Darice Precious Impressions Memory Hands Keepsake Kit – Commemorate Milestone Moments, 3-D Hand Plaster Mold and Keepsake Kit Includes Gel, Plaster, Bucket and Instructions – Makes a Great Kids Project

I bought this for a fun project to do with my son and a keepsake that will be forever treasured by me. I was a little nervous buying it at first because I was worried about my 4-year old son staying still and having it not turn out okay. Well, he did great and it turned out great! I set the stage by covering the coffee table and putting his favorite show on so he could watch it while waiting. We then practiced a few times putting our hands in the bucket before mixing the materials. It was suggested to have a third person to help pour it and his grandma was over and she was helpful but I could have done it myself if necessary. The only part that he didn't like (and which is totally understandable) was when the mixture started to become firm around our hands. He needed some verbal cues to stay still while I gently held his forearm in place. Overall, he did awesome & I was impressed with how he did. So fast forward a day (almost to the minute as it turned out)...and we did the grand unveiling. I was definitely impressed! I mean, it got everything down to the creases on my knuckles! The only flaw in the final product was that the very tips of his index and ring finger didn't completely form but I think that was because of him moving a little as it became firm and not as much to the product malfunctioning. It also could have been from an air pocket that we didn't get out. Most importantly, the thumbs and pinky's came out perfectly. Now, it does suggest to set some mix to the side to fill in air bubbles and I would strongly suggest following that recommendation. I mixed some up afterwards and used a paint brush to go over a few spots and then wiped off the excess with a paper towel and it helped make it look a little nicer. I have to say that I was impressed with how it turned out and plan to make a wooden base from some of the wood we have so it has something to sit on. I also am glad I did it when he was a little older (4yrs) so that I felt like he was an actual willing participant. I also love it as a visual sign of father-son bond as he'll keep growing on me and, in the blink of an eye, will be old enough that he won't be holding Dad's hand anymore. The only (barely) negative thing about this (and I say it mostly in jest) was that the instructions referred only to the mom and child as participants in the activity. Now, I'm sure the majority of consumers are moms but should they really limit their target audience to just one population? It's a great gift/project for anyone with a kid or even for siblings to do together. I might even have him do it again but this time with his 7yr old sister.

WORTH EVERY PENNY AND SOME. Highly recommend. Before this day I had never used the product... I was losing my best friend to lung cancer, and I couldn't do a thing about it. Phoned the Dr. to come a day early, he would be at my house within 2 hours. My daughter would run to the local craft store to purchase the casted hands I've seen on line, as molly and I walked one last time. Returned home wasn't much longer my daughter arrived with the PRECIOUS IMPRESSIONS as we watched a video and I was mixing the gel for the mold. The Dr. knocked at my door....the gel was setting I coated her arm with vaseline placed her arm in the gel....was maybe 30 to 45 seconds it was set (i would finish the plaster after) I went to lay by her side my loyal most trusted friend to the very end.... the Dr. carried her off I would never see her again....I now finish what I started, mixed the plaster poured into the mold. 24 hours later I peeled back the molding and I have something I will keep forever and cherish for the rest of my life and remember my most dearest friend I will hold close to my heart. I cant say what this truly means to me. I tell everyone they need to do this for the ones they love. Was very easy to use. I'm my most hardest time I was still able to use the product easily. I would do it again and worth every penny. I'd pay over double. I dont know what I might of done if precious impressions want available. Thank you for giving me something I'm able to see, hold, touch and share with everyone around. MOLLY I love you XOXOXO

I have used this product several times over the years. I love a craft that can really become a timeless keepsake. I made this one of my youngest son's hand with one of the toy cars that defined my 3 sons' childhoods. Done 13 years ago, it becomes more of a treasure as time goes by. The price I found on Amazon makes it a more reasonably priced craft, too, and less of a disaster if things don't turn out perfectly (see below!) One tip: Carefully measure your water amounts out prior to starting and have them at the ready. My last time doing this was one cast of my three grandchildren's hands. I was in such a hurry to get this made before the youngest was taken home that I mis-measured and mixed entirely too much water in the 'plaster' part! While heartsick, I just left it all to sit for at least 24 hours and was surprised when I removed the mold that the figure actually still turned out REASONABLY well, even if it was a little soft for a time. The worst area was where the 3 year old moved his fingers enough to allow the too-watery mix to swirl and a couple of his fingers were ill-defined. I made the still-white figure of my then-three-year-old niece (now a senior in high school.) I divided the kit up into smaller portions and made hers in a large disposable cup. Little hands do not need the full-sized bucket and the materials can be used to make another later. Just be aware that touching the sides of the container 'can' leave little flat areas on the plaster fingers. I simply said to her, "Try not to touch the sides of the cup if you can," and she did a wonderful job cooperating. Her little hand really needs to be sanded to a different angle on the bottom. Because it is unbalanced, it has tipped over and I have had to glue a couple fingers back on. Along with the little car (that I removed from the bottom of the mold before replacing the mold into the bucket and pouring the plaster) I've had the kids hold things that will remain with the piece. The three grandchildren were each holding a seashell since we had been staying at the beach at the time. Tell children to "let go" of the object when they remove their hands from the mold. Keep in mind that objects must be near the bottom of the bucket so they can be removed without tearing up the mold too much. Small imperfections can be removed from the finished figure and any small pinholes filled (save out a very small portion of the plaster to use for this. The mold medium is easy to remove from object, such as the toy car and your rings, just in case you've wondered. Enjoy!

This is an awesome little kit that contains both the material to make a mold and the plaster of paris (or whatever it is) you pour into the mold for the final little sculpture. This kit is apparently intended to preserve adult hands but we used it to make baby hands and feet. This kit made about 7 total hands and feet, although several of them had flaws. Here's my revised set of directions that I think work better for baby molds: 1. Wait until the baby is really really asleep 2. Choose a container such as a large solo cup cut down a bit, big enough for the foot or hand to move a little (we messed up a couple by having the foot or hand against the bottom or side of the cup. We used a glass and a plastic container and the mold material cleans up nicely. 3. Do some math and measure the water and molding powder to make just enough to fit your cup. It's probably safest to do just one at a time. Also, the molding liquid seems lumpy but mix it as well as you can and the lumps don't seem to show up in the final product. 4. BIGGEST CHANGE FROM DIRECTIONS: Use very WARM water. The directions say to use cold water because this slows down the process of hardening, but when you have a wiggly baby you want to avoid shocking them with cold molding medium and you want it to set up fast. 5. Hold the arm or leg until the mold medium firms up, then gently slip the foot out. 6. Make all of your molds, then mix the plaster of paris stuff. IMPORTANT WITH BABY FEET: hold the molds with the toes pointing toward the FLOOR and fill it slowly, tapping and jiggling to fill all the little toes. We messed up several with bubbles in the toes. 7. Wait the whole 24 hours and then gently pull the rubbery mold stuff off the little hardened feet and hands. Every little wrinkle and toenail will show - it's just so sweet to preserve that. Also, as you might see from my photo, we tried both feet and feet plus ankle molds, and they seem to look better with a bit of ankle in there. We scrubbed the baby's feet and hands very well immediately after each mold, making sure he didn't put any of the mold material in his mouth.

I bought 2 of these to do my son, daughter-in-law, and my grandson. My son has huge hands and the first thing I realized was that the bucket was going to be too small. So I found a bigger bucket and used both packages. It was barely enough. They kept their hands in for about 6 minutes. My grandson rested his finger on the inside of the bucket so there is a flat spot on one finger. Then two of his fingers broke off. I used the little bit that I saved and I "glued" the fingers back on hopefully they will stay on - it needs to be kind of wet to adhere two pieces, use a paint brush to help smooth the glue that seeps out. My biggest mistake was because it was two kits I decided to make sure it was dry and left it in the bucket for 7 days and it started to mold. Once it is completely dry I will use a bronze color on it and then seal it so I cannot see the mold stain. Because this was so fun and because my son is moving across the country, I decided to do the entire family all 6 of us. The biggest problem was trying to find enough product. I waited too long to order from Amazon and had to drive 2 hours to the one place I could find that carried it. I was able to find an extra 3 buckets for a total of 5 buckets. This turned out to be the perfect amount for 6 adults and a mop bucket. We kept our hands in the bucket for 15 minutes and yes it was cold but after a while it started to warm slightly. The first bucket I was able to get the mold to release but with the mop bucket I had to cut it off so be prepared to sacrifice a bucket if necessary. The hardest part of this project was getting all the gel out of the crevices. I used tweezers, long necked tweezers, a straight needle, and toothpicks. I still haven't got all of it out from between the hands I am hoping this does not cause a problem once it is completely dry. Be very careful when trying to remove the gel the plaster is still very soft and if you put too much pressure on the piece it will leave an indent - rub gently with your wet finger or with a wet paint brush to smooth out the dents. Go slow it is worth the effort!

In theory, this could be a nice kit. However, it is a really tricky product to use. So far, I have only purchased one kit. Each kit allows for two impressions. The first time I tried to use this, I used the method where you put the baby's hand in a bag of gel. I ended up with a mold with a hole in it because the baby's finger had pushed all the way through the gel, so the mold was useless as it would not hold the plaster. For my second attempt, I used the method where you put the gel in a container and put the baby's hand in that. That method yielded better results. However when I was removing the figurine from the mold one of the fingers broke off and I also saw that despite me filling the mold slowly and tapping as the directions instructed, the mold was not filled out completely, and it resulted in a figurine of a hand that had incomplete fingers and large holes in the fingers. It ended up not looking very good, but it looked good enough to give me hope that I can get it right in a future attempt, although I might be better off purchasing the components separately since I don't know how many more attempts it will take to yield a good result. it's frustrating, because I know that if everything works correctly, it would end up yeilding a very cute figurine. But it's very hard to get everything to work properly.

I used two of these at the same time and a much larger bucket to make an impression of my fathers hands. I followed the directions exactly. We waited a few extra minutes for the molding gel to set up since we used two packages. We removed his hands then mixed the plaster as instructed. Poured the plaster and let it set up. I had to leave and ended up leaving the plaster in the gel for three weeks. It was a bit more difficult to peel off the gel, but it did come off without too much effort. Detail was wonderful, I can see the cracks, crevasse, scars, nail beds perfectly. I would suggest a white paint/sealer after the plaster dries a few days/week. Just to preserve them. DO NOT whisk the plaster. You do not want bubbles in it. Good luck!

This item was super easy to use. The directions were very clear and concise, broke down each step in an easy to follow manner. The bucket was a good size for two adult hands (see photos), but we were not up against the bucket by any means...there was plenty of space between our hands and the bucket walls. After we held our hands in place and the mold was set, it was pretty easy to pull our hands out. The mold stayed in place well and very little of the mold material came apart when we pulled our respective hands out. We poured the casting liquid in and waited (impatiently 😉) for our masterpiece to be complete! When it was time to take the mold apart and reveal our sculpture it was really easy to peel off the mold. I was pleasantly surprised at the whole process! It was a really fun project to do together for our anniversary. Definitely something to try. It is something that is lovely to have in your home- a beautiful reminder of some sweet time spent with a loved one! I hope that this review was helpful! Have a golden day.