Magic Dip - A Marbling Craft Kit Perfect for a Christmas Gift

We've been playing with the very cool Magic Dip set from Character.  My craft-mad 8 year old is absolutely loving it.  While it comes complete with some items to dip (a photo frame, a plastic bangle, some charms and some greetings cards and labels) she's actually really enjoying finding other items she can customise and I fear that pretty much everything in the house will soon be marbled!

The paint effect works on pretty much any surface including paper, card, wood, rubber, silicone, fabric etc etc so she's had fun making her own gift tags and dipping notebook covers.

There's also gems and glitter included to further jazz up items.

The set is really neatly designed so you can keep all your items to hand which is ideal because once you start the activity you have to work fairly quickly before the paint disperses on the water. There's a protective rubber glove included which was great because it can get fairly messy - a pair of gloves would have been better.  We protected our surfaces and floor but did find that normal nail polish remover cleaned up the bowls and tools of any residue.

I have tried to marble items before using nail varnishes but it was woefully unsuccessful and I just got in a horrible, sticky mess with it and the paint wouldn't take.  This product does actually work!

The water you suspend the colours on does have to be room temperature and our first attempt was not great.  But after reading the instructions fully, I realised the water probably was too cold - easily done in this frosty snap we've been having.  I left the water a few hours to come up to room temperature and tried again, and happily it worked like a charm.  But take that as a word of warning if you have an impatient child - it would be worth preparing the water to the right temperature a good while before you suggest embarking on the activity!

Overall, we really liked this kit.  We love the unique designs you can make and the fact that you can design on all sorts of surfaces and items.  We may need to use a bigger bowl to try out whole sheets of paper for example and I'm still searching for where to buy replacement paints so we can carry on using it after the supplies have run out but I think most craft shops sell them individually, or there's a starter kit available for £9.99 which has paints in.

Priced at £29.99 it would make a great Christmas gift for a crafty child.  It's recommended for children from around 8 years plus and although I'm sure lots of boys would love creating their own designs, the accessories included are very much aimed at girls.

Disclosure: We were sent this kit for the purposes of the review.  All thought and opinions are my own.