Arteza 13 Days of Creepy Crawly Creativity 2023: A Halloween Art Advent Calendar Review

Introduction

Advent calendars are usually a December-only treat, but Arteza has a Halloween take with the 13 Days of Creepy Crawly Creativity 2023. It costs $50 and contains 13 numbered doors of art supplies and small craft activities behind a tombstone-themed design with some nice red foiling. If you love Halloween and you love opening little surprise doors, this sits in a rare niche.

Who this product is for

This is aimed at anyone who enjoys seasonal crafting, casual DIY art activities, or the simple ritual of opening an advent calendar one door at a time. The activities are approachable enough for beginners, and there is nothing here that requires serious art experience. Families and anyone who likes hands-on projects will get the most out of it. Expect a few small crafts rather than projects that take hours.

What’s Inside the Calendar

The 13 doors deliver a surprisingly varied set of supplies. Door one is a little wooden pumpkin, followed by acrylic paint in spooky black and pumpkin orange, then a round and a flat paintbrush, which is a sensible pairing for painting something like the pumpkin. Later doors include an acrylic marker, two small canvases (hexagon and triangular shapes), neon green pouring acrylic paint, a tube of glitter, a bright red fabric paint, a beautiful shimmery purple called Midnight Sky Twist, a fabric marker, pink and white polymer clay, googly eyes, and a second acrylic marker to finish.

The green pouring paint really earns its Halloween credentials, described best as a slimy neon shade. The Midnight Sky Twist purple is a genuine highlight, one of the prettier shimmer colors you will find in a craft kit at this level.

Main Strengths

The variety is the big win. Paint, brushes, markers, canvases, clay, glitter and googly eyes cover several different craft techniques in one box, and everything inside uses Arteza’s own supply quality, which is generally very good. The painting activity worked well in practice: the wooden pumpkin came together nicely using the green and orange paints plus the gold and black markers. The open-ended format also means nothing limits what you choose to make, which some crafters will prefer over a rigid instruction booklet.

Things to Consider Before Buying

There are genuine trade-offs at $50. The contents themselves are not strictly worth fifty dollars on materials alone; you are paying for the experience of opening it, which is the same trade-off as most advent calendars. There is no idea book or instruction manual included, which some will find limiting even if the open format has its appeal. The fabric paint and fabric marker left us puzzled about their intended use, and the doors themselves are nearly impossible to open without ripping. Also worth knowing: paint pouring is inherently wasteful with paint, so plan accordingly.

Buying Advice

If the Halloween theme appeals to you and you enjoy the ritual of a countdown-style craft box, this is a fun purchase for the season. Compared with other advent calendars on the market, $50 is not an outrageous price; even well-known toy-themed calendars often cost more. If you want strict value per art supply, however, buying the items individually would stretch further. For the seasonal experience, it delivers.

The Paint Pour Activity

The included pouring acrylic paint works well for a quick, low-pressure paint pour on the hexagon canvas. A simple swirl of the neon green and the Midnight Sky Twist purple, with a few red splatters and a sprinkle of glitter, produces a genuinely spooky, glossy finish that looks straight out of a 90s horror paperback. It dries to an effect that would not look out of place as seasonal decor.

Conclusion

The Arteza 13 Days of Creepy Crawly Creativity 2023 is a fun, well-curated Halloween craft box with good-quality supplies and a nice mix of activities, held back by the lack of an idea book and the reality that $50 buys more raw materials elsewhere. Buy it for the seasonal experience, not for the supplies, and you will not be disappointed.