Klutz - Wicked Cool Friendship Bracelets product reviews

My daughter bought this book on the last round of Scholastic book orders at her school. Whenever the book orders come out she is aloud to choose one book and kits like this generally catch her eyes. They are usually quite expensive but we got it on a really good discounted price so I was happy to buy it for her as I knew she would get a lot of enjoyment out of it. She loves craft and making things and is at the age (11) where she is beginning to want to give special things to her friends like friendship bracelets.

The book has really clear step by step instructions on how to complete each bracelet idea which are accompanied by illustrations which are great for people who need a bit of a pictorial representation. When she comes to me to ask for help with how to do something I usually find the pictures the most useful. Some of the designs are really complicated so I have found that she has stuck to the basic knot design friendship bracelet which is quite simple and looks really effective.

The kit has a good amount of beads and string to get you started to get a feel for the book and then you will need to buy more. It comes with 5 larger size charms which my daughter really loved and found it hard to choose which ones to give to her friends on the bracelets she made them as she wanted to keep them all for her own bracelets she made herself. I think in the end she only gave one away which was a heart because there were two hearts in the kit so she made her and her best friend matching heart bracelets.

Miss Five was absolutely desperate to get her hands on this!! So much so that I was a little dreading the outcome. We put it to one side and did some practising with big beads and string but she was more than capable so we let loose!

I liked with this - as with all the Klutz products - that it really is for beginner dummies. The instructions are step by step and are aimed at you having absolutely no idea what you are doing! Firstly though five years old is way too young to try to do this (well for mine anyway). The braids etc were just too complex especially with Miss three trying to help. I think when she is a bit older we might try again.

The beads are very pretty and the cord is black, silver and purple. The five trinkets are a little pewter looking. One star, one bat, one moon and two hearts. I would have been totally into this when I was thirteen - fifteen years old.

I really liked the quality of this product as it was robust and didn't feel like it would break easily. ie I think you would get a lot of wear out of your creations.

I must confess to being a fan of the Klutz products I think because every step is explained and they have little hints on every page just when you need them about what to do ie "if a bead slips out of position just push it back into place". Duh!! Every step is demonstrated through a written instruction and example. For me this really gives value to the product.

This gets top marks from me and I will certainly be getting the kit back out when Miss Five is ready to tackle it herself Thanks Klutz!!

a huge thank you to KIWIreviews and Scholastic for allowing Charlotte (8) and i the honor of reviewing this amazing product.

Charlotte was really excited to receive this as she is a mega jewellery making freak. So here is the review from an 8 year olds eyes.

I really like the design, it makes it look really fun before i have even started. I like that it has good instructions as im not very good at making plaits so I can learn how to at the same time, and i can read all the words which is good because it is for kids like me. I like that it is something not too girly and that there are lots of different types to make and heaps of cool beads for me to pick from.
it was really fun to do this even if i needed a little bit of help sometimes, i like that it took a long time because it was raining and so i had something really cool to do and now i can wear them all the time and share it with my friends when we go back to school next year.

A NOTE FROM ME: overall this was a great product, I was very proud of what charlotte achieved and that she was patient enough to sit there for a good period of time to complete the craft. I personally enjoy products like this which can draw in a child and hold their attention span for more then 20 minutes, with something they can appreciate and keep in the end. the packaging was fresh, new and exciting. And the instructions were great due to the vast range of ideas and being easy to read and follow. I also Agree with charlotte on the subject of it being nice that it is not so girly, we are forever trying to find different items that are not all hearts flowers and pink so I was very impressed and grateful that we got to review this. 10/10 from us on this one. cheers jess.

Thanks to Scholastic & KIWIreviews competitions, I was lucky enough to win this Klutz. Wicked~Cool~Friendship~Bracelet~craft set That comes with a very well written step by step instructions book with graphics showing how to make beautiful and funky cool bracelets, that ranged from simple to wider and more complicated designs and a selection of fine cord, Silver embellishment beads, and assortment of small beads.Lots of cool designs to make. my Favourite is the Rose & Thorns and I wouldn't mind buying more fine cord to make a matching necklace to go with the bracelet in that design.using silver bat wings. The knots and braiding technique is very similar to the ones used in Macrame so I found it quite easy to do.you could also make other projects like beaded dangly braids for your cell phone or hand bag. extra cord and bead embellishments are available from craft supply stores. I'm sure this craft set will sell well and inspire the crafter to design and make lots of new projects.

Given the chance to review this, I was in like a shot, this time though, the junior crafter wasn't getting her mitts on it, this was all for me! I am an avid geo-cacher and as part of that we sometimes leave small trinkets in caches for others to find and swap. I've been thinking long and hard on a "signature" item that I could leave and friendship bracelets fit the bill!

This came with everything I needed to learn how to make these fun bracelets, beads, charms and cords. The instructions are clear and easy to follow with excellent tips throughout. There were plenty of materials provided to try making the different styles. Plus with vamps and such like being so popular at the moment, it makes these bracelets something that I can see any young girl keen on making. I had a lot of fun using this kit and the only downside to it was the silver cord drove me absolutely batty with how it frayed and the trouble I had threading beads onto it! Once you learn the braiding and knotting skills, these are a nice easy project to work on.

Now that I've learned some new skills, I'm enjoying making some more with my own materials and already plan on getting some more cords as well. If you are a fellow geo-cacher, you never know, you might see one of my "Roses & Thorns" friendship bracelets turn up. A++ from me.