Strand Bands Designer Set Review

The Make 2 Wear Strand Bands Designer Set, is a 62 piece jewellery making set allowing children to create their own bespoke fashion bracelets using colourful bands and beads.

With assorted stretchable, rubber strand bands in various colours, an assortment of beads and charms and a Strand Styler tool and suction cup, there is enough contents to make up to fifteen bracelets in various designs.

The set comes with instructions, but they are quite vague and even 12 year old Kezia and big sister Ella were getting a bit irate and frustrated trying to work out how to make a bracelet. The overly simplified 'fold, knot, peel apart' instructions didn't really help them. So we took to the trusty internet and found some video tutorials on YouTube, which proved a great help.

Once we understood the basic technique, the strands were cut to size, knotted, attached to the top of the Strand Styler, separated into sections and plaited or knotted. The Strand Styler keeps the strands secured together, making working with the materials less fiddly. However, the stretchy strands can ping off, unravel or get twisted up quite easily if you aren't careful, which proves quite frustrating when you're half way through making a bracelet. Practice definitely helps with the techniques and eventually, the girls managed to work out how to make the simple braided bracelets.The ends are then tied off to secure the bracelet to the wrist.

For creative kids, with patience and dexterity, the set will enable them to make a range of cool looking bracelets.There are various different techniques for attaching the beads and charms and lots of ways to knot the strands, making a huge variety of possible bracelet designs. The colours of the strands can be mixed and matched to suit individual tastes and the thickness of the threads can be decided when peeling the strands apart, changing the visual effect of the braiding. The beads and charms are funky, for a variety of looks and styles from punk rock to girly.

The set is aimed at girls aged 6 and up.  I'm sure there might be some girls of that age that may be able to make some wearable pieces with some assistance, but it's not the easiest process as my girls found out. I'd recommend it for children older than this, if you want them to work on their bracelet making skills independently.

Some advanced techniques look very complicated indeed, but I'm sure they can be attempted once the simpler techniques are mastered.  However, I'd definitely recommend using YouTube tutorials rather than the instruction leaflet. Seeing the process in action made the whole thing make much more sense.

You can use your imagination to create your own individual designs using the braiding and beading techniques learned, reusing the Strand Styler tool. The end results look pretty good and with practice, I'm sure they will get even better.

The Strand Bands Designer Set is £19.99 RRP. Find the instructional videos on YouTube.

       

Bracelet Making Craft Sets - MyStyle Craft Super Loop Bands and 4M Cool Colour Wristlets

MyStyle Craft Design & Make Super Loop Bands

Elastic band bracelets are all the rage at Kizzy's primary school.  So much so that the children have been banned from wearing them!  But that does not deter the girls who sit and weave their own rubber band bracelets at lunchtime and wear them hidden up the sleeves of their school sweatshirts.

Needless to say, Kizzy was very excited to test out this craft set which contains enough silicone bands and S-Loops to make five colourful bracelets.  The bands came in a variety of colours and are really thick and strong so there was no breakage. 

The process is very easy.  You thread a band through lengthways, line up to two end loops and thread the next band through those loops and so on.  The fully illustrated instruction booklet takes you through what to do step by step. The bracelets take shape very quickly, with an attractive pattern forming and the end result is really good and very wearable.  Kizzy was able to work independently and enjoyed making the bracelets.  You can dismantle the bracelets and re-use the bands if necessary.

Overall, we were really impressed by this set for it's simplicity, the strength and quality of the bands and the really nice end result.

Priced at £9.99 this is a well priced craft set that children will really enjoy.  A lovely activity for the kids to do independently to make bracelets for sharing and wearing.

For more information: http://www.interplayuk.com/mystyle/super-loop-bands

4M Cool Colour Wristlets

This set makes four brightly coloured wristlets which incorporate a chain, a proper clasp and a charm.  It contains everything needed except for scissors, a ruler and sticky tape.

As you may expect with a more involved piece of jewellery, the process is a bit more complicated.  It involves attaching a length of the plastic thread to the chain and  making a loop secured with tape.  The remainder of the plastic thread is then knotted onto this loop, which was a bit fiddly.  In fact we had to get Dad in to help because the instructions were a bit too complicated for me and Kizzy!  Ian's years as a boy scout, learning to tie knots, definitely came in handy and he was able to help make the bracelet.  Once the thread was tied off, a metal ring, charm and clasp had to be attached to the end of the chain.  It's not easy opening a metal ring and then closing it securely using just your fingers, so again Dad came to the rescue.

The end result looked quite good but the knotted section was quite rigid (maybe Ian's man fingers tied the knots too tightly) but I'm sure it will give over time.  Once on the wrist it looked quite professional looking with the clasp and charm, and the intricately knotted section looked impressive.

Overall, we liked the finished wristlet but found the process a bit tricky.  Some adult help was definitely required.  At £9.95 this set makes four of the bracelets which is good value.  I'm sure with practice the technique would become easier and the end result even better. 

For more information:  http://www.greatgizmos.co.uk/cool-colour-wristlets-making-kit.html

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Both of these craft sets would make a great gift idea for girls aged 8 and over.  

Making Bracelets with the Shimmer 'n' Sparkle Cra-Z-Loom

Kizzy and Ella received a Cra-Z-Art Shimmer 'n' Sparkle Cra-Z-Loom Bracelet Maker to try out. Kids can make their own rubber band bracelets by looping and weaving colourful bands onto the loom.  The kit contains everything needed to create up to 24 colourful bracelet creations.

At first the instructions looked a bit complicated but once the girls got stuck in, the process became easier and using the hook implement, they were able to manipulate the bands to form different patterns.  As long as the instructions were followed correctly, the bracelets could be removed, and attaching an s-clip makes them instantly wearable.

The girls enjoyed making a selection of bracelets using single, double and triple loop techniques.  The odd disaster happened when a band snapped mid weave and there where a few do-overs when it all went wrong, but the overall experience was enjoyable and the end results were good.  It can be a little fiddly and I think a younger child would need some help to do the more complicated designs.

Refill packs of bands are available and once kids get the basics, they can go on to make rings, bracelets or keyring fobs and attach beads or charms to their creations.

The rubber band bracelets are a colourful and modern twist on friendship bracelets that kids will enjoy wearing and sharing.  Kizzy said it was a "fun activity that makes you lose track of time because you are so engrossed in what you are doing."

The set comprises of a loom, a weaving hook, s-clips and 600 colourful latex free rubber bands.  It is aimed at girls aged 8 and over.  It is priced at £14.99.

http://www.character-online.com/products/Cra-Z-Art-Shimmer-n-Sparkle/Cra-z-loom-Bracelet-Maker/