November 2007 New Toys — Arts & Crafts

Personalized Blanket – Rock ‘n' Roll Girl by LIFE SQUARED

The Personalized Blanket is a canvas that provides everyone the ability to create a custom blanket without the custom price tag. One can express artistic creativity with paints or use a more refined approach with iron-on photographs, monogramming or Life Squared custom art. Art (MSRP: $10) is available by theme, focusing on the most current trends such as rock 'n' roll (shown), cowboy/girl, safari and Parisian Bebe. The luxurious blankets come in pink, blue, yellow and white with a rod pocket for display. “[Individuals] can create their own masterpiece that is beautiful enough to be displayed and treasured for years to come, and is special enough to be handed down through the generations,” Co-founder Lori K. Balfour of Life Squared told TDmonthly. Launch date: September 2007. ( Watch Video) 9/17/2007 (Price: $80.00)

Baby Art Kit by ZOOM DISTRIBUTION

With the Baby Art Kit, one can create an enduring keepsake sculpture of baby’s hand or foot. The Baby Art Kit is very simple to use and takes little time to create a perfect replica of a child’s hand or foot. The product is a wonderful gift for new parents and is 100-percent safe for baby’s skin. “Unlike most other mold kits, the Baby Art Kit allows one to create an affordable 3-D mold of a child’s hand or foot from the comfort of one’s own home,” Brad Breckenridge of Zoom Distribution told TDmonthly. Launch date: November 2007. ( Watch Video) 9/17/2007 (Price: $24.99) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Create Your Own Pop-Up Books by FABER-CASTELL

The newest edition to our Create Your Own Books series. Set includes two high-quality hardcover pop-up books 8.5" x 8.5" and 6.25" x 6.25", stickers, eight markers, and pop-up designs. Just add drawings, photographs and your own imagination. Illustrated instructions include story-starter ideas and step-by-step pop-up ideas. 9/17/2007 (Price: $16.00) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Designed By You Fashion Studio by FABER-CASTELL

Dream up your own designer originals and get ready for the runway. Ultimate set includes a dress mannequin, sewing essentials, sketch book, yards of fabric, swatch booklet, trims, embellishments, stain dress form, garment bag and a fashion design manual. Embellish the dress included in your kit or use the material provided to dream up your own creative couture. 9/17/2007 (Price: $30.00) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Foam Craft Workshop by FABER-CASTELL

A tool so cool, you have to try it to believe it! Awesome technology combines the fun of wood working with the safety and ease of foam crafting. Kid-safe and fun. Just guide the foam patterns through the machine. Wire heats up and magically glides through the foam. Includes paint and glue to create a variety of fun foam craft projects. Operates on 2 D batteries (not included). 9/17/2007 (Price: $30.00) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Do Art My First Portrait by FABER-CASTELL

Create a self-portrait, a picture of your pet, or a caricature of your favorite friend or family member. Includes 8 Faber-Castell Gel Sticks, 6" x 8" artist canvas, practice paper, blending stick, paint brush, outline marker and hang tabs. Add a little water and a few brush strokes and turn your portrait into a painting. 9/17/2007 (Price: $18.00) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Deluxe Show Horse by FABER-CASTELL

Calling all horse lovers. Create your very own show horse complete with saddle, mane, tail, blanket, moveable head, realistic paint pallet, flower garland and an award ribbon. Fun to pain, fun to pretend. Horse measures 8.5" high x 9" long and features a diorama style box. Great for play and display. 9/17/2007 (Price: $18.00) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Haunted Pirate Ship by FABER-CASTELL

Aaaarrrrggggh, let the haunting begin! Adrift at sea, this easy to assemble glow-in-the-dark wooden pirate ship includes a pirate skeleton, tattered sails, cobwebs, treasure filled chest, keg, acrylic and glowing accent paint. 9/17/2007 (Price: $25.00) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Glow-in-the-Dark PlayFoam by FABER-CASTELL

The Glow-in-the-Dark PlayFoam activity set includes five bricks of GlowFoam, glowing antennas, eyes and other glow-in-the-dark craft accessories that allow kids to make the coolest creatures ever.
— “Creativity for Kids’ glow-in-the-dark set is most popular,” Dennis, owner of The Toy Store in Atlanta, Ga., told TDmonthly.
— Laura Pearson, manager of The Durango Kid in Durango, Colo., told TDmonthly that when it comes to Creativity for Kids (CFK), “We sell approximately 100 a month.”
— When speaking with TDmonthly, 15 out of 60 retailers named CFK as their leading arts-and-crafts manufacturer. 9/17/2007 (Price: $20.00) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Crazy Bracelets by SENTOSPHERE USA

What fun to paint bracelets and match them with all your favorite dresses! This kit offers three wonderful Plexiglas bracelets with different fashionable designs. They are embossed to help the young creator paint with the desired colors. The paint becomes transparent when dry and gives a beautiful stained-glass effect. 9/10/2007 (Price: $17.00) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Follow Your Nose by SENTOSPHERE USA

Its remarkable aromas provide both adults and children six years or older with an extraordinary opportunity to explore and discover the world via an amazing new dimension. Here is a simple game which fascinates children and adults in the discovery of our least used, yet most acute, sense; the sense of smell. It includes 30 distinct aroma diffusers enclosed in child resistant scent flasks which need to be matched with the corresponding image found on five brightly illustrated game boards. The fragrance 9/10/2007 (Price: $39.98) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Artistics Junior by SENTOSPHERE USA

Similar to Artistics, the Junior version allows for a younger audience to participate in experience the magic of painting. These easy to use sets feature a distinct and unique method that makes painting-by-numbers obsolete. The painter has complete control. Unique embossed picture cards absorb paint in some areas and repel it in others - creating intricate, detailed works of art that even the youngest children can achieve. 9/10/2007 (Price: $15.60) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Artistics by SENTOSPHERE USA

These easy to use sets feature a distinct and unique method that makes painting-by-numbers obsolete. The painter has complete control. Unique embossed picture cards absorb paint in some areas and repel it in others - creating intricate, detailed works of art that even the youngest children can achieve. 9/10/2007 (Price: $19.80) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Blue Dottie Ann by MAGIC MESH

Kids and adults can peel off the backing of this mesh for instant polka dots. The backing can be used as a stencil, to draw a permanent image on cards or scrapbook pages. 8/30/2007 (Price: $3.99) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Medium Weave – Terrific Terra-Cotta by MAGIC MESH

This decorative, self-adhesive mesh is repositionable and comes in various shades. It has a larger grid with more dimension than the fine weave. This product is extremely open-ended, noted Creator Karan Smith of Magic Mesh, and it allows “kids [to] really show their creative capacities with no mess.” 8/30/2007 (Price: $3.99) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Curious George TV Drawing Pad by HANZAWA

This drawing pad plugs into the TV and features bright, colorful backgrounds and a pop-up drawing tool menu. It is designed for small hands and includes an easy-grip stylus pen and color palette with 180 colors. 8/29/2007 (Price: $11.50)

Mini Marker Set by LOEW-CORNELL INC.

This 22-piece set includes a 100-sheet, 4” x 6” sketch book and 20 mini markers in a brightly colored canvas wrap case. It has “a ‘real artist feel’ in terms of presentation and supplies,” Shirley Miller, director of education and public relations for Loew-Cornell, told TDmonthly. Launch date: April 2007. 8/29/2007 (Price: $9.99)

All About™ Markers by LOEW-CORNELL INC.

This kit includes a 100-sheet, 4” x 6” sketch book and four brush markers in yellow, red, green and blue. “[The] compact carrying cases have a ‘grown-up look’ with kid appeal,” Shirley Miller, director of education and public relations for Loew-Cornell, told TDmonthly. Launch date: May 2007. 8/29/2007 (Price: $6.99)

80-Piece Art Kit by LOEW-CORNELL INC.

This colorful 80-piece set includes 20 crayons, 16 markers, 12 watercolor cakes, 14 mini color pencils, 12 oil pastels, one glue, one drawing pencil, one pencil sharpener, one palette and one paintbrush. “[This set] includes oil pastels, which are often not found in smaller (100-piece or less) children’s art kits. Oil pastels produce rich vivid color and can be used to create more complicated pieces,” Shirley Miller, director of education and public relations for Loew-Cornell, told TDmonthly. Launch date: April 2007. 8/29/2007 (Price: $6.99)

Pet Pals You Can Draw: The Amazing Step-by-Step Art Card Studio by STERLING PUBLISHING CO.

Illustrated cards included in this set guide children through each step in creating a complete picture; each new stroke is displayed in a contrasting color. Kids can then flip the card to try drawing the picture from a different perspective or pose. Subjects include fish, dogs, rabbits, snakes and more. Each kit includes 32 double-sided cards, eight colored pencils, a 64-page drawing pad and a pencil sharpener. The box features front magnetic closure. “We have a product that provides great kit components along with a strong, fully realized editorial vision,” Associate Publicist Meaghan E. Finnerty of Sterling Publishing told TDmonthly. Launch date: August 2007. 8/29/2007 (Price: $9.95) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Zoo Buddies You Can Draw: The Amazing Step-by-Step Art Card Studio by STERLING PUBLISHING CO.

Illustrated cards included in this set guide children through each step in creating a complete picture; each new stroke is displayed in a contrasting color. Kids can then flip the card to try drawing the picture from a different perspective or pose. Subjects include bears, chimpanzees, pandas, penguins and more. Each kit includes 32 double-sided cards, eight colored pencils, a 64-page drawing pad and a pencil sharpener. The box features front magnetic closure. “Using an easy, no-erase approach, our art cards eliminate the frustration kids feel when they have to go back and erase guide lines to finish their drawings,” Associate Publicist Meaghan E. Finnerty of Sterling Publishing told TDmonthly. Launch date: August 2007. ( Watch Video) 8/29/2007 (Price: $9.95) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

12 x 12 Fine Weave - Copper by MAGIC MESH

Magic Mesh offers many colors of this self-adhesive, repositionable mesh with release backing. Kids and teens can decorate lockers and hold-up schedules, signs, photos and more. It peels off cleanly. 8/29/2007 (Price: $4.99) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Aroma Dough - Lollipop Lime Green by AROMA DOUGH, INC.

Available in both regular and gluten-free (for children with wheat allergies) formulas, this play dough is made in the USA of 100-percent, child-safe, natural ingredients. The specially formulated aromas can lift spirits, calm overtired kids or help in concentration. The non-crumbling formula stays soft and pliable for hours of play and washes easily from carpet and clothing. Other varieties include Ana Banana Yellow, Awesome Orange, Bubblegum Pink, Cherry Cola Fizz, Rootin' Tootin' Root Beer, Groovy Blue and Lemondrops Yellow. “The natural aromatic oils appeal to one of strongest senses, the sense of smell,” Co-developer Diane Scott of Aroma Dough told TDmonthly. 8/29/2007 (Price: $2.99) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Digital Photo Activity Kit by APTE INC

Give your kids the joy and pleasure of their very own digital camera. With this loveable, squeezable camera, taking a picture is a snap. Get teacher-designed photo-project software just for kids. Digital Photo Activity Kit is packed with photo projects to energize the creative and writing skills of every kid. In minutes your kids will be creating storybooks, newsletters, journals, and stationery. Click on the Game Center to play five challenging games with your photos. Or create fun stuff in the Craft Corner or Movie Maker. Your kids will have endless hours of fun with this loveable camera and Digital Photo Activity Kit software. Software includes both an English and Spanish version. 8/29/2007 (Price: $38.95) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]

Professional Cartoonist Kit by HAMMINATION

With this kit, kids can create awesome animations, make their own Sunday comic strips, use the flip books to create animation anywhere and learn easy formulas to make cartoon characters. It includes the following materials: comic template, drawing underlays, clip, black marker, No. 2 pencil, blue line pencil, balloon template, desktop with storage, Gene's Guide Book, animation strips, blank animation strips, animation zoetrope, paper and two flip books. Launch date: June 2007. 8/27/2007 (Price: $19.99) [Add to my Inquiry Basket][?]