I don’t tend to get too excited about kids toys. They may be great, and the kids might love them, but I normally have an internal sigh about the extra clutter, the more stuff, and the additional tidying up! This Magic Dip kit, however, I was still playing around with well after the kids had ventured off to do other things!
The Magic Dip Design Art Centre comes with a three-part tray – one for holding all the goodies, one for holding the bowl and one that serves as a drying tray.
The set comes with five colours – yellow, pink, red, white and purple – glitter, and a setting spray. In terms of tools you’ll receive a pair of tweezers and a stirrer, and a single glove and two purpose-made bowls of different sizes.
There’s also a plain white bracelet, Alice band, picture frame, six charms and stretchy string, and birthday cards.
Set up couldn’t be simpler – just slot the three parts of the tray into each other – and fill the bowls with room temperature water. Snip the tops off the colours and decide what to dip first. Also, make sure there are windows open and good ventilation, as they paints do smell quite strong.
You drop four drops of each of the colours you’d like to use into the bowl of water, and use the stirrer to make a design. You only have about 10 or so seconds before the colours firm up, so there’s not a lot of time to make designs, but it works well enough. Take the item you’re going to dip and do so.
Tip: you can double dip with Magic Dip. I found it nice to use a few colours, then add extra in specific spaces after by dipping them specifically.
Once dipped, pop the item on the drying tray. You can add glitter if you wish, while the paint is still sticky then there’s a spray that helps the colours set.
The spray is the only part of the set that I think could use some work. The nozzle on ours is odd, so you can hold it in the same place and spray twice and you’ll not hit the same target twice. It seems to go all over and sometimes it’s gloopy and sometimes it sprays. In the end, I sprayed it as best I could and used my hand to ‘glaze’ all around.
It does leave it with a shiny finish.
One thing to note about using the white colour is that it looks see-through on application, but once dried is very white.
Once the kids had finished, I decided to try on glass. I have a few empty Nutella jars that I’ve been using as drinks glasses for the kids, so I thought they would look great decorated. They would also work really well with their lids for home made Christmas candies.
I also have a few Ikea mixing bowls that I sometimes use as salad bowls, but always think look a bit boring, so time for a makeover there too.
I didn’t try this with other materials, but with glass, if you don’t like the way it looks, you can quickly wash it off in warm water and start again.
The children were very happy with the end results of their Magic Dip dipping, and my littlest one has work her Alice band every day since dipping it. She is only four, and while the kit is suitable for 8+, with some supervision and help, she loved it.
I think this is a great set for making personalised gifts, and while it would be a great gift itself, the fun is in the giving of the things you’ve made!
P.S. You can buy refills of the paints for around £10.
