MyStyle Shamballa Rainbow Jewellery – Review

Posted on November 6, 2015 by Fiona Martin

Shamballa jewellery has been a trend over recent years and this kit from Interplay to make some rainbow coloured Shamballa jewellery is a great introduction for young girls to learn and make some great pieces.

The kit comes with a handy sectioned box to contain all your beads and accessories while you work, making life a little easier. Included are various beads, rainbow coloured cord as well as various clasps, wire etc. enough to make various pieces including bracelets, earrings and a necklace.

We started making a bracelet which I started off for Miss M, although I was actually surprised at how easy it was to do, I thought it might be quite a complicated pattern to do, but no, just a placing one thread over another and looping it through. Miss M soon got to grips with this and happily completed the bracelet on her own adding beads appropriately along the design. The set comes with a safety pin to use to attach the top of the bracelet to something whilst working on it, and we used the edge of our sofa bed which worked well and meant the bracelet hung down nicely allowing Miss M to easily see the pattern and keep the threads straight.

You can vary the designs of the bracelets by adding beads at different places and there are also accessories to make earrings and a necklace. Miss M made me some earrings, as her ears aren’t pierced, which I was really impressed with. She used some wire which she twisted around and threaded some beads on too.

Overall I have to say I’ve been impressed with this kit. I didn’t realise how easy it was to make Shamballa style bracelets and this is a great introduction as to how it is done and the possibilities of styles you can make. Miss M had great fun making her new bracelets!

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the set in order to write an honest review.

CRA-Z-ART Crystal Craze Gem Bracelets – Review

Posted on March 5, 2015 by Fiona Martin

CRA-Z-ART Crystal Craze Gem Bracelets is a jewellery making craft kit from Character toys. Aimed at ages 6+, it was perfect for 7yr old Miss M to have a go at.

The kit consists of materials to make 15 gem bracelets each using a strip of sticky gems, a piece of coloured cord, a button, some glue and metallic thread. Miss M was eager to open the box and get started and even asked to do the vlog for me – see at bottom of post.

Each CRA-Z-ART Crystal Craze Gem Bracelet is made by attaching a button to a piece of cord then taping the cord to the table you are working from to keep it flat. Then place a row of sticky gems along the cord before winding the metallic thread around the bracelet, placing the strand between each gem as you go. Finally to finish of tie a knot allowing enough room for a button hole to fasten.

Miss M did require some assistance in finishing off the bracelets in order to get get the correctly sized button hole at the end. We didn’t realise that you need to cut the gem strip a little shorter in order to do this otherwise you run out of cord. Once we worked out how to do the first one, the following ones were easy.

The finished bracelets are shiny and colourful and fit Miss M perfectly. She was able to put them on and off herself easily so she was very happy and enjoyed making them too.

Here is a video showing you a bit more about CRA-Z-ART Crystal Craze Gem Bracelets:

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the product in order to write the review.

Cool Create Cool Bandz – Review

Posted on August 7, 2014 by Fiona Martin

Cool Bandz is one of the latest range of craft kits from the Cool Create brand allowing children to make, decorate and laminate fun paper bracelets to wear themselves or giveaway to friends.

The kit consists of:

1 bracelet maker
24 pre designed wrist band strips
12 clips
1 sticker sheet
1 sticker sheet
1 gem sheet
1 roll of adhesive tape

Miss M couldn’t wait to get started and began by separating the pre designed strips and picking out her favourites. You can then add any of the stickers and gems to decorate them further. Some even have a space to write on and she did one with her name, one for Mister B and one for Mummy!

Once you have decorated the strip, you place it in the laminator. You can then easily pull the strip through and it gets cleverly covered by the roll of tape giving it a shiny, more durable finish. You then pop each end in the little hole punch slot and press down on the purple button to make a hole in each end. The ends then simply clip together with one of the plastic clips that just snap together.

Once Miss M had made the first band with my guidance, she was off making all different designs for each of us. Mister B eagerly watched picking the strips and stickers he wanted Miss M to use for his band. Miss M at 6 yrs old is the perfect age for this, she could create them independently and sat happily engrossed making bracelets with her little Cool Bandz machine for much of the morning.

This is a fun creative toy that young girls will love. There are plenty of patterned strips to keep them occupied although I would have liked to have seen a few more clips and gems included in the kit. You can also use any paper strips of your choice, so if you have some pretty paper, or fancy drawing your own design, you can and then place it in the sticky tape laminator to strengthen it and turn it into a bracelet.

My children had lots of fun creating with the Cool Create Cool Bandz, a great indoor crafting activity that’s fun, keeps them occupied and lets them make their own jewellery!

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and the Cool Bandz was sent to us in order to write the review.

Cra-Z-loom Bracelet Maker – Review

Posted on August 2, 2014 by Fiona Martin

With loom bands being very popular at the moment, 6yr old Miss M was thrilled to receive the Cra-Z-loom bracelet making set from Hobbycraft. Previously she has only attempted basic loom bracelets on her fingers so we were keen to try some more intricate patterns using the loom board which comes with this set.

The kit includes 1 loom, 1 weaving hook, 600 assorted rubber bands, 25 ‘S’ clips and an instruction leaflet. The instructions are simple to follow showing you how to make three different bands, a single loop bracelet, a waterfall and a bridge style.

Miss M was keen to have a try and started with the single loop bracelet. After me starting off the pattern across the loom and showing her where to place the bands, she was soon off doing them herself.

The loom seems like a good strong quality and was easy to hang the bands over. Once all the bands are in place you then have to use the hook to loop certain bands ones over each other to complete the pattern and then the bracelet can be removed from the loom.

We then tried a four sided loom bracelet using just four of the pegs on the loom band. Miss M really enjoyed this and was thrilled with the result, a lot thicker and more defined bracelet that looked much sturdier than the basic single loop bracelet.

Miss M then looked through the instructions and challenged me to make her the waterfall bracelet. The instructions for the loom are quite clear and are illustrated to help you know where to place the bands and how to hook them over. It took me a few tries to get the hang of where I was placing the bands for this one and hooked them over incorrectly at first, but once I got going, it is actually relatively easy. Miss M would need guidance to make one of these but it’s definitely something she’s aspiring to make soon.

We thought the waterfall bracelet looked really effective and Miss M couldn’t wait to show it to her friends.

The quality of the contents of the Cra-Z-loom set are good and the instructions are a good starting point to make a few different designs of bracelets. Miss M could follow the more simple designs on her own and with some guidance from me we are moving on to more complicated designs. The loom and hook seem strong and durable, and with a big colourful bag of loom bands included, we’ll hopefully have many more delightful bracelets being made over the next few weeks.

Both Miss M and I have really enjoyed the Cra-Z-loom bracelet kit available from Hobbycraft. The possiblities with loom bands is endless and we look forward to discovering other interesting designs and ideas to make with them now that we have a loom to work on.

Have you tried the new loom band craze yet?

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and the Cra-Z-loom was sent to us in order to write the review.

Super Loop Bands – Review

Posted on May 30, 2014 by Fiona Martin

myStyle Super Loop Bands from Interplay is a fun bracelet making kit for children. This kit contains 125 silicone loops in five colours, enough to make five complete bracelets, There are five metal ‘S’ clasps and a comprehensive instruction manual to guide you through joining the loops.

Miss M was thrilled when she saw the set and couldn’t wait to get started. She has seen many of these types of bands around on friends and in the shops and was eager to try them. I followed the step by step instructions to start her off and actually found it really simple. You literally just squeeze a loop to flatten and link through another loop. The bracelet simply fastens using an ‘S’ clip although being stretchy you can just stretch it on and off your wrist. The loops are quite thick and a really good quality, they look superior to other brands I’ve seen.

It didn’t take Miss M long to get the hang of it and soon she was happily sitting there creating the bracelets herself. She was keen to make one for her little brother Mister B, and they sat together picking out the coloured loops to use. Each bracelet requires 20-25 loops and this Super Loops set contains enough to make 5 good quality bracelets.

We’ve really enjoyed the myStyle Super Loop Bands from Interplay, it has kept Miss M occupied and she had lots of fun making the bands. I think this is a great little craft set for young girls, something they can do independently, something they can wear after and something they can give to friends. My two children wear their bracelets everyday and so they have been a big hit with us!

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and the Super Loops kit was sent to us in order to write the review.