Darby Smart Stained Glass Votives Box Review + Coupon- October 2016

Darby Smart is a monthly subscription box by craft site that’s just for tween girls. Every month, they send along supplies for a fun new craft.

My Subscription Addiction paid for this box. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).

The Subscription Box: Darby Smart

The Cost: $19 per box, or choose from two other subscription levels (6 months for $57.00, or one year for $95.00)

COUPON: Get your first box for free! (just pay $4.95 for shipping). No coupon needed - just use this link.

The Products: Each box has supplies for a cute craft, plus inspiring photos of the finished product and a link to the instructions.

Ships to: US only, but shipping is free!

Check out all of our Darby Smart reviews and the Craft Subscription Box Directory!

Keep Track of Your Subscriptions: Add this box to your subscription list or wishlist!

This month, we’re making stained glass votive candle holders! Here’s the info from Darby Smart on where to find the instructions. Just follow the link and input the code.

Set of 3 0.5 fl oz. Alcohol Inks from Tim Holtz Adirondack Brights – Value $5.99

0.5 fl oz. Alcohol Blending Solution from Tim Holtz – Value $2.49

These inks are very thin and come out drop by drop. You can mix them if you’d like, but the colors (Clover, Raspberry, and Citrus, which is a lime green) are pretty cool as they are.

The blending solution is kind of like nail polish remover. You can use it to either thin out the colors or erase your work as you go. Handy, huh?

2 Foam Brushes, 1 Inch – Value $0.46

These “brushes” are perfect for stamping designs onto your votives. Use one for adding colors and the other for erasing, if necessary.

2 Glass Votive Holders – Value $0.83 each (based on similar items)

Of course, the stars of the show are the glass candle holders. The box comes with two. I like how there’s a raised part inside each one that the candle can actually sit on. Obviously the one on the right, I’ve already jazzed up. So, how did I do it? Check it out:

Drop the ink onto the end of the sponge brush. The more you add, the deeper the color will be.

Get creative about how you dab the ink on the inside and outside of the votives. Switch up colors, thin things out with the blending solution, try a splatter method… it’s up to you!

2 Unscented Tea Light Candles – Value $0.22 (based on similar items)

Last but not least, you have these two little candles, which sit nicely inside each finished votive.

And there you have it! I didn’t end up using the pink ink just because I liked the green tones so much. This is one of those fool-proof crafts that you can take some artistic license with. I didn’t feel all that artful about what I was painting sometimes, but I think it came out looking pretty cool!

 Verdict: I really like Darby Smart! I appreciate that they include all of the supplies you need to do the craft and that the craft itself is so fun. There’s a lot that’s up to your artistic interpretation, too. I did some watercolor-inspired stuff with mine, and the Darby Smart example looks more like drops of rain falling along the glass. But you could also do stripes, circles, words… whatever you’d like! All that said, the value of the box was only around $11, which is about half of the $19.00 value. I wish there was another element—another part of this craft, or a second smaller craft to help make up that missing value.

Do you like the craft from this month’s Darby Smart box?