KLUTZ Window Art and Capsters -- review and giveaway

I come from a big Filipino family -- not only are 3 and 4-child families common, we also count first and second cousins as "close relatives". We even address close family friends as Aunt and Uncle (Tita or Tito in Filipino). It's all wonderful, but during the holidays it means we have quite a few presents to wrap!

Since we don't live in the Philippines I don't feel the slightest bit of pressure to buy presents for each and every person I'm related to (that would bankrupt us), but I do like sending presents for some nieces and nephews. One of my go-to presents has always been activity and craft books from Klutz, because I haven't met a child alive who doesn't go crazy at the sight of one of Klutz's fun books. We love giving and receiving Klutz books, and we know it's one present that will always be appreciated.

Klutz recently invited me to review 2 of their ultra-popular books: Window Art Classic and Capsters. When we received the books, it was like Christmas in November for my kids! They dropped whatever it was they were doing and went right to work creating beautiful works of art.

The Basics
Here's a brief description of the Klutz books we received:

Capsters is the ultimate introduction to this new form of pop art. To make a capster, take a bottle cap (included) and add a round piece of art (included), specially sized to fit neatly inside the cap. You might want to add a small charm (included) or perhaps some craft gems and glitter (included and included). Squirt some special goo (included) over your creation. Overnight the goo will dry into a super-shiny, clear, hard coating and — voila — you've got yourself a capster.


Window Art Classic features tried-and-true, ready-to-trace designs along with purple, turquoise, emerald green, yellow, and red window paint. Of course, you can stick your window art on a window, but you can also decorate a shower door, a mirror, or any other glass surface. If you change your mind about where you want your art, just peel it up and stick it down elsewhere. Every room in the house can have a terrific view!


The Bongga
Can I make a confession? I feel somewhat guilty about receiving the Klutz Window Art Classic book -- because we already own our own copy of it, and a copy of Window Art, the follow-up book! Of course, my kids felt no guilt at all about opening up this new copy, since the paints that came with the first two books we bought have long since been used up. My kids absolutely LOVE these books because Klutz makes it so easy for them to come up with beautiful window designs . The book provides plenty of fun designs to trace -- just lay a plastic sheet over the page and trace it over with the Window Art paint. The colors turn out sparkly and vibrant, and they look great on our window! Here are some of the designs my kids came up with:

We stuck them on a window that faces east, so when the sun comes up they throw all kinds of beautiful colors onto the hardwood floor. I love the fact that I can peel them off, without leaving a mark, whenever I want to -- but they look so nice and cheerful, why would I want to?



The Klutz Capsters book, on the other hand, was brand new to my kids; they had never seen it before. Of course, they've fallen in love with it as well, and now they ask Alfie to save the bottlecap whenever he drinks beer! Klutz provides lots of cute designs that kids can punch out and lay inside the bottlecap, and several charms they can lay on top of the designs, and a sticky glaze you squirt on top of everything to seal it and give it a nice sheen (note: when they say "let it dry for 24 hours", they mean it -- do NOT be tempted to touch your work before then, or you'll end up with a fingerprint on the glaze!). It's a lot of fun to do, with surprisingly minimal mess, and it can keep the kids busy for ages. They're not quite sure what to do with the finished product yet, but for now they're having lots of fun with the creative process -- and it's really all about the journey, not the destination, right?


The Blah
I've done reviews of a couple of other Klutz books before, and I always complained about not being able to store the materials easily along with the book. I'm happy to say that these two books don't have that problem -- since there no overly small parts like sequins or ribbon bits, it's easy to keep everything contained within the plastic case attached to the book. The only thing I would add to the Window Art Classic book would be a plastic sheet attached to the very back of the book, that kids can lay over any of the pages; and since it's attached, it won't ever get lost. As for the Capsters book, I'd prefer the punch out designs not to be double-sided, since the kids can only use one side. Once they glue that circle to the bottlecap, the design on the other side is lost forever!


The Bottom Line
You can't go wrong with Klutz books for kids. They make great holiday presents, birthday presents, road trip companions, winter holiday time-fillers and playdate activities! Whether it's Capsters, Window Art Classic or any of Klutz's products, you're sure to find one your child will love.



And now, as a reward for enduring my extremely lengthy ode to Klutz, I'm running an extremely awesome Klutz discount code and giveaway!


Save 25% at Klutz
Use coupon code KZ25 and get 25% off your purchase of $50 or more at Klutz.com. Offers cannot be combined, and code expires Dec. 17, 2010.

Win It!
One lucky Bonggamom Finds Reader will be chosen to receive a HUGE KLUTZ prize pack featuring:

* Window Art Classic
* Capsters
* Headbands & Hairstyles
* Paper Airplanes

(ARV: $75.99)

Required Entry
Leave a comment on this post and tell me which Klutz books your child would love to receive as a holiday present.This entry must be completed before extra entries qualify.


Extra Entries
For extra entries, you can do any or all of the following. Please leave a separate comment for each extra entry with a way to verify the entry (i.e. tweet link, blog post link, Facebook id, Twitter id, etc.).

1) Sign up to be a Klutz Insider and leave a comment here telling me the email address you used to sign up.

1) Grab my blog button and post it up on your blog (1 entry).

2) Subscribe to Bonggamom Finds updates (1 entry).

3) Follow Bonggamom Finds on Networked Blogs (1 entry).

4) Follow Bonggamom Finds on Blogger(1 entry).

5) Follow Bonggamom Finds on Twitter and tweet this, up to once per day (1 entry per day, leave a comment with the tweet link for each tweet):

Enter to win a HUGE Klutz prize pack (4 books!) on @bonggafinds http://www.bonggafinds.com #giveaways

6) Join any of the giveaways currently running on Bonggamom Finds (1 entry for each giveaway you've joined).

7) Write on the Klutz Books Facebook Page and tell them you've joined the giveaway on Bonggamom Finds, and tell them which of their books your child would love to receive as a holiday present.


The Rules
This giveaway ends at 11:59PM PST on November 30, 2010; I will draw a winner at random on December 1 and post the winner's name after the winner confirms acceptance. US addresses only. For additional giveaway rules, click here. Good luck!

Disclosure: I received an assortment of Klutz books to review, but was not paid to review them or give my opinions. Product information is provided by Klutz and is clearly indicated as such. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.