ACTÍVA Products a Homeschool Crew Review

Arts and crafts are one of my kids’ favorite activities for doing homeschool crafts. I enjoy watching them create masterpieces. I just don’t enjoy the mess and clean up all those masterpieces take! I knew that my kids would be excited to get started with Rigid Wrap and CelluClay Quik-Sculpting Kit from ACTÍVA Products.  I also received an eBook:  ACTÍVA Products'Favorite Sculpture KIDS CRAFTS.

Rigid Wrap and CelluClay Quik-Sculpting Kit comes with two rolls of 4 inch x 5 yards of the Rigid Wrap and one 8oz bag of CelluClay Instant Papier Mache. Included in the box is an instruction manual for using both products along with instructions for twelve projects for all age levels. All the material is no-toxic and even gluten-free. 

The Rigid Wrap reminds me of the fiberglass drywall tape. As you can see from my picture it is weaved together like a sturdy construction tape except this isn’t made of fiberglass and is safe to use. The Rigid Wrap is more of a gauze material but thicker. And it’s coated with a plaster material.

The Rigid wrap is easy to cut into smaller pieces. If the coating comes off a little it cleans up easily and quickly with a wet paper towel. After you have cut the pieces you just dip the pieces into a bowl of water. Make sure it is completely wet which only takes a few seconds. When you pull it out you can let the excess water drip off or slightly squeeze it to remove the excess water. It will conform to any shape and you can put this on just about any surface. After you place a piece on your project you smooth it out using your finger until the Rigid Wrap is smooth and the material doesn’t show the holes. The drying time will vary depending on the thickness of your project and the humidity.

The clean up was easy as the kids did the projects on some plastic on the tables. The material washed off their hands in one wash with just soap and water!

The CelluClay is not your traditional clay. At the same time it forms like clay in the form of an instant paper mache. This is made of recycled paper and all you do it add warm water and mix it up. It’s extremely versatile and easy to use. 

ACTÍVA Products' Favorite Sculpture KIDS CRAFTS came as a downloadable ebook with twelve craft ideas: Bold Beads, Deadly Dinosaur, Silly Spider,  Beautiful Butterfly, Terrific Totem Pole (uses both materials), Piece of Cake, Egyptian Sarcophagus, Erupting Volcano (uses both materials), Mardi Gras Mask, Painted Pumpkin, Peppermint Candy Bowl (uses both materials), and a Snowman Ornament.

Each project comes with easy to follow instructions along with some cut out patterns. This is available for free on the website for anyone to download.

My original plan was to have the kids do a project for their 4-H Arts and Craft project for the county fair. Well the fair snuck up on us to fast while getting our other projects done. That never happened. Honestly, the Rigid Wrap and CelluClay Quik-Sculpting Kit would make some great crafts for 4-Hers who are involved in the Arts and Crafts project. It's so easy for the kids to use with little or now supervision.

After we finished up with the County Fair the kids and I sat down to figure out what they wanted to do.

My 11 year old son decided on making a Hanukkah Dreidel and my daughter wanted to make a Purim Mask. Both kids decided to make a bowl to decorate also.

 The Rigid Wrap clings nicely to the plastic form!

The dreidel was a large plastic dreidel that you put candy in. My son ended up going out of town with grandpa and came home sick so my daughter and I put the Rigid Wrap on his dreidel for him and let him decorate it after it dried. It was rather thick and it took a bit to dry due to the thickness and the hot humid weather we have been having.

The mask was super easy to add the Rigid Wrap to the plastic mask form. It dried quickly. We did have a tough time smoothing out the edges but, that was more our doing and not the material itself.

I had some cheap serving plastic bowls that the kids covered with the Rigid Wrap. Sorry no pictures as the kids started the craft themselves without me around. They wanted to make me a gift! This is fine as my kids are old enough to do use the material unsupervised. They used a blow dryer to dry the material quicker. Afterwards they used the CelluClay and made it into a rope material and made a rope pottery. They think they made the CelluClay to wet as it didn’t form as well as they wanted it to. I’m surprised how far the material went to make the bowls. My kids said they used some of the Rigid Wrap when the bowl got bigger as they felt it would make it stronger.  Overall, they didn't make much of a mess other than a film left from the CelluClay and Rigid Wrap that escaped the plastic covering.

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Other Homeschool Crew Reviews have been making some wonderful kids crafts so don’t forget to hop over to their blogs to see what masterpieces they have created.

 

Shabbat Shalom

Dark Deception by Nancy Mehl Book Review

Kate O’Brien has been leading a quiet life in small-town Shelter Cove, Arkansas, for the past four years when her past suddenly comes roaring back to life. Four years ago, she and her twin sister were attacked by an elusive serial killer. Only Kate survived, and it was her drawing of the attacker–along with some last-minute evidence–that convicted the suspect.
She’s been in witness protection ever since, but new evidence suggests the convicted man isn’t the murderer and she’s been subpoenaed to testify in the new trial. Nervous about the risk, she’ll only agree if the same marshal who protected her during the original trial escorts her to St. Louis.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Tony DeLuca accepts the assignment to bring Kate to the trial, remembering how her strength impressed him. While in Shelter Cove, however, he gets a call from his chief, advising them to stay in Shelter Cove until a new development in the case can be straightened out. But when Kate’s safety is threatened, Tony must race against the clock to keep her alive and put this ugly case to rest before anyone else gets killed.

My Thoughts:

This is the second book in the Defenders of Justice series. I didn’t read the first book in the series. This book can be read as a standalone book. However I’m sure I missed a lot of details that make the core of this second book.

Nancy Mehl has created a suspensful mystery. Its a fast paced book with a lot of suspense, danger, and thought provoking issues.  It was a hard book to put down and kept me up late. I loved all the twist and turns and not knowing what to expect-masterfully done!

Not many authors can weave together a Christian suspense novel that still shows Christian morals and faith and make it work.

I loved the characters Kate and Tony. Kate was a strong and determined character with strong faith in God. So many great complex characters in this story line.

I’m not going to give away any spoilers!

 I received a free copy of this product from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this information accordance with the FTC Regulations.

 

His Guilt by Shelley Shepard Gray Book Review

A suspenseful tale of an Amish man who will risk all to protect the woman he loves.

Mark Fisher has returned home to Hart County, determined to put the past behind him. Two years ago, after being wrongly accused of assault, he left the Amish community, though never forgot his home. When the one person who had helped him through his rough times asks for help, Mark returns. But it is pretty Waneta Cain who makes him want to stay...

Neeta is one of the few people in Hart County who doesn't believe Mark is guilty of hurting anyone. However, his worldliness and tough exterior do make her uneasy. As she begins to see the real man behind all the gossip and prejudice, she wonders if he is the man for her.

Just when Mark starts to believe a new life is possible, a close friend of Neeta's is attacked. Once again, everyone in the community seems to believe he is guilty. But what hurts most is Neeta's sudden wariness around him. When another woman is hurt, a woman who is close to both Neeta and himself, Mark fears he knows the real culprit. And time is running out. Will Mark be able to find him before Neeta becomes his next victim?

 

About the Author: Shelley Shepard Gray is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, a finalist for the American Christian Fiction Writers prestigious Carol Award, and a two-time HOLT Medallion winner. She lives in southern Ohio, where she writes full-time, bakes too much, and can often be found walking her dachshunds on her town’s bike trail.

My Thoughts:

I was delighted to return to Hart County. This is the second book in The Amish of Hart County Series. This is a book that can be read as a stand-alone.

Shelley Shepard Gray pulled off another suspenseful novel with a lot of page turning going on quickly. This is an Amish mystery at its best. At the same time the story is clean and promotes Christian worldview.

The main characters Mark and Waneta are well developed characters with a lot of depth to them. All the characters in the book intertwine nicely together.

Waneta is a compassionate and well established in her faith despite her fear at first with Mark. She prays and sees the iniquities done by her community.

I think Mark is my favorite character. He just tugs at your heart. He comes back to Hart County knowing it will be hard but, trusting that God will work it all out in the end.

I don’t think I’ve ever read an Amish genre with the community being so nasty and quite frankly it was a nice change. It made the story seem more realistic. Unfortunately, people like to gossip and put their two cents in. Of course you have a few in the community who are well meaning and don’t fall into the above category.

 Shelley Shepard Gray does a great job on a tough topic of child abuse, and drug abuse.

I’m not going to give away the story so you can go out and read it for yourself!

I received a free copy of this product from Litfuse Publicity Group in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this information accordance with the FTC Regulations.