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Doodle Crate
Cost: $19.95/month.
Ships To: United States and Canada.
Coupon Code: Use code “SHARE10” to save $10 off your first month.

Doodle Crate is one of the new(er) lines in the Kiwi Crate family. Designed for girls ages 9-16, Doodle Crate includes all the materials and inspiration for DIY projects such as patterned pouches, friendship bracelets, or colorful candles. Crates encourage girls to tackle new challenges and gain creative confidence!

Doodle Crate ships via FedEx Smart Post and took just about a week to arrive to me.

I knew the theme of this box before I opened it up, but I didn’t really understand what that actually was until I opened it up.

The July 2015 Doodle Crate theme was “SUMI-E Ink Wash Painting”.  I have never done anything like this, so I was excited to give it a try.

The information booklet includes detailed instructions on how to complete the project. They also post videos to YouTube with additional instructions.

Unlike Koala Crate and Kiwi Crate, Doodle Crate includes just one main project.  I worked on this month’s Doodle Crate at the same the boys worked on Koala Crate. It worked out well for everyone.

I got all my supplies set up, read the instructions and thought I knew what I was doing.  There was a few sheets of paper where you could test your work and then it was straight to painting with the ink.  Luckily the instructions included step by step details on how to form the panda.

My first attempt was a little rough.  Okay, a lot rough.  But the actual painting was very relaxing and fun. The most difficult part was trying to figure out how much the ink paint would spread on the paper.  Getting the right balance between ink and water was key.

The second part of the kit was a Chop Stamp.  According to the information card they are special stamps that sumi-e artists use to sign their work. I loved making this and was surprised by how easy it was!

The last part of the project was to mount your artwork onto the thicker piece of red paper that was included and add the wooden dowels.  They included glue dots to attach it, but I had a heck of a time trying to get it to work.  I ended up just using scotch tape.  Much easier!

My project didn’t turn out perfect (it never does), but that’s part of the fun!  I had a great time working on it and am excited to see what the August theme is!

What do you think about Doodle Crate?  If you are interested in subscribing you can sign up here and use the coupon code “SHARE10” to save $10 off your first box!  The coupon code applies to Doodle Crate, Koala Crate, Kiwi Crate and / Tinker Crate, so there is something for almost every age!