Klutz - Loop Loom Bracelets product reviews

My kids like a lot of kids are huge Klutz fans, I must admit they are a favourite purchase for me as birthday presents, as I know they have offer quality, fun, and often educational products. I was very excited by the Loop Loom Bracelets kit, as friendship bracelets as I have known them by are historically a right of childhood. I had two very excited little girls, they both started off with plans for what they wanted to create but this was a lot more tricky than it looked! Miss 9 found it too hard and put an order in to Miss 12, who needed lots of 'help Mum' 'Mum what does this mean?' The colour instructions were clear, and well presented, but it is just takes a little practice to get going with the bracelets, but very soon Miss 12 was working through some of the difficult designs, and adding in beads into the bracelets.

We did have to deviate the equipment a little bit, the plastic purple hook was just didn't work as effectively as one of Nana's metal crocheted hooks, once she was using that she was away. She managed to make around 12 bracelets out of the kit, which I thought was pretty good going. I had taken the kit away on holiday with us to keep the kids busy, but there was no scissors in the kit, - which caused a little panic, as I'm so used to Klutz kits having everything you require I didn't check, so for those of you who are purchasing to take away remember to pack some scissors. To sum up, this was another great Klutz kit, and my daughter learnt a new skill, and she managed to make all her friends happy with friendship bracelets. Well done Klutz, another great kit that will make a wonderful present, and it keeps tween's happy and busy, no easy task!

When I seen this become available to review I saw the word Loop Loom and thought it was one of those rubber band loom kits. They have been such a craze in our house lately with my daughter making hundreds of the loopy bracelets. When this arrived I saw straight away that it was in fact a little different but I knew my girl would enjoy it all the same as she loves craft and making things.

In this kit you make crochet style bracelets by making loops on a loom much like those little knitting kits that were around when I was a kid. It all seemed very confusing to start with as we had had one of those knitters but just couldn't get the hang of it in the past. The great thing is that the instructions in this book are so clear and simple that you get the hang of it in no time. The instructions are accompanied by clear illustrations giving you a visual aid to help you along which was much appreciated.

In no time we had created our first bracelet, it really was quick so I am sure there will be dozens more bracelets created by the end of the day. The kit comes with lots of different coloured stretchy strings so you can choose from a good range of colours to make each bracelet a little bit different. The strings are great quality and some of them even have glitter in them making them pretty special. There are also a good number of beads to string on to your bracelets.

As a kit it has everything you need (minus the scissors) to create a good number of bracelets. There is a handy ruler for measuring your cords and handy trays for storing your beads in as you work. As the loom is a well constructed wooden and metal loom you can continue using this kit for a long time by just buying replacement cords, so it has great value for money. Would make a great Christmas present for a young girl into making their own jewelery.

I got this book to review in the latest round of review books. I was interested to see what this would be like. The loom band craze has all but passed us by. My daughter talks about it sometimes, but it's more to tell me that someone has some, not to ask if she can have a kit. She does seem to recognise them in stores but never asks.

The Klutz set is quite different to the rubber band loops though. For me, it was a bit like stepping back in time with a little bit of terror mixed in. You see, I have never gotten the hang of crochet. The word strikes fear into my heart. I have had my Nana and mother both try and try to teach me this skill and I could not get it. They were just too fast. In this book the instructions are really well set out. The illustrated helpers were actually helpful! And the descriptions of what to do were great. I managed to make the appropriate knot to start my bracelet.

I did some crochet, very slowly. But realising that what I really wanted was a nice chunky tube style bracelet, I stopped and then started doing the crochet knitting instead. This took me right back to knitting on the little wooden doll I had. But unlike that knitting, the elastic bands never tangled. Even when I was doing two colours at the same time. The instructions were always on key. The tips helped as well, especially around when to place the beads onto the elastic and how to control your knitting as it comes out the bottom.

I managed a two tone purple bracelet with beads within an hour and my daughter very proudly took it to school with her the next day. She said that she got lots of compliments on it and she loved it. She then ordered one for her sister as well. At this stage she doesn't seem too keen to try herself, but she struggles with instructions at the best of times and is not typical for her age with these things.

Aside from the book, this kit comes with almost everything you could need to make the bracelets. You get a baggie of beads, lots of colours of elastic. You get a cardboard work bench and some trays for the beads which were great. I liked the triangle shape of them too as they helped tidy the beads back into their bag afterwards. Genius shape selection for the win!