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My Create Crate is a new monthly subscription box that provides kids with two projects, supplies and other goodies to get their creative juices flowing. The box is curated by Melanie, the owner of Imagine Studios in Rogers, Arkansas.
She sent her October box to ODC HQ so the girl and I could check it out. The short version: this is a lot of fun for kids who need a little prompting to get their creative juices flowing or who are lacking in supplies at home.
What Comes in the My Create Crate?
Each month’s crate includes a canvas for a painting project as well as a bonus project. In the case of the Halloween crate we sampled, the kit included:
- a blank canvas
- a chipboard pumpkin
- little cups of paint
- paintbrushes and a sponge paint dauber for making dots
- a tube of glitter glue
- a pencil, eraser and pencil sharpener for drawing on the materials
- a variety of stickers, sequins, googly eyes and temporary tattoos
- it also should have included a printout of a ghost template for the painting project, but this was left out of ours. We just found one on the Internet we liked
We actually failed to take a picture of all the goodies, but the girl did assist with an unboxing video:
How to Use My Create Crate
The fun thing about the My Create Crate product is that you get all the supplies for the projects and a link to videos showing Melanie making her own version and some variations.
If you have a kid who likes to do it the “right” way or who claims not to be creative or just doesn’t know what to do, those videos are a great place to start.
The girl and I looked at the finished projects in the videos but she totally went her own way in terms of making the projects. Which is actually really great.
It’s nice to have a little bit of direction but also enough materials that it’s more open ended and you still get to use your creativity and make something that you really want to make. It’s about combining materials and inspiration with a little bit of guidance and seeing what happens.
What She Made
The first project she tackled was the pumpkin. She wanted to make it a gradient stripe using green, yellow, orange, pink and red.
It was really fun to watch the care she took mixing the colors and planning each stripe, then going back and adding a little more color to blend them together.
Then she added eyes and gems for a mouth and made a barrette out of a sparkly sticker. So cute.
Next up (the next day) was the ghost craft. We printed out a template she cut out, traced on her canvas and painted.
She decided she wanted to make it a vampire ghost in a graveyard. She painted the sky with shades of blue, green and purple, then added stars.
The graves have funny names on them (the full name is Lord Cacklebones), and she added vampire teeth and a cape with a bit of bling to finish off the design.
More Halloween Fun: Halloween Fairy Garden Centerpiece | Leftover Halloween Candy Cookies
A Kid’s Review of My Create Crate
She told me that she had a lot of fun making the projects and she thinks it would be a good kit for kids age 6 and up (she’s 11). For younger kids the videos would also be helpful to show them basic techniques.
She’s a pretty crafty kid on her own and we have lots of supplies in the house, but sometimes it is nice to start with an idea from somewhere else and put your own spin on it.
I think these would be fun for grandparents to have on hand for grandkid visits if they don’t have a lot of crafty supplies in their house, or for someone who wants to get their kid started creating when they don’t consider themselves crafty or have a lot of supplies at home.
How Much Does My Create Crate Cost?
As of this writing, there are options to buy a single month, three months or six months of My Create Crate.
The monthly price is $34.95, with the cost dropping to $32.95 a month for three months and $29.95 a month for six months.
Crates are shipped by the 15th of each month, so it’s a great option to have on hand to occupy kids on Thanksgiving or as a holiday gift for a creative kid.
Have you ever subscribed to an art themed box for kids or adults? I’d love to hear about it!
