If you’re anything like me, it may have finally occurred to you that next weekend is Easter. Around our house we go mostly sans candy and sweets because of Mayhem’s pesky food allergies. But we do like to find a small gift for her basket. Last week, thanks to Mayhem, I stumbled into an awesome gift idea. For you anyway. Because obviously I screwed myself by letting her play with this…

It’s this: Crayola My Virtual Fashion Show We LOVE this! (and yes, that’s an affiliate link)

We were gifted with a My Virtual Fashion Show kit about a month ago. Someone thought there was possibly a small person in our home that might enjoy it. Go figure 😉 To be honest with you, I set it on a shelf and walked away from it. A few days ago, Mayhem spotted it and brought it to me. “Can I do this, Mom?”…

So I decided to let her give it a go. I didn’t have high expectations. And I thought it might be complicated. I was wrong. (My husband will likely be very happy to see that last sentence came from my own conscience.)

You guys … this kit is all kinds of awesome! And it couldn’t be easier to use (IMHO, of course). Let me walk you through just how awesomely easy it is –

Step 1: open the package – find there is a handy carrying case, booklet with templates, colored pencils

Step 2: download My Virtual Fashion Show app (compatible with iOS and Android devices) and unlock it by scanning a little graphic in the front of the booklet

Step 3: start coloring – each 2 page spread in the booklet is an outfit (the left page is the front of the outfit and the right page is the back of the outfit)

Step 4: use the app to snap photos of the front and back of your completed outfit – this part is a little too tricky for Mayhem as you need to line up the corners of the the pages with squares in the app, but I’m sure with a little practice, she’ll have it down in no time

Step 5: see your design come to life on a virtual model

I’m not going to lie to you, I was blown away by how well this works. I didn’t have high hopes that it would accurately “translate” the drawing, but it was FLAWLESS. Every little stroke from those colored pencils was there. The only minor “issue” we had was that on two separate occasions, the app told us that we were scanning the wrong template (the app recognizes which dress/outfit you’re scanning and doesn’t allow you to mismatch the front and back) even though we weren’t. I simply started over and scanned the back first and then did the front. And it worked!

After that, you can customize your model (hair style/color, skin tone, etc.) and then watch her walk the runway. As you create new designs, you’ll start seeing all of them appear in your fashion show.

Mayhem sat still for more than an hour playing with this. Which is the equivalent of a miracle. At least in our house.

This particular item gets two enthusiastic thumbs up from Mayhem. And me. And Dad (he was WAY impressed too). So basically, it gets six thumbs up from the Mayhem household. And when I found out it was less than $20 on Amazon, I thought some of you might like the heads up as well. The recommended age is 6+ on this kit, but I can tell you that our four year old loves it. She needs a little help with taking the photographs and we do of course, always supervise her when she’s using colored pencils, so we’re very comfortable allowing her to have fun with this.  

And once again, I’m sharing this because we LOVE it. We did receive this item as a gift, but I was never EVER asked to say anything about it. We just happened to pull it out of the package last week and it was an instant hit. Capisce? And now that I’ve given you an idea, got any $20 or less Easter basket ideas for me???? Pretty please 🙂