Kick Off to Christmas Giveaway 25 – Images of Time

I am so thrilled to bring you this review and giveaway! Images of Time is a family-run Canadian company established in 1986 by artist John Herbert and his wife Adrienne. Their goal was to create a unique do-it-yourself casting kit that used a method called life casting. The result is just amazing! The casts that can be created with this kit are unbelievable in detail, down to every last wrinkle!

There are currently 4 kits created by Images of time – Baby Keepsake Kit, Sports Cast Keepsake Kit, and the Parent/Child Keepsake Kit. I first heard about this company from my friend Tammy, super-mom to three boys (and still somewhat sane). Tammy loved the results from the Baby Kit and I couldn’t wait to try it for myself!

I was sent the Baby and Parent/Child Kits to review (thanks so much Adrienne!) I opened up the Baby Kit and read the instructions first. Now, I have to share that I am very easily intimidated by detailed instructions (I make my husband put together every single do-it-yourself item in our house, I absolutely refuse to on the principal that I will end up throwing things and/or crying). I was intimidated by the instructions, mostly because they are timed! Because the molds set so quickly, you need to ensure that you mix the product in 1 minute, apply the baby’s hand/foot in immediately, and hold it there for another 90 seconds. Then, once the hand/foot is removed and the shaped-hole is left, there’s more mixing of the casting-stone and again, it needs to be mixed within a certain time and poured. Pressure!

What I liked though, is that the instructions DO lay everything out in detail, suggest doing a dry-run of putting baby’s hand/foot inside the enclosed build-it-yourself plastic box, and laying out all the items you need. We did that, and when the actual time came for the big show, I was ready. We waited until Miss Nevaeh was in dream-land, rolled up the pant-leg of her pj’s while she was in her daddy’s arms, and stuck her cute piggy-toes in the casting-glop. She didn’t flinch!

This project was so much easier to do than I thought, and the results are so adorable! I love the cast mold I have of her adorable little foot and just wish I had a newborn little cast to compare it to. The only snag I ran into was that my cast does have some little bubbles on it, from air-bubbles that I didn’t bring to the surface when pouring the stone mold (you are supposed to tap the container gently while pouring the stone mold in, I guess i didn’t tap enough). Still, though, the result is just adorable!

Unfortunately I didn’t have the same result with the Parent/Child kit. I was hoping to have a mold of my husband and son holding hands but it didn’t work. I’m not sure what exactly went wrong but I think that 90 seconds wasn’t long enough for it to set, because when the boys pulled their hands out, I noted that the mixture wasn’t as tacky as it had been the night before. Maybe the extra warmth of two hands in the mix caused it not to set as quickly and we may have been better off waiting another 30 seconds. The mixture caved into itself once they pulled their hands out.

I wasn’t too disappointed, though, when I remembered that you can order Refill Kits for a discounted price because they come with no instructions and no mixing container (you could use any plastic container really, the one that comes with the kit is nice because it’s disposable, that’s all). So, for $10.95 I can still have the chance to make the hand-in-hand cast that I want. The original price of this kit is only $16.95 and the Baby Kit is only $9.95 (refill kit $5.95). Oh, and they ship worldwide too!

Images of Time has offered readers the chance to win their choice of either the Baby Kit or the Child/Adult Kit! To enter, go to Images of Time to learn more about the kits. Comment back here with which kit you would pick and what your plan would be with it.

For extra entries:
~ Add my new button to your blog.
~ Blog about this giveaway with and leave me a link in your comment.
~ Follow me!
~ Subscribe to my blog via email.

Please make sure your profile is set to PUBLIC or leave your email address in your comment if it is not. If there is no way to contact you, I will choose another winner. This contest will end on December 25th at midnight CST. I will use Random.org to choose a winner, email the winner, and post the win here. Contest is open to Canadian and US addresses.

** Check out all my other giveaways by clicking on the Giveaways/Reviews link at the top! **