My child appears to have no feet! (Baby Art Magix Box)

Member Name: k81979

Product:	Baby Art Magix Box
Date:	06/07/09 (78 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to read instructions

Disadvantages: Imprints are not clear at all.

Like most new parents, when our son was born, my husband and I wanted to document the start of his little life in as many ways as possible. We have about 1000 photographs of him in exactly the same position, videos of him burping and sneezing, and our Facebook statuses continue to bore all our friends with up-to-the-minute updates of his progress. So when we saw these for sale, we thought it would be a lovely way of remembering how tiny he was when first born, and more ammunition for speeches on his wedding day. These types of commemorative items are becoming more and more popular amongst new parents.

(We actually bought three tins, from Babies R Us in store, though strangely I cannot find them on the website so it may just be an instore item. We paid £9-£10 for each, and bought one for us, one for my Mum and one for a friend who has just had a baby).

The Magic Box is a 16cm diameter tin which you fill with clay. Into the clay you put an imprint of your baby's feet or hands, or you could do one of each I guess. There is also enough room to write a couple of words or a date.

I found the instructions easy to follow, although I have read reports of people finding them difficult, perhaps they have been updated. You unwrap the very sticky clay and knead it for 30 seconds. At first this is messy, but by the time you are finished, the clay is nice and smooth, and not sticky any more. You then press the clay into the tin and make the imprint of your baby's feet or hands, and write any words. You have to leave the tin open for 5 days in order for it to dry. After that, it can be displayed using the stand provided in the kit.

Sounds simple ... but I had a few issues with the item. The picture on the front of the box shows a well defined set of footprints, however I had 10 attempts at getting the picture right and none of them came out very well. The results were shallow, and parts of the foot were not defined at all. It was nothing like the picture on the box.

The problem seemed to be that the clay was too 'springy' and too thick. Every time I tried to make an imprint, the result was disappointing - parts of the feet hardly made an impression at all, toes appeared to be missing. I had to press fairly hard on my sons feet, and was worried about hurting them. I attempted to stand my son up, but being only 3 months old and 11.5lb this was not very productive and produced a worse picture than before. I gave up and kept the 10th and last attempt as the final picture, but even then I had to use my fingers to make the picture look better. This only helped a little.

After each attempt, I had to smooth the clay down in order to try again, however this only made the clay drier and harder to use. It also left fingerprints and lumps in the background which made the imprints even less easy to see.

The kit is recommended for children from 0-3 years, and I would imagine that they either used a heavy toddler with tiny feet for the picture on the box, or they did as I did and doctored the result after making the initial imprint. I can't imagine any young baby, regardless of weight, being able to make an impression, since they do not have the foot control required to make a good print.

I was particularly disappointed as one tin was a birthday present for my Mum, and doting Granny to my son. Now, my Mum's opinion is that the picture is OK and she loves it, but quite frankly, I could frame one of his nappys and I wouldn't be surprised if she loved it, so I think she may be biased. Maybe I'm being too critical. My husband tended to agree with me that the picture was not clear.

I would not recommend this product, and instead would rather go to one of the many craft shops around where you can pay a little more to get it done professionally. If you do get one though, or have one given to you as a present, my advice would be to try and work quickly in order to stop the clay drying out, and to use a ruler or something similar to create a really flat background. This will hopefully make the imprints more defined.

Or if all else fails, get your baby to carry a couple of bags of heavy shopping and convince them to learn to stand up steadily from birth. Easy - why didn't I think of that?!

Summary: Pay a little more and get it done professionally, this was disappointing.