However, as it turns out... It is definitely not something my 5 year old could handle. The punch outs were a bit too intricate for his short fuse to take.Which is totally fine. Hey, more fun for me, right? :)
But what really got me was that as cute as these appeared, this calendar is turning out to be a disappointment and I don't think I will ever get it again.. For one reason and one reason only.
It CLEARLY states on the attached cover holder...
"Includes materials to make 25 projects."
When (so far) it actually doesn't. You need to provide your own materials to complete each project and make it work.
So far...
Day 1: a pop-out star for a card... they provide the paper punch out of the star and you provide the card. The star doesn't work on it's own without a card supporting it.
Day 2: (this one wasn't too bad) a candy cane mouse... they provided the paper punch out of the mouse and you provided thread for whiskers and the candy cane (of course).
Day 3: a light catcher... they provided the cut out and they EXPECT you to have coloured cellophane candy wrappers lying around to paste into it. for the stained glass effect. Wha? Even if I did eat candy with cellophane wrappers, before opening this up, I would never have known to keep them for this project.
Day 4: a paper guardian angel... they provide her head, wings and arms and you have to provide pink card stock for the body (not a problem) but also a paper doily... A PAPER DOILY. I haven't seen one of those since I lived with parents.
Day 5: (This pretty much solidified my decision not to get this again) an origami Santa. They didn't provide the origami paper. So YOU have to provide the origami paper. Specifically, origami paper that is red on one side and white on the other side. So "technically" I cannot make this project because they DID NOT include the material to make it.
So the cover lied. So far it BARELY includes materials to make 24 projects now. I'm tempted to give up on it because so far it has only frustrated me.
The only defence I have for this book is that it was all open. Not sealed. The projects were all there, labelled and you could have (if you wanted to) looked ahead to every project to make sure you had ALL materials you needed to make everything. But for me, that totally defeated the purpose of this calendar. I wanted the wonder, excitement and surprise of having a small precious gift for the day.
When I opened that first window and saw that pretty picture of what I was going to make that day I was so excited. Then realized that I didn't have everything I needed to complete the beautiful project. And I had to scrounge around to see if I could find what I needed to make it work...
So it was no longer a gift... It felt more like a chore.
*sigh* Live and learn...
