Gemmies Design Studio Crystal Creations – Review

Posted on August 16, 2016 by Fiona Martin

Gemmies Design Studio is a fun craft kit for children aimed at ages 6+. It allows you to make crystal creations such as cute dogs, teddies, fish and more. It also comes with a storage unit and station to make your designs on meaning it’s an all in one craft kit that children will enjoy.

The kit comes with a design station that has a pull out drawer underneath. This is comes divided into sections to store your beads in. There are also gem style pots on top to hold further beads and loops. There is a removable light up stand that requires two AA batteries. Other accessories include six design cards, a tool to stretch your loops and various packs of beads and loops.

My daughter who is 8yrs old enjoyed following the design cards and putting the correct colour and combination of beads onto each loop. She found it easier and preferred to use the included tool to do this, but I found it easier to just use my fingers, either method works fine though.

Miss M could easily make small combinations of beaded loops but did require a little assistance from me to join some of the bigger sections together to make the final creation, so I do think that younger children would struggle too, although I do think that 7-8 years can do the majority of it themselves.

What I found amazing though was that from a flat section of loops covered in the gem beads, you then fold it round and join particular beads and a recognisable 3D shape appears which really does look really fantastic. So that you know where to join the beads there are bright orange beads that you place initially within the pattern but are then removed when you make the join. This is a really clever idea and makes it simple to know where sections join up.

My daughter loves her new Gemmies dogs and they take pride of place in her bedroom. You can display them on the included light up stand or they will stand on their own elsewhere. I think this kit is really clever and very different to any other craft kits we’ve tried.

We’ve absolutely loved Gemmies and think it’d make a great gift for anyone who loves to craft and loves their gems! I think it’s lovely that you get to make something to keep and it is something that will last. The beads are secure and the finished designs hold together very well. Why not try a kit like this out for yourself?

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

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2 for £10 Gift Ideas from The Works

Posted on December 17, 2015 by Fiona Martin

With Christmas looming, and many a day spent searching for presents that don’t cost a fortune, then look no further than The Works. They have a fabulous selection of low cost gifts available, with any 2 costing just £10! With something for everyone, children and adults, I’ve been taking a look at what’s on offer.

For adults there is a variety of things such as cookbooks, and a variety of dvd and book sets. I’m really pleased with the Crochet dvd and book set as it’s a craft I’m keen to learn after trying it out earlier this year, and this will be perfect to learn from with simple, clear instructions. This would make a lovely gift for a beginner to the world of crochet.

For boys, how about this fun Dinosaur Operation game. My little boy loves dinosaurs and has been eyeing up operation style games for a while. The dinosaur has obviously been eating things that he shouldn’t and has various tools as well as bones inside his body that need extracting as part of the game. This would be a fun game for the family to play on Christmas day and a bargain at just £5 when bought as part of the 2 for £10 gift range.

This Build Your Own Rocket set looks like fun for boys and has a little booklet as well as a rocket parachute to make. The booklet contains lots of ideas for rocket based ideas and experiments to make using simple things like a balloon etc I think there are plenty of ideas in here to keep boys occupied over the Christmas period and into the New Year!

One I think my daughter will love is a Crystal growing kit. She’s loves science and experiments so I think this is a great mix of the two and something she can watch grow over a period of time. With six crystals to grow I’m sure we’ll have windowsill full before long and they can be kept after as decorative pieces.

Yarn craft is a fun set for girls and my daughter does love anything needlework related. This set allows you to make 12 fun activities using wool including pom poms, decorative wool hearts, hair for sock puppets and more. The box also includes some googly eyes to use in some of your making projects.

I think the range of gift ideas from The Works this Christmas has a great variety and are an absolute bargain at just £5 each when bought as part of their 2 for £10 gift range. There really is something for all the family, so I’d definitely recommend checking them out either in store or online where you can get them delivered in time for Christmas.

All reviews are my own and my family’s opinions and we received the gift sets 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.