Kids’ candy clay craft kit

Wilton’s candy clay kits make an enjoyable addition to a child’s Easter basket.

Each kit comes with edible candy modeling clay, instructions for making the critters shown, a cutting and sculpting tool, and a related cardboard accessory (such as a bug house and barn, depending on the kit), for $5.99.

The instructions are simple to follow, so even young children can enjoy the craft with a little bit of adult supervision.

We’re not talking gourmet candy here – flavors range from bubble gum to chocolate fudge to fruit flavors – but most kids will probably find it tasty.

There is one caveat, however: The clay in the kits may be too hard to work with in some cases.

We bought two kits and there were only a few usable sticks of clay in each one, out of 8 to 10 packets in each kit. Our green and yellow caterpillar should actually have been much more colorful, but the green and yellow clays were the only ones pliable enough to model.

Although we tried every trick we’ve ever learned for softening clay (including kneading for long periods of time, adding a few drops of water, and so on), nothing made the hard packets workable.

It wouldn’t hurt to open the box and check out the clay before presenting the kit to a child.

The clay is also sold separately ($3.99 for a package of 10) from the kits, and we found that the clay in the separate packages was much better.

You might consider picking up a couple packages of clay separately to make sure that you have a backup, just in case.

Both the kits and the clay are available at Craft Mart in Marysville, and there’s also a line of gummy-candy mixes and candy-making utensils.

Jonetta Rose Coffin

Make Easter gift baskets for grown-ups

Show a special friend that children aren’t the only ones on the Easter Bunny’s list by giving a festive cook’s, gardener’s or bathing beauty’s basket.

If your friend spends a lot of time in the kitchen, gather a bunch of cooking utensils and display them in a vase that can be used to hold a houseplant when Easter is past.

For our sample, we selected a heavy faux cement vase, lined it with a bit of cellophane Easter grass, and filled it with cooking spoons, spatulas, measuring spoons, skewers, a meat tenderizer, wooden spaghetti fork and slotted wooden spoon, arranged like flowers in a bouquet.

We also sprinkled a few small Easter cookie cutters into the mix, and wrapped the whole thing with decorative cellophane, a bit of ribbon and a wire-ribbon bow.

To make our gardener’s basket, we found a medium-sized woven basket, added a layer of Easter grass, and placed an array of gardening tools and supplies in the arrangement.

We found a couple pair of gloves – one cotton and one waterproof – as well as some flower seeds, a small plastic misting bottle, a trowel and garden fork with decorative handles, and a packaged spring flower kit.

When all the items were included to suit us, we wrapped the basket with solid yellow cellophane and tied it up with ribbon, topped off with a wired-ribbon bow.

Our bath spa basket, full of such relaxing items as bubble bath, a massager, a pumice stone for foot care, a couple of candles, terry cloth and nylon mesh bath mitts and a back brush and back washers, will delight anyone who enjoys a calming soak in the tub.

We chose a larger wicker basket, lined it with Easter grass, placed the items in the basket and wrapped it up with decorated cellophane, ribbon and several bows.

The bath and cooking baskets were both completed for right around $20, as we found many of the items included at the dollar store.

The gardener’s basket was a bit pricier: between $25 and $30. The tool set was $5, the gloves $5 per pair and the packaged spring flower kit $12.

Contact Jonetta Coffin at jrocoffin@aol.com.