When I was a child my Mum would often by me craft kits for birthdays and at Christmas, each year I would look forward to finding out which craft kit I would be given next and I definitely think it was those kits which spurred on a passion for crafting that has stuck with me. It pleases me greatly that the Beans share my love of crafting and so when I saw an opportunity to review the Surf Style Jewellery kit from Interplay I jumped at it.
The kit contains everything needed to make 12 pieces of jewellery including; instruction booklet, threads, beads, charms and findings. The only extra item that you should need to use is a pair of scissors although I also used pins and craft glue.
The kit is designed for children aged 8 years and over so Little Bean is slightly too young for it but bearing in mind the crafting we have done previously she was able to tackle some of the more simple tasks with only a little help from me. She was able to do simple threading and knotting herself, she struggled slightly with opening and closing the jump rings.
The thing that I love about this type of craft kit is the sense of achievement it gives to children when they complete something themselves. It gives them a big confidence boost and when done together with a parent, like we did, it’s a great way of spending quality bonding time together. Having made lots of jewellery myself over the years this kit was right up my street and so I was able to quickly make the above teal beaded bracelet for Little Bean whilst she was busy making the turtle charm necklace and shell bracelet. She was over the moon with her beaded bracelet and thought I amazing!!
The instruction booklet which comes with the kit is very clear and mostly easy to follow with good pictures to follow. I must admit though, even I struggled with Project 9 – The Twist Bracelet/Anklet. I just couldn’t for the life of me work out how to knot the two pieces of thread onto the main line of the piece so I’m going to have to look at that one again.
One other area we struggled with a little was getting some of the beads onto the thread as the ends fray quite easily. As a jewellery crafter myself the best tip I can offer is to coat the end of the threads you want to use with beads in glue and roll between your fingers then leave to dry completely. Once dry, use a sharp pair of scissors to cut across the glued end diagonally to make a pointed end to the thread which will make it easier to thread the beads on. If this is still a little bit tight you can also you a pin to help push the thread through the hole of the bead but obviously this would need adult supervision.
On the whole we were extremely impressed with the quality of this kit and especially with the amount of thread and accessories which are included as it gives you a good choice of colours and customisation.
DISCLAIMER: We were given the Interplay Surf Style Jewellery Kit free of charge for the purpose of this post. All words, images and opinions are my own and may not be copied without my permission. I have not been instructed what to write.