Pinners Conference AZ 2024!

 

I recently had the chance to attend my first ever Pinners Conference here in AZ & It was a lot of fun! This conference is a two day event that is perfect for anyone who loves DIY and learning new hobbies/crafts. Between the 100+ classes available and dozens of shops selling take home do it yourself kits, you are sure to find something to keep your hands busy and happy. They sell different ticket levels that range from just visiting the vendor alley to tickets that include classes with prices ranging from $12 all the way up to $199 for a VIP pass. 

The classes they offer cover so many different topics & hobbies ranging from how to do your makeup or creating bath bombs from scratch to baking bread, sewing a bag or creating a handmade cutting board. You can choose to just sit in on the class or many of the classes offer kits you can purchase to follow along with & complete or take home and create at your own pace. I think they did a fabulous job setting up all of the different class room areas & crafting sections like the sewing room or the painting area. Everything was separated & organized well, that way no one was left trying to find the right area. 

Vendor wise, there were over three hundred booths set up! So you could shop till you dropped. The vendor area was a great spot to not only shop for DIY kits & goodies for yourself, but it was also a great spot to look for a few early holiday gifts. We loved that they had just about everything including clothing, pet treats, food/drinks, tools, jewelry & home goods. Even if you visit just to check out the shops, you will have a great time interacting with everyone while shopping & are still likely to spend at least two hours at the event. 

While browsing the shops many of the food & drink booths had samples they were giving out. So you were able to try out some caramels, some pretzel/chip dips, hummus, energy drinks, teas and more. Beauty wise there were samples of vitamins, lotions you could smell or try on your hands and some booths have mini samples you could take home. If you were hungry & wanted a bigger meal than the samples offered at the booths the event had two food trucks outside plus there were actual food vendors inside offering things like coffee & chocolate covered strawberries on a stick. 

I also liked that many of the booths who offered DIY take home kits also had small tables set up in the middle of the vendors area where you could work on your kit if you wished. For example one of the booths had unpainted wood kits to make your own signs, ornaments, etc that just needed to be glued together and painted. So you would find a few round tables just a few feet away from their booth that included the glue needed to connect everything plus a large assortment of paints and brushes for you to use. 

The event was family friendly! We went on a Friday & I honestly didn't think it would be as busy as Saturday would have been, but I heard a lot of people at the event talking about how they took the day off to attend. Even though there were a ton of people, the flow of traffic in the building went smoothly & quickly with no issues due to how everything was laid out. The Pinners Conference is hosted in Arizona, California, Utah, Texas, Kansas & Georgia. Keep an eye out for the event again next year! 

What kind of classes would you want to take?

Disclaimer- Thickets to the event mentioned above were provided by The Pinners Conference for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.

Manga Artist Kit - A complete kit for learning how to draw Anime.

It can be a lot of fun trying to learn a new skill or technique especially when you have the help of a tutorial or DIY kit. My kids recently received a "How to draw Anime - Manga Artist set" from Made By Me, which is one of the brands under the Horizon Group USA line of brands. It can be found on Amazon for $18. 

This kit comes with a plastic carrying case, Anime style stickers, two make your own comic books, colored pencils, markers, a sharpener, and a ruler along with a how to guide that shows you quite a few ways to draw different poses & styles of art. The only other thing I can think of that would be nice to have included in this set is a few graphite pencils & an eraser then you would really have a complete art kit. The markers are duel sized, one is thinner while the other is thicker allowing you to use them for both lining and shading. 

My kids think that the tutorials they show in the how to book are simple & easy to follow. The book helps break down some of the poses you would typically use with this style of art along with showing you how to do certain eyes, etc. It can be helpful for adults wanting to get into drawing as well. The colored pencils & markers are nice, they do not bleed through the page and the colors are bold. I have my daughter do a quick sketch of one of our favorite shows using the markers & colored pencils in this kit so that you can see how the colors turned out. This kit would make a great birthday or holiday gift & if you have a craft lover on your shopping list this holiday season Horizon Group USA has tons of other great craft kits for a wide range of ages & all of them are quite affordable. You can check out what they have to offer on Amazon or local stores such as Walmart, Target, Michaels & more.

Disclaimer- Horizon Group USA provided the product above for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.

DIY Disco Decor Kit from STMT!

 

Horizon Group USA is company that has several different craft kit brands under it's umbrella, one of those brands is called Simple Trendy Modern Touch or STMT for short. Once a quarter I get sent a fun box of kits to try out with my kids & review here on my blog. Today I will be sharing the DIY Sparkling Disco Décor set with you that can be purchased on Amazon. The kit is recommended for ages eight and older due to small ingestible pieces.

This DIY kit has a lot of potential but it fell a little flat for us & I will go into why we felt that way about this kit. The kit comes with three décor items to decorate - a heart, a ice cream cone & an actual disco ball. Along with the foam pieces to decorate you will also receive some chains, key chain hooks, and several sheets of the small shiny plastic squares you will use to create your disco look. 

The first issue we ran into with this set is the plastic squares, each one has a tiny protective sheet on it that needs to be removed. It takes a very long time to get all of the little plastic pieces off! After they end up all over your work space & like to stick to your hands. The instruction sheet mentioned you can apply a piece of tape to the top & peel to get them all off at once, we tried it with two different types of tape and neither worked. My daughter ended up giving up trying to peel all of them off even with my help so her project still has them attached to a good portion of the squares. The second issue my daughter ran into was the shape of the pieces, because the little plastic pieces are all square & do not have any kind of bend to them it was hard to get them to sit properly on the decorative pieces without there being large gaps between many of the pieces that were easy to see when viewing the finished project. 

My daughter is still going to keep the one she did to hang up in her room & we are going to try to figure out a way to do almost a mosaic style on the other two in order to fill in the gaps. Normally we are big fans of the various Horizon Group lines & the kits they have, this one was just an oddball that didn't quite work out. I feel like with a few minor adjustments this kit would be so much better. They have tons of other great craft kits for a wide range of ages & all of them are quite affordable, you can check out what they have to offer on Amazon or local stores such as Walmart, Target, Michaels & more.

Disclaimer- Horizon Group USA provided the product above for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.

Hello Kitty Sparkling Tumbler by Horizon Group USA!

 

If you or a child/teen in your life are a fan of Hello Kitty, Horizon Group USA sells a number of Hello Kitty DIY kits. We were recently sent one of their Glitzy Pop Sparkling Tumblers, this kit comes with everything you need to create two customized disks to decorate the front of your tumbler with. It includes the tumbler itself, a straw + lids, two decorative discs, two containers of gems and a gem pusher. 

It actually has way more gems than you will actually need for the kit so you will be left with extras to either use for another project or hold onto incase a gem ever pops out. The instructions have you pour a vial into the gem pusher & then you'll push the gems into the disc as the colors pop out. My daughter didn't want a random pattern so we poured them into a shallow dish so she could use the colors she wanted. 

The gem pusher is easy to use, she finished the kit in just a few minutes then gave the cup a good wash & made something to drink. The cup itself is cute, being able to customize it slightly gives it a little personal touch. Horizon Group USA sells their products on Amazon and also in select stores such as Walmart. This kit along with their other Hello Kitty DIY's would make a great birthday or holiday gift for the Hello Kitty lover in your life. They have several different product lines for various ages & most kits are under $20 which is fantastic. 

Do you have a favorite Hello Kitty Character?

Disclaimer- Horizon Group USA provided the product above for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.

Check out the Spaltter room at Pinspiration!

 

The best kind of mess, is the mess that you don't have to personally clean up! If you are looking for a way to unwind a bit, make a mess and then leave with a souvenir of your time then you should check out the splatter rooms at Pinspiration in Mesa,AZ. Pinspiration is a craft store that has a wide range of crafting supplies & craft kits set up to where you can pick out a project, & then complete it in store. You can craft without having to worry about running out of supplies or not having something on hand that you need. One of the biggest draws for me is their Splatter room, where you can hang up a canvas or even a shirt on the wall then use paint & paint brushes to splatter, flick and splash paint onto your project. The store was packed full of fun projects to work on & they even had a small food area where you can order items such as DIY cupcakes, smores, and drinks to upgrade your experience. 

The cost of your experience will depend on the size or type of canvas you would like along with the type of paint used. Regular experiences with a 12x12 canvas + protective gear & one hour in the splatter room start at $35 per person. Regular paints are cheaper than if you were to do a glow paint or fabric paint. While we were leaving, I saw a girl prepping a canvas bag to use in the splatter room which sounds like a fantastic idea as well. How are you & your clothing protected? You will be provided with a poncho, a pair of gloves, shoe booties to cover your feet and are provided with protective eyewear if you choose to wear them. I opted not to wear the googles, they started fogging up a little & I knew I wasn't going to go overly crazy to where I would be splashing paint back into my own face. For our experience we each received a 12x9 canvas along with some glow paint to use with the black lights on. For my canvas I requested one that had already been painted black, they also have white which you can use as is or use a solid color to paint the base then splatter over that. 

It takes only a few minutes to store your personal belongings then get into your protective gear, everything else will already be set up in the room for you. You & your group will be in the splatter room by yourselves so you can shut the door & turn the black light on and off as you please. Inside of the room you'll also find a wash station for when you need it, tape so you can tape off areas of your canvas you wish to leave unpainted, extra brushes along with a fan to help keep you cool plus an Alexa you can request to play music for you. We did the splatter room as part of our staycation girls weekend my mom, my daughter & I did together. We found the experience to be a lot of fun, we enjoyed the paint colors they had to choose from and each one of us left with a unique piece that fit our personal colors and preferences. I also really enjoyed having the Alexa in the room, it was a blast playing some of our favorite songs while we splattered away. 

Depending on the weather & how much paint you add to the canvas your drying time will vary. I didn't put nearly as much paint on mine as my daughter did so mine only took a few hours to dry, but her painting took a bit longer. So keep this in mind & be prepared to carry the wet canvases home in your vehicle, they will provide you with a sheet of brown paper to place under your canvas to help protect yourself & your car a little more. When we got home my son enjoyed using his black light spy pen on the paintings to see the black light paints shine. I need to get a small black light to hang above these in the hallway so we can light them up at night when it is dark out. 

Does this sound like an experience you would enjoy? Would you prefer to do a canvas, or something else?

🌵 If you live in Arizona check out the "Things to do in Arizona" section of my blog to find entertainment, restaurants, vacation spots & more. 

Disclaimer- The experience mentioned above was provided by Pinspiration for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.

10 Activity kits under $25 for Summer!

 

Most schools have let out for the summer or are about to finish, so you might be on the hunt for some activities to help keep your kids not only entertained but also help keep their minds engaged as well. My kids and I love doing craft & activity kits together, it helps occupy days when we might not have as much going on. Depending on what kind of kit you get, it can also be educational. Over the last few years I have worked along side Horizon Group USA reviewing some of the kits they sell across their various lines & I wanted to put together a list of our top ten favorites for you to check out this summer. None of these are in any particular order & I've included links to the full reviews for you to check out. Click on the name of the kit below to be taken to the full review of that kit which will include more photos and information.

1. The Young Scientist Club - Top Secret Spy Science.  - This kit is packed with fun small activities for your kids to do while hunting for clues to solve a secret spy mystery. It is currently on Amazon for $19.99, it is recommended for kids ages 8+

2. Sand Dough Handprint Stone - When the weather is nice, it is great to spend some time outside in a garden or area you like to relax in. With this kit you can make a stone with the imprint of your child's hand on it. You can even make one a year & show case your children growing. This can be purchased on Amazon for $8. 

3. Nature Adventure Pack - This is another great kit that has a lot of small activities for kids to do that are aimed out for getting your child to enjoy nature related games and crafts. This is currently listed on Amazon for $17.12 and is recommended for kids ages 14+. 

4. Rainbow Loom Bracelet Kit - This kit is fun for both adults and children. There are several different bracelet styles you can make with this in any color combination of your choosing. You can keep the pieces you make or share them with loved ones. This is currently listed on Amazon for $16.99 and is recommended for ages 7+. 

5. STMT Jewlery Making Kit - This collection of kits can be found on amazon for under $25. They have a few different jewelry making kits that have everything you need to create several pieces of jewelry. 

6. Tie-dye Kits - This is a kit from their Just My Style line, there are several different kits to choose from that range in price and colors. You can dye anything from hats to clothing and even purses to suit your style. 

7. DIY Candle Making Kit - Create your own candles from the scent, to color and even the label on it. This comes with everything you need to make two candles. This is currently on Amazon for $16.99 and is for ages 8+.

8. Extreme Fossil Dig - Fun for all gem & stone collectors or anyone wanting to start a collection. It comes with a large dig block which contains an assortment of gems and fossils. It can be purchased for $19.99 on Amazon & is great for ages 8+.

9. Dinosaur Sensory Bin - This is a fun one that can be re-used over and over again. The play sand is fun to squish, pull apart and shape. You can also add in other figures, add additional sand or different stones to spice up this set each time your child plays with it. It can be purchased on Amazon for $14.99 and is great for ages 3+

10. STMT Design art studio - The assortment of art supplies in this carrying case are quite nice & great for all ages. This set comes with brush markers, paints, gel pens, oil pastels, brushes, a paint palette, and more. I always loved sets like this when I was a kid, so I enjoy being able to buy my kids similar kits now that have higher quality materials in them. This set can be purchase for $24.99 and can be used for a number of projects and activities. 

What kind of crafts or hands on activities do you enjoy doing with your kids???

**For past reviews I was gifted the kits mentioned in the reviews. This specific post is not sponsored nor was I gifted anything for it, this is just a list I put together of our favorite kits we've previously received from Horizon Group USA.**

Build & Paint your own Bird House!

We recently received a bonus summer mail from Horizon Group USA, they sent use a build and paint your own bird house. I like putting out bird seed for the small birds we have in the area so I am hoping one of the lovely couples decides to make this house their home. This kit comes with all of the pieces you'll need for the bird house itself, along with smaller wood pieces to use as decoration plus glue, paint and a paint brush.

My son put this together and painted it all on his own and he wanted me to make a note about how easy this bird house was to put together. It was one of the easiest kits we've ever used to build a bird house. The little wooden birds they included as decorations are pretty cute, I also like the little fence pieces included. 

Some of the paint colors you will need a second coat otherwise it is a little too thin, otherwise we didn't have any issues or negative points with this kit. Adding the string to hang it from was easy peasy and took less than a minute to do, now we just need to find the perfect spot on the back porch to hang it up on. As a bonus this kit only cost $8 on Amazon! 

Disclaimer- Horizon Group USA provided the product above for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.

Circuit Mess DIY STEM for kids!

My kids have always loved hands-on crafts, activities & projects that they can either do by themselves or with their dad & I. So when I was offered the chance to check out one of the DIY STEM projects from a brand called Circuit Mess, I couldn't refuse. We were sent Spencer to put together & do a review on, Spencer is a personal voice assistant that you are able to build & code on your own. Something that is good to know before hand is that some of the kits they have require the use of a soldering tool, if you do not have one they can be picked up at a number of stores locally & for younger children they may need assistance with the project. This specific kit is recommended for ages 11+. We were also gifted one of their shirts which features their Batmobile that you can put together. 

Everything you will need for this project aside from the soldering tool & a screwdriver are included in this building kit. It was well packaged so everything arrived safely for us to start working on. There is quite a bit of information packed into the building guide, so you won't find the guide inside of your building box. Instead you will need access to the internet on a phone, tablet or laptop that can be placed near you & is easy to look at during the build. The building guide not only has instructions on how to build Spencer, but it also includes information on all of the tools you will need for this, links to helpful guides and tips on soldering incase you've never had to solder before & more. I found the build guide to be quite detailed & very helpful, they even have plenty of photos in full color for the visual learners. 

I think that these kits are great not just for teaching your children practical skills such as coding or using the various tools you will need, but also life skills like patients and staying calm & collected while working with small detailed parts. You can purchase a one time box, or subscribe & you will get a new project to work on every one to three months (depends on your plan). Spencer is part of the STEM box which is for ages 11+, but if that is a little too advanced for your child they also have the Wacky Robots line which is for ages 9+ along with working on two other lines that are for younger children as well. The STEM box is $80 per box & is a once per every three months subscription, the Wacky Robots are $28 a box and are delivery once a month. They also sell bundles which have set prices and show you exactly which buildable you will receive, so if you've had your eye on a particular build of theirs then the bundles might be the right place to look for you.

My husband & Son enjoyed doing this project together, this fun to do together and the end results are something your child will be able to work on, adjust and play with for quite some time to come. They have a number of apps and more available on their websites and guides that will allow you to update and create your Spencer how you would like. With summer coming up these kits are a great way to keep your child's mind engaged & entertained over the summer break. My son is looking forward to checking out all of the various apps Circuit Mess has & playing with his voice assistant more. I think this would be a great subscription as well for adults who want to know more about coding.

Is this something you think your kids will enjoy as well?

Disclaimer- Circuit Mess provided the product above for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.

STMT Designer art studio review!

My kids love getting new art sets, so when we received this STMT D.I.Y designer art studio in our recent quarterly Horizon Group USA gifted box we were pretty excited to use it. This art set comes with a lovely selection of supplies which includes a white crayon, twelve brush markers, four gel pens, twelve tubes of watercolor paints, twelve oil pastels, four paintbrushes, a paint palette, seventeen die-cut designs, four watercolor resistant cards, and a notebook all inside of a golden carrying case. 

This kit can be purchased on Amazon for $24.99, it can also be purchased at big box stores such as Walmart, Target, and Local craft stores. My favorite part of this kit is the brush markers, they write so smooth & each color is vibrant + bold. I also like the notebook included in this as well, the paper is really nice and works well with the rest of the supplies in this kit. 

Along with this set Horizon Group USA sells dozens of other awesome craft & activity kits for a range of ages and interests. Check them out! I will be posting a list of ten of our favorite craft sets soon.

Disclaimer- Horizon Group USA provided the product above for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.

STMT jewelry making kit review!

Making your own jewelry can be a lot of fun, because you can make exactly what you want & how you'd like it. It can also be a great craft for kids as it keeps their hands & minds busy and focused, so if you are looking for a inexpensive & fun craft kit for your kids for the summer Horizon Group USA has plenty of them. Under their STMT (Simple Trendy Modern Touch) line they have several jewelry kits under $20, along with a jewelry stamping kit for under $25. The particular jewelry kit we were gifted to review, I do not see on amazon however they have similar kits & their products can also be found at stores such as Walmart, Target & Craft stores. 

This kit has everything you need to make ten different pieces of jewelry. Included in the kit is an assortment of chain & string types, clasps, rings, small pliers and several different types of beads and charms. There are not only earring hooks, but if you pick some up then you can use this kit to make earrings as well. For the price it comes with an awesome amount of beads & supplies, I like the assortment of letter beads that are included. The kit can be for an individual or you can make a jewelry party out of it. 

My daughter enjoyed using this kit to make some jewelry with her favorite bands names on them as some of the bands are hard to find merchandise for. I enjoyed being able to show her a few ways of closing the clasps instead of just tying it off on the ends, and being able to come up with color combinations with her. In the future we may pick up some of their other kits as well as each one has different goodies.

What kind of jewelry would you make?

Disclaimer- Horizon Group USA provided the product above for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.