Craft Kit Review - Turtle Family Pom Pom Kit by Hobbycraft

Just trying something a bit new on the blog, a kit review! A kind friend got me this as a gift, I think because she could see how disastrously wrong it could go, lol! But actually, given how badly my adhoc makes can look, I think she will be surprised ;)

Turtle Family Pom Pom Kit from Hobbycraft. Currently £1.25 on sale.(January 2017) It's also a kit of THREE not FOUR as advertised on their website.

So its this kit, billed as " All you need to create a pom pom work of art"  for ages 3 and up under adult supervision.

I indeed could have done with some adult supervision, and perhaps a few plasters... I can't help having an attention span too short to remember that my glue gun will be HOT!... doh! :)

So it does say you will also need glue, but in my opinion you actually need....

A glue gun (one glue stick refill), some tweezers (so you don't burn yourself sticking on the eyes with the glue gun), a thin cylindrical object and a slightly thicker one (for the legs), some wire cutters and pliers (to fold over the ends of the pipe cleaners if you want them to be non lethal with children) and some newspaper to protect your work area.

There is a picture diagram on the back to explain how to assemble the largest turtle, and then you are left to use your initiative and the photo to assemble the two smaller ones. The diagram and photo are enough instructions for you to get the theory, though in practice, it takes a fair amount of dexterity and a lot of holding things in place and waiting if you don't use a magical glue gun.

So here is the "compare with their picture" photo.

Not too bad? My shells aren't as neat and even as theirs for sure, but on the whole, they kind of look the same.

So they took about an hour to make. Everything else apart from the tools I listed above are included, and I had an odd spare pipe cleaner and pom pom at the end. (Not many left overs if you make a mistake along the way.)

It was fun to make, but quite taxing, not remotely suitable to make with a three year old, I'd think an 11 year old would be pretty worn out by making one, let alone three. Maybe a project for a crafty parent/aunt/uncle who can complete it in their own time when the child is bored after ten minutes?

They look quite nice, and are pretty robust with the glue gun factor, but I dunno what to do with them. I might add on a wire and pop them in a plant pot to cheer up a sad houseplant this spring!