I took my girls to Make Meaning a couple of days ago and confirmed why I didn't want to do this before. I guess if you are on vacation and looking for a way to spend time with your kids - and money is not really an object - then the concept is cute. Apparently I have spent way too much time in Michaels or Hobby Lobby and can quickly get stressed out when I see how little I am getting for my money at Make Meaning. \nMy girls both wanted to make candles as their project. We arrived on a busy spring break day - the place was packed so we had to make a reservation with a rather stressed and scattered \"hostess\" and then came back an hour later. No problem. Upon returning, we were greeted by several people that acted like we knew what we were doing (we didn't) then shown the wall of items for my girls to choose from to add to their candles. The staff member didn't explain much but I figured out what to do. The \"add-ins\" for their candles were pretty lame - most of them were not really going to fit very well in the shapes provided when figuring the wick had to go in the middle. My girls then filled a bucket full of wax cubes and sat down at our assigned table. Basically all they had to do was fill the small container with the wax cubes and stick their one add-on in there - which proved to be the biggest challenge. They rearranged the cubes a few times but it probably didn't take them more than 20 minutes, tops. Then we had to wait around for someone to tell us what to do - at which point my girls figured out that they had to pick their \"scent\" for the candle. Wow, they were not pleasant at all - we had a hard time picking out something that didn't smell like a bad car-wash scent. Anyway, eventually the hot wax and scents were added by the staff members and they told us to return in 30 minutes or so and our candle would be ready. Fine, no problem. We were hungry and that gave us time to go get some lunch. But, before we left, they wanted us to check out. \nThe check out line was super long and took another 10 minutes. While standing there, my daughter asked if I was going to use my deal from 'Doozy of a Deal' that had long since expired, unused. Sometimes you are able to get the purchased value credited to you but there was no mention of that on our paperwork. But, I decided to just ask for that credit to be applied, not very hopeful that our less than attentive staff member would honor it. But, much to my relief and surprise, after he asked the manager about it, she quickly and easily credited me not just the purchased value but the promotional value of my deal - which knocked $30 off the price of .... get this ... $69(!!!!!) for 2 rather nasty \"peach colada\" smelling weird looking candles. Each participant pays $12 each + the cost of the craft/activity. The candles were $20 each + tax. So so so glad the price came down to $35 or so after the coupon was applied. So, the manager managed to at least help me leave on a positive note. \nYou can buy an \"annual membership\" which brings the activity price down but, wow, that almost commits you to making quite a few more trips back to get your money's worth. The other projects were also extremely expensive - $28 to decorate a 4\" cake?!?, $20 glass necklaces, etc.\nI don't know, I guess it is like the rest of the shops at Scottsdale Quarter, they are cool to look at and walk around but I have a hard time spending that kind of money on things like that. I would rather take $70 to Hobby Lobby (along with their 40% off coupons!) and fully stock our craft closets and have fun at home!
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