Nov 25th - #NaBloPoMo - Post 25 - Fimo Review - finding my inner crafter

When I was given the opportunity to review some Fimo for Craft Merrily I was intrigued. I had heard of Fimo before but didn't have a clear idea of what it was but I vaguely thought we might be able to make some Christmas presents out of it.

Now I should admit here that I am not a natural 'crafter'. I don't have the skill, imagination or patience to do craft but both my girls are always asking if they can 'do some making'. This phrase often fills me with dread as it inevitably means that I have to get glue or paints out - both of which give me palpitations when in the hands of my children. I am getting a bit better - especially with my eldest as she is a bit more responsible these days but painting still brings me out in a cold sweat and I find myself hovering over them, squeaking loudly every so often to 'don't flick the paint at the floor', 'mind the wall' or 'don't knock the paint over'. I know, I know control freak, but I just find the whole thing incredibly stressful.


Anyway I digress, Fimo modelling clay looked quite fun and the two packs arrived very promptly the next day nicely packaged in a box. We received a Fimo Soft Create Your Own Unicorn kids pack  (priced at £4.75) and a more grown up Fimo Jewellery Girly Flowers Kit.(priced at £8.75).

Fimo, for those that don't know is a polymer clay a bit like plasticine in texture but hardens when it is baked in the oven so that you can keep the results.There seem to be loads of Fimo Kits that you can choose from - for making all sorts of little figures and jewellery as well as packs of clay and tools for the serious crafter. The starter kits all use Fimo Soft but there is also something called Fimo Classic which I think is really for grown ups doing more delicate work.

The next day when I was asked on the way home from school  the inevitable 'what are we doing today Mummy?' I answered triumphantly 'making'. Cue great excitement and not a lot of patience (not a good start!). When we got home I managed to persuade Little Miss Sunshine to watch a bit of telly whilst I concentrated on the Fimo with Little Miss Star as the age guide is 8+ and even Little Miss Star is a bit young but Little Miss Sunshine is much too young at 3.

The clay is quite hard to start with (even the Fimo Soft) so I had to do the softening up as she found that a bit hard but after I had done that she enjoyed playing around making different bits but I have to admit that I was the one that really made the unicorns as Little Miss Sunshine really wasn't capable of doing it. She did help make a few of the pieces like the legs and feet but the control freak in me wanted to try and make the unicorns look at least a bit like the picture. I am sure that in a couple of years time she would be able to manage this by herself. I however quite enjoyed doing it and I am really quite proud of the results!

 

 Once I had made the unicorns I let Little Miss Star loose on the remaining bits of clay and she made the caterpillar and the butterfly with a little bit of help. We also struggled a bit as we had no tools for the clay which is I imagine where it would be useful to buy a starter kit first which has some tools in  However we did thoroughly enjoy our first Fimo experience and it's great to be able to bake the figures to keep them. This bit is dead easy - just shove them in the oven at 110C for 30 minutes and then wait for them to cool down and they are all hardened and fixed together.

We haven't made the jewellery yet but we shall be having a go at it soon with Little Miss Star (Christmas presents for Grandma!). Having had a quick look at this Fimo Set it has all the bits to make a ring, a necklace, earrings and a bracelet and it does also have a modelling tool in it and templates so maybe we will find this easier. I'll definitely let you know and post some more pictures when we have had a go. One huge plus about Fimo for me is that it is virtually mess free - hurray - no need to stress about mess! We just put a mat down on the table to keep it clean and you don't get the stuff everywhere like the dreaded Playdough!

I was very impressed with Fimo - thank you to Merry at Craft Merrily for the opportunity to review it or I might never have discovered it and I will definitely be getting some more. A starter kit might well find itself on to Little Miss Star's next birthday list and I think in a year or so she would have loads of fun with it. (The kits are a great price for birthday gifts too.) Even Little Miss Sunshine had a bash at it but at 3 she is really too young to make anything you would want to keep! If you would like to see what a proper crafter can do with Fimo take a look at Merry's blog here where she shows some rather more professional models than mine! 

So there you are I might yet become a crafter thanks to Fimo

I was offered to review this product by Craft Merrily. I received this product free of charge but I have received no other payment for this review and any opinions or comments are entirely my own.