October 2008 Notable Toys — Arts & Crafts

These non-toxic oil pastels come in ocean-themed packaging decorated with bright fish and other sea creatures.

Suede lace has many decorative uses, from American Heritage crafts to key chains, jewelry and more. This decorative leather lace is offered in an assortment of colors, available in spools as well as 6-yd. cards. "Tandy Leather Factory is a trusted brand name in the leather industry. Our products have a reputation for being the best quality products on the market. As well as superior quality, we can offer you our suede lace at a price that will beat any others on the market," Tony Hernandez, national crafts sales manager at Tandy Leather Factory, told TDmonthly. Launch date: February 2009.

Offer some extra color to projects with these waxed braided cords. In addition to stitching the 25 yard spools can be used for braiding friendship bracelets, jewelry, and various other crafts. Available in 17 different colors.

Tandy Leather Factory offers a full range of children’s leather craft kits designed for all ages. The kits can teach kids pride and accomplishment by letting them create their own leather items. Kits include basic leathercrafting such as stamping and painting kits.

Make your own gummies out of seaweed! Everything you need is included in this kit and it's easy! You can make your own gummi bears, gummi worms, gummi fish or any other shape. Make gummies on the stove or with a microwave. Great for class room activities, scout troops, birthday parties, home school, or after school groups. Adult supervision is recommended. Makes a great gift for kids!

This origami kit comes with 16 sheets of metallic gold paper and 16 sheets of red- and gold-toned, multicolor paper. When completed, the star has 20 points and measures approximately 6" in diameter.

This kit comes with 12 tropical paper animals that can be assembled for play by cutting, folding and pasting. It includes an instruction guide and scoring tool.

This hexagon-cut, polyester glitter can be used to add detail to face paint used on Halloween and other occasions. It is available in 8ml containers in the following shades: black, red, green, turquoise, iridescent, iridescent green, iridescent pink, iridescent blue, laser blue hologram, green hologram, lavender hologram, orange hologram, gold hologram and silver hologram.

This kit includes ingredients to make flavored lip balm that has an SPF of 15.

Medium weight cotton apron with "Best Cook ... Hands Down" printed on the apron. Includes paints for handprints, directions, and a gift card.

Quality heavyweight 100-percent cotton t-shirt with "Best Mom .... Hands Down!" printed on the shirt. T-Shirt also includes paints to add handprints on the t-shirt, directions and a gift card.

Quality heavyweight 100% cotton t-shirt with "Best Dad .... Hands Down!" printed on the shirt. T-Shirt also includes paints to add handprints onto the t-shirt, directions, and a gift card.

This set features 30 multi-part hard plastic Imperial Roman Legionaries that are 28mm tall. The unassembled unpainted figurines come with full-color waterslide shield transfers as well as extra helmets, shields, pila and more.

This 20-page book offers ideas for crafts using Puff Beadz, which are poms that have a hole through their middle so that they can be attached via pipe cleaners without glue. Kids can make playmates, trees and tree houses.

Designed to allow girls to weave their own jewelry, this kit comes with a wooden loom, glass beads, a needle, thread and instructions.
- “Bead Bazaar is No. 1,” said Jenny Thomas, owner of Applause! Give Your Kids a Hand, in Bracebridge, Ontario, Canada, when discussing best-selling jewelry items.
- Six percent of retailers told TDmonthly in September 2008 that Bead Bazaar is one of their top-selling lines.

This book allows girls to create their own poseable fairy dolls that feature petal dresses and flowing floss hair. Supplies to make 12 posey pixies are included, and the book is written by Rachel Haab.
- “Girls love Klutz; [it] sells constantly,” Jeanne McCullough, owner of Children’s Store Inc. in Boise, Idaho, told TDmonthly.  
- “Klutz is No. 1 by far,” said Ron Banducci, co-owner of Games Unlimited in Danville, Calif., when telling TDmonthly about best-selling items for tweens in fall 2008.
- “[Tweens] want to make something,” said Diana Gisolfi, co-owner of Sister’s Kids in Springfield, Mass.

Children can easily build this sturdy Pirate Fortress, decorate it, and play with it. This kit transforms from a crafting activity into a real toy, and, best of all, is recyclable. All pieces are made from pre-cut and pre-punched sturdy white cardboard and can be put together without glue and scissors. "It's a great choice for parents who want to promote their children's creativity, and it is a wonderful, unique present for a kid that wants a cool toy," Martina McConnon, owner of distributor Creative Toyshop, told TDmonthly. It received the Spiel gut 2008 award in Germany. Launch date: September 8, 2008.

This Calafant cardboard kit transforms into a sturdy castle that is fun to build and decorate. It comes with 12 washable, non-toxic markers and is easy to color. When the child has completed the castle, it is a great toy and ideal for play with 3" dolls. Best of all, it's recyclable. "It is made from very high-quality cardboard — unless you sit on it, it won't bend!" Martina McConnon, owner of distributor Creative Toyshop, told TDmonthly. The product received a TOY Innovation award in the creativity category in 2006 (in Germany). Launch date: April 1, 2008.

The Calafant Palace is easy to build and decorate with any craft materials, acrylic paint, watercolor, rhinestones, scrap paper, glitter and aluminum foil — anything that comes to the creative mind. The sturdy structure is the ideal size for play with 3" dolls. All pieces are made from pre-cut and pre-punched, high-quality white cardboard and can be put together without glue and scissors. "It is exactly what parents look for when they want to promote their child's creativity while making an eco-friendly purchase," Owner Martina McConnon of distributor Creative Toyshop told TDmonthly. The product/line received the following awards in Germany: TOY Innovation 2006 and "spiel gut" 2008. Launch date: April 1, 2008.

This kit allows kids of all ages to design their own works of art that can then be displayed in a fun-to-see light. Children can simply design and/or color their picture with any markers and then place it into the night light. Each kit comes with four blank coloring sheets plus a promotional, preprinted butterfly design coloring sheet. Replacement insert pages for the GLOWTASTIC! U-Draw Light Kit are also available.

This 6” mini doll kit comes with all the supplies — paint, brushes, doll kit, tutorials and more — a person needs to reborn their first doll. Reborning can require days of work, but the starter kit makes it possible to reborn a doll in less than three hours. The kit includes a CD with a full tutorial plus a PC video that gives instruction on painting the dolls. Launch date: 2008.

Decorate a shadow box picture frame to display treasured photos and small mementos of your favorite furry friend. Kit comes with a white wooden frame with glass window, magnetic closure, and easel back. Frame measures 5.5"x 7.5" x 1.75" deep. Personalizing materials also included: paint, brush, alphabet stickers, push pins, glue and wood heart and star shapes.

Create a treasured memory album to celebrate the horses that you love. Keep photos and memories together in one special place. The scrapbook is an 8" x 8" fabric covered durable book with vinyl sleeves. All of the materials needed to get started are included: a variety of colorful papers, horse stickers, glue stick, double sided tape, deckled edge scissors, a set of markers and pages for you to fill in the blanks and tell fun facts about the horses you love. All of the materials are acid free to ensure that the scrapbook lasts for years to come.

With this kit, kids can color a dragon and butterflies on purse that measures 10” W x 7.5” H x 3.5” D. It comes with six permanent markers in a pouch.
—  The “Color a Purse and Backpack by Alex,” are popular girls’ gifts at Pun’s Toy Shop in Bryn Mawr, Pa., Owner Joe Berardoni told TDmonthly in July 2008.
— Four retailers of our 68 mentioned Alex craft kits as a best-selling product.