It was with much excitement that I headed into Boston one evening last week. I had been invited, along with other Boston bloggers, to try out DohVinci, a new Play-Doh product from Hasbro. An evening out is always welcome, and one where I get to be a little bit creative, all the more so!
On arrival we were handed a goodie bag containing Deco Pop tubes, a Styler and a set of design moulds. On the table were picture frames, chalkboards and keepsake boxes for us to decorate.
So, what’s a Deco Pop, how do you use the Styler and what on earth do you do with a little heart shaped mould?!
A Deco Pop is a tube filled with coloured Play-Doh. It’s not quite like the Play-Doh you will be familiar with, it is much smoother and more flexible. But, it smells just like proper Play-Doh! This compound will stick to a number of surfaces including wood, painted metal, cardboard, glass, paper and duct tape. It air dries over night.
The Styler is used to ‘draw’ with the Ply-Doh. You insert a Deco Pop into the Styler and then aim, squeeze and draw.
The moulds screw on the end of the Deco Pop allowing you to create little hearts/flowers etc. as part of your design.
The organisers of the event had kindly given us some cards to practice on first, allowing us to get a feel for how hard to squeeze, how hard to press down with the Styler and how fast to move it to get the best results. It took us adults a few minutes of trial and error before we were off, creating our own masterpieces!
So, how easy is it? Well, once I had got the hang of it, and there is a knack to getting it to ‘stick’ and to getting a continuous line, it was very easy. The moulds work brilliantly and the Styler is very easy to handle.
Does it harden? Yes, it does. It will feel dry and slightly spongy when it’s ready to display. However, if you knock it or scratch it, you will damage the design.
Is it fun?! Yes, I enjoyed creating with it, a lot! But, I wanted to know how it would appeal to its intended audience…
When I had mentioned to the 8yo and the 5yo that I was going to be trying out DohVinci, they were very excited. They had, of course, seen adverts, and they were desperate to try it out. The product is aimed at the 6+ age range, although the adverts I have seen are marketing to the tween (girl) audience.
My sons were very keen to try it out, they both love arts and crafts and we spend many a fun afternoon creating. In fact, my 5yo couldn’t wait, so while his big brother was at a birthday party on Saturday, he got some practice in (on a chalkboard that I had started at the event)!
It took him a little while to get the hang of it, but he was soon happily drawing and making hearts and stars.
At the event I had been given a couple of kits to try at home. So, after much pestering from the boys the following day, I opened the Door Decor design kit.
This kit was easy to put together, with clear instructions, although a little fiddly, so I put it together for the boys.
The boys got stuck straight in, and worked really well together to complete their design.
The 8yo then asked if he could try decorating something else, so I found him a glass and left him to it :)
The boys were both very proud of the finished results. Which, I think for first attempts, are really good. And, demonstrate that the product is easy to use, even when trying it for the first time. It certainly got the thumbs up from my two testers!
Each DohVinci design kit, and there are several to choose from, comes complete with the Deco Pops required and a Styler. Some of the smaller kits do not contain a Styler, but these can be purchased separately, along with additional Deco Pops. All the kits that I have seen are under $20, with the smaller kits (minus Styler) coming in at $5 and refill packs of Deco Pops at $4 (prices are comparable in the UK).
For a mum who buys a lot of craft products, these are very reasonable for the amount of enjoyment gained, and the length of time it has so far entertained my boys!
DohVinci is available online and from larger retailers (both in the US and UK).
A huge thank you must go to the organisers of the event, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and for the several hours of entertainment that DohVinci has already provided in my house :)
*Disclaimer: I was given product for use at the event, and two design kits to take home, free of charge, for the purposes of this review, however all thoughts, opinions and words are my own*
That looks like a lot of fun! Very different from the traditional pots of Play-Doh though :-)
It is very different, and it is definitely fun :) I really enjoyed it too!
It looks like a really fun kit and I love the name of it. Z is playdoh mad right now.
It is great fun, I may have played with it myself when the boys weren’t looking :)
That looks like a fab rainy day activity x
It’s great fun, we’ve already had it all out again for another go :)
Ahhh right! That explains DohVinci more…..My youngest has been asking for Vanity set for Christmas….hehehe It looks like a lot of fun x
The sets are good fun, I think she’ll love it!
Love love love this – like a more grown up, and more versatile, version of Play-doh. My daughter would love getting creative with that. Thanks for linking up with #TriedTested
That’s exactly what it is, and it really is good fun.
This looks like extreme playdohing! I have never seen this before, no tv = no adverts ;)! My kids would have a blast though, they are always busy creating when we get the chance. #TriedTested
It’s quite different to traditional play-doh, but really versatile, great for getting artistic x
Ah my lg would love this. Loving finding all these crafty reviews through #triedandtested This looks fab. Father Christmas has got a lot of idea’s up his sleeve now!
I suspect I’ll be putting Deco Pops on the list for the boys stockings :)
What a really interesting looking product – I’ve never seen anything like this before.
Thanks for linking up with #TriedTested this week x
It is great, very different to traditional play-doh, but really versatile.
I had a totally different experience with Doh Vinci. I bought a kit with Christmas tags and thought that this would be fun for the grand kids and I for Christmas crafts together. I ended up buying a lot more than I thought I should but I needed 2 guns and more colors etc.
The doh hardly stuck to the cardboard. Everyone’s project ended up looking like a 2 year did it. I think the kids had fun but even they said their cards looked ugly. We all had a good laugh anyways.
I would never in a million years endorse this product and I would never recommend this DohVinci to any of my friends.
I’m so sorry you had a bad experience. As I said in my review, it is tricky to get the hang of (even I had to practice before I could get an even/consistent line for the designs), but having let my sons try it out on other surfaces before beginning the ‘kit’, they got on better when they had a go at the door hanger. Perhaps that should be a recommendation on the kits. You can see from the images that I shared that our end results are far from perfect (!), but the boys enjoyed it, and have gone on to play with this again. I had to go and buy more pops! As someone who does a lot of crafts with the kids, I never expect the end result to look like the box, but as long as they have fun I’m happy. It sounds like you had a good laugh doing it, even if you weren’t happy with the result, and I’m glad to read that. Again, I’m sorry that you were disappointed with the product.
Once it dries, will it come off the project? It looks really cool. I’m interested in it for my 6yo girl. But I don’t want to get it if it dries and falls off the project.
We found that it stuck pretty well, as long as it wasn’t knocked/poked badly. The glass that my son did still has all his design on it! The cardboard itself isn’t super strong, so I wouldn’t necessarily see this as a long term addition to my house, but once dried the doh is pretty tough (again, as long as it isn’t bashed directly) and we still have a couple of the projects we did. It is quite tricky to get the hang of, and you need reasonable finger strength to squeeze the guns. Your six year old would certainly need some help.