Paper
To create our background, we received 4 pieces of 5" X 7" watercolor paper. This textured paper had a bit of thickness to it, and seemed to soak in the color well.
Embossing Design
The last item in our box was a black and white floral design to emboss. The instructions suggested going online and printing other patterns if this one didn't suit your fancy. I recently painted a project like this, so I did a little Google search to find something a little different.
Project: Embossed Floral Frame
To start my project, I decided to find my own design online to use instead of the one they included. I wanted to find something with easy lines to trace, so I tried a variety of searches. I ended up spotting this one and am pretty happy with the results!
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Once I had my design printed, I took apart the photo frame. Like I said above, it wasn't of the highest quality. I had to be extremely careful when taking the mat out because it wanted to rip. I also noticed the glass itself was quite smudged so I used a little Windex to clean it up.
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After my glass was sparkling clean I let it dry for a few minutes before centering it onto my design. Using scotch tape I gently stuck the glass onto the paper so I didn't lose my spot while tracing. Using the included pen, I gently traced all of the lines of the design. Because the pen is clear/colorless, it was hard to see where I had traced and where I hadn't. To keep myself from getting confused I worked from the top down. The pen did leave a glossy look behind, so if I tilted the glass in just the right position I could see where I had traced.
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After I finished tracing the roses, I peeled the tape off the paper and went ahead and dumped on some of the embossing powder. I have to admit, this step was kind of freeing!! I was really excited to see how it would adhere to the pen markings! I gently tapped the excess powder off and scooted it back into the container for another project, and voila, the powder stuck!
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Once the powder was applied to the design, I gently blew off the excess and took out the heat tool. The instructions reminded us that this gets very hot and to not stay in one spot for too long. I found it took about 40 seconds on each area to get the powder to gloss and raise. It was so fun to watch! I have never done a project like this before, but I can say I am a fan! When the powder all raised, I set the frame aside to cool.
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Using the included watercolors, I gently brushed some pink paint onto my watercolor paper. Using the heat tool I was able to speed dry the watercolor! Another great use for this tool! Using scotch tape, I taped the watercolor onto the mat.
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And here is the finished project! Because the pink was a little light, I decided to go back and add a little green to brighten up the background. I was pretty dang happy with my results! It's also very versatile as you can change out the background whenever you want!
Kid's Corner
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And because no craft time is complete without including my boys, Charlie asked very sweetly if he could have a piece of watercolor paper to try out those fancy colors. I dare say, I like his background more than mine and may end up using his in my frame!
Verdict: With Adults & Crafts you never know what you might get next! The last box pulled me out of my comfort zone with resin, and this one taught me about the art of embossing! I can honestly say I have learned a lot of new techniques due to this subscription, and I love that! I have already been scouring Pinterest for more embossing ideas to test out all thanks to this box! While the frame and watercolor set was a bit cheap, they did the trick and all of the other included materials can be used again and again on items of your choice. If I were to buy the items separately, it would have cost me over $47.86 plus shipping, so I feel the price is fair as I probably wouldn't have tried out this technique if it weren't for this box! I can't wait to see what they send next month!
To Wrap Up:
Can I get this box if I sign up today? This was the June box, so your subscription will likely begin with the July box.
Value Breakdown: The cost of this box is $39.95 ($33 + $6.95 shipping) and it gives you enough supplies to create an embossed frame.
Check out all of our Adults and Crafts reviews and the DIY + Crafting Subscription Box Directory for more crafting options!
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What do you think of June's Adults and Crafts project?
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