by Character Diva

Did you know that March is National Craft Month? Me neither. But I’m always up for doing an activity with my kids (particularly if it is Disney themed), and I have two super adorable activities for you and your family to try- a Design Your Own Alice in Wonderland Tea Set and a Timon and Pumbaa’s Grub Dig from Seedling!

I actually came across Seedling by chance. I was scrolling through Facebook when their Alice in Wonderland Tea Set appeared on my screen. Now because I have always loved Alice (and because I am always looking for new Disney projects to try with my kiddos), I was instantly intrigued and had to know more. So naturally, I clicked on the link and was taken to a magical world of more Design your own Disney Kits with more Disney crafts and projects than you can imagine.

Whether you love Elliott from Pete’s Dragon, are looking for some Beauty and the Beast ideas to coincide with the new movie, or are looking for some fun princess themed activities, Seedling offers something for everyone. For my family, the Alice in Wonderland Tea Party Set seemed like a perfect fit for my daughter (who is almost six) and I knew the Timon and Pumbaa’s Grub Dig would provide lots of entertainment for my oldest son  (who is four).

So taking a chance, I reached out to Seedling, and mentioned how while I loved all of the kits, those two in particular were my favorites. Seedling graciously offered to send BOTH kits for my family to try out in exchange for a review of their products. Now I don’t know about you, but not only did this feel like Christmas morning for my kiddos, but also me. Who doesn’t love free Disney stuff and getting to spend time together as a family? So after reviewing both products, here is what my kids and I thought.

Shipping- Let me just say that not only was the staff at Seedling very quick at responding to my emails, but they also shipped it incredibly fast (I received our kits within a couple of days). The items were also packaged fairly well, and my kids eagerly wanted to know who the products were for and when they could open them and start working on them.

Now onto the projects themselves!

The Alice in Wonderland Design Your Own Tea Party Set

What’s Included- For the Alice in Wonderland tea set, you will find 4 cups and saucers, and a tea pot with its lid, as well as an Alice in Wonderland tea party themed placemat. The teapot has an image of Alice on one side and the words “Curiouser and Curiouser” on the other. The saucers all display silhouette images of some of your favorite Alice in Wonderland characters, including: The White Rabbit, the March Hare and Mad Hatter, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, and the Cheshire Cat. You also receive a paintbrush and a set of paints to decorate your tea set.

What You Do- The steps for completing the tea set are fairly simple.

• You want to prep the area. While it is recommended that you use newspaper or a tablecloth to protect your work surface, our family just opted for paper towels. Also, before we start any art project, we always put on our “art t-shirts” (aka old t-shirts of mine that have been retired from my wardrobe, but still have enough nostalgia tied to them that I can’t part with them but don’t mind if they get stained). Disney Diva Tip: Both the Alice in Wonderland Design Your Own Tea Party Set and the Timon and Pumbaa’s Grub Dig Set are fairly messy, so I would definitely recommend wearing an old t-shirt, smock, or even a plastic garbage bag with holes cut it in to keep your child clean.
• Once your table is prepped and your child is ready to paint, it is time to pull out the materials! You will want a cup or bowl of water and a few paper towels (to clean the paintbrush). Then you can take your paintbrush, paints, and tea set and start painting!
• How you design your tea set is entirely up to you. It’s one of the great perks about these projects… Do you want polka dots? Add polka dots! Flowers? Add flowers! Do you just want to color in the characters? Go right ahead! You are limited only by your imagination!
• Once you have finished painting your tea set, it is time to let the pieces dry.
• Once the pieces have dried completely, you can put them in the oven for baking. This will seal the paint and give you your final result- a perfect “Design Your Own Tea Party Set”!

Length of Time It Takes to Complete- This is of course, going to depend on several factors, including: how quickly you paint, what kind of design you choose, and how much of it you decide to paint. My daughter wanted to paint the inside and outside of all of the saucers, teacups, and the teapot, and she spent a little over an hour doing so (Not counting the time it took for the pieces to try or bake). Again, your time may vary slightly depending on the previous reasons mentioned above, but know that these projects are going to be worth your money (both in the product quality and that you will definitely spend a lot of time on them) and are a great activity for a quiet afternoon or in preparation for your own tea party or Alice themed (un)birthday event.

The Timon and Pumbaa’s Grub Dig-

What’s Included- You receive a tree stump/log looking figure made out of plaster (that contains multiple pieces of a plastic beetle for you to dig out and assemble), a chisel (to help you dig through the plaster), and a paintbrush (to dust off the beetle pieces as you discover them) and a Lion King placemat with a  layout of all of the beetle pieces you are supposed to be digging for.

What You Do- Completing the Timon and Pumbaa’s Grub Dig is another fairly easy process (though does require a little bit of patience).

• To begin with, you need to prep the area. Seedling recommends laying down newspaper, but we just kept the tree stump/log on the Lion King placemat they provided. Disney Diva Tip: This is a very dusty project… you will get plaster everywhere! So even though there isn’t any painting in this project, I would still recommend wearing an art shirt like the one listed in the Alice in Wonderland tea set project above, and I’d probably recommend your children taking baths or showers afterwards (or at least washing up really well).
• Once you have your area prepped and you are prepared to get messy, it is time to pick up the tree stump and the chisel. This is the most time consuming part, but it is also the best part… It does require a bit of patience, but my son had a great time using the chisel to go to down digging for the beetle parts inside. Even my husband (who generally doesn’t get involved in anything crafty unless I draft him), was curious and came over to help… so much so that my son asked both my husband and myself if it was his turn to start digging again. Disney Diva Tip: The only mishap we had with this project was when my overly enthusiastic son accidentally hit his finger with the chisel. While he was fine and it wasn’t a big deal, there were some tears of pain… So make sure your child is chiseling carefully (or at least be prepared for possibly smushed fingers).
• Once you start to see parts of the beetle poking through, things get really exciting! My son was so happy to see those first little flecks of green coming through the plaster. As more and more of the beetle is revealed, you can take your paintbrush and lightly brush the plaster off of the beetle. If your child wants to be a paleontologist, archaeologist, or just really likes finding buried treasure, this will be a great project. My son loved pulling out each new piece of the beetle, and while the process was slow and time consuming, it was definitely worth the wait.
• Once all of the pieces have been removed, my husband washed them all in the sink just to finish removing any remaining plaster. Then you can assemble the pieces to make a beetle. Our diagram showed the beetle’s wings being separate, but ours were attached to the body already. My husband did remove them just for picture sake (and to lay them out on the placemat), but then assembled everything back together.
• When your beetle is completely assembled, you can let your child go to town playing with their new bug. The assembled beetle is actually a pretty decent size (a couple of inches long), and my son really enjoyed getting to play with it.

Length of Time It Takes to Complete- Like the Tea Party Set mentioned above, this will depend on several factors, including: how quickly you chisel the bug pieces out of the plaster and how long you spend dusting off each piece of the bug. It took my son about an hour (with a little chiseling help from mom and dad).

Overall, we really liked both projects. My daughter told me she wanted to keep her tea set forever, and my son loved chiseling the beetle out of the plaster and getting to play with it afterwards. As a mom, I really liked how long the projects took (because who wants to start something only to have your child exclaim “Done!” thirty seconds later?), and I thought it was a fun activity to show off our Disney side and take up a good chunk of our afternoon. I also loved how both projects involved my kids getting to do something “hands on”, as opposed to just sitting around watching tv or playing on some other electronic device. Both projects seemed really easy for kids to complete independently (though if you want to participate in the fun, by all means, jump on in and make some memories with your child!) and I would definitely be open to doing either project again.

But the best news is, if you are dying to try either of these projects, than you are in luck! Seedling has agreed to offer one of our lucky readers their choice of either the Alice in Wonderland Design Your Own Tea Party Set or the Timon and Pumbaa’s Grub Dig Set. So how do you enter? Just scroll down to the Rafflecopter Entry form below! You must like the Facebook page for your entry to count. Once a winner is chosen, you will have 48 hours to respond with your mailing address and which set you would like, and we will forward the information onto Seedling. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disney Diva Disclaimer: As previously mentioned, I received both of these products for free in exchange for writing an honest review. Seedling has also generously offered to provide one reader with their choice of either set for our giveaway. While we did receive these products for free, Tips from the Disney Divas & Devos prides ourselves in always writing honest reviews to our readers, and have not been influenced in any way.  

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