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Flair Cool Cardz
by karalouk
My daughter had been asking for Hello Kitty Cool Cardz for absolutely ages (after seeing an advert on television for it). I kept putting it off as the age recommendation was 6+ years and she would have been too young for it. However this Christmas I decided to finally buy it for her! (She's almost 6)
Cool Cardz are made by a ... company called Flair. We have the Hello Kitty Cool Cardz set but there is also an unthemed Cool Cardz set available.
Hello Kitty Cool Cardz comes packaged in a cardboard box, with instructions inside. The instructions are simple to follow, they come in written and diagram form (so simple for youngsters to follow). There is nothing to set up and you're ready to start right away. The contents include 1 unit, 4 Hello Kitty sticker sheets, 15 laminates, 15 cards, 2 Hello Kitty ink stampers, ink pad, glitter gel pen, purple pen, 2 frames, 1 card envelope and 2 ribbons.
The unit is made of plastic, can be wiped clean and has a handle on top to carry it around. It's a bright pink and black colour, and looks pretty 'cool'. It has a place to keep the stampers (and ink) on top and also has a drawer inside it where you can store all of the bits and pieces (except for the 2 frames which are too large to fit inside), which is very handy. The unit has a slider on it - this is where you laminate the Cool Cardz. Fear not, there is no heating or glueing involved!
To start you must choose a card (there are 3 different Hello Kitty designs to choose from) and decorate it with the pens, stickers and stampers. You can write, draw, stick and stamp whatever you wish. It really encourages creativity, my daughter gets really stuck in and has created some really good cards. Once you are happy with your card, you can then laminate it. You must get a laminate sheet and place it on the unit/slider, then put your card on top and slide the slider across. This magically laminates the front and back of the card and transforms it in to a proper card. My daughter was thrilled the first time she saw her Cool Card - we had no idea how 'grown up' her card was going to look! They look very smart, shiny and durable when they're laminated. I had to demonstrate the laminating process a couple of times for my daughter (it's a little bit fiddly at first) but afterwards she could do it by herself with ease. The laminating process is quite quick and simple. You are advised to push down on the cards after they have been laminated to get rid of any bubbles, although I must say that we haven't experienced any bubbles (although it is a good idea to push down on the cards to make sure they don't come unstuck around the edges). I would say that the most important thing to remember when laminating is to hold down the card because if the card lifts up, it could all go wrong!
After you have made your Cool Card, you can then get creative again and choose what to do with it. There are 2 lovely Hello Kitty cardboard frames included, my daughter framed one her cards and stuck it on her bedroom wall. She framed the other one and gave it to her cousin! She has made numerous personalised cards for friends and family (a couple of them were even tied up in a bow). I have my very own Cool Card which I keep in my purse! There is also a cardboard envelope which you can place your Cool Cardz inside (to store or give as a gift) - my daughter is hanging on to this one, although it's my birthday soon so I'm pretty sure it will make an appearance then! The only downside is that I don't think there are enough accessories included, it would be much better if there were a few more bits - my daughter has more cards left to make but no more accessories to decorate or display them...
Another small downside is that after you have used your 20 cards and laminates, you need to buy a refill pack which generally costs about £7.00. This can work out costly if your child goes through their cards quickly! I haven't actually seen Hello Kitty Cool Cardz refills in shops either, only online.
You can buy Hello Kitty Cool Cardz in most toy shops etc. It is widely available and generally costs between £15.00 - £20.00. Ours cost £17.00 from Tesco. This may seem a little expensive, especially since you will need to buy refills on top. However my daughter likes it and it seems like a good quality toy, so I don't mind paying it.
I wasn't too sure how this toy was going to go down. Quite often my daughter has high expectations of certain toys because of how they're portrayed on the adverts - this results in a lot of toys being a total disappointment! However I'm pleased to say that we both approve of this toy. My daughter loves arts and crafts (even more so the older she gets) and has spent lots of time playing with her Hello Kitty Cool Cardz. She loves creating, decorating, displaying and giving her own personal 'grown up' cards. It's fun, creative, simple, mess-free and I'm happy to recommend it.
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Galt Sparkle Jewellery Box
by abbadabbado
My daughter loves her arts and crafts, so when she was given this jewellery box to make a few weeks before Christmas she was kept busy for ages making it look pretty.
** In the box **
Inside the box you get a string cardboard / paper Mache heart shaped box that is pink in colour on the outside with a massive variety ... of shapes and numbers positioned on every side except the base. Inside the box is lined with a pink felt material and a small mirror in the lid. Also included are sheets of different coloured and shaped jewels that are self-adhesive.
The idea of the product is to stick by numbers with the jewels to the box to create a sparkling jewellery box for a little girl's treasure.
** Making the box pretty **
S mentioned you need to take the self-adhesive jewels and stick them to the box in the correct places. There is a sheet of instructions which tell you which jewel relates to which number. We started with number one and worked our way up to the final number twelve.
I have to admit to helping my daughter with this product, not because she couldn't manage herself but because it was a fun product to make and we had fun completing it together.
The jewels fit nicely into the clear shapes on the box, so from a parent's perspective I thought this was good for teaching children numbers, shapes and symmetry as the design on the box was symmetrical.
All in all it took us a couple of hours to complete together, so this would take a child even longer if they were to do themselves.
** Suitability **
The jewellery box is aimed at children age six and over. My daughter is five years old but she managed very well. There were a couple of jewels that were tiny and they probably should have been placed on the box first rather than last. As they were number twelve we had left them to the end and they were quite fiddly to place correctly.
** After Making **
This jewellery box is designed to have a use obviously after making rather than just being a craft product which makes the product better value for money compared to others that don't really have a use after making.
I did notice there were a couple of design faults on the box which could be improved such as there is nothing to open the box at the front. It could have done with a small ribbon catch for children to be able to open without having to try and find a gap. The box lid also becomes quite heavy when all the jewels have been stuck on and that prevents it from staying open on its own.
I also think that heavy handed children may break the back reinforced seal easily if they force open too many times.
Despite all that though it's a very sturdy box and if looked after I think this will last a long time.
** Overall **
This box retails for around the £10 mark which is expensive for a craft project but as it turns into a jewellery box afterwards I think it will make a lovely gift. My daughter has her bits and pieces in it and it's a good size for all jewellery which is another plus point.
If you're looking for a no mess project that can be completed by children without too much assistance then this would be a good buy.
If a jewel is placed on the box by accident in the wrong place, I found they could be removed easily without damaging the box. I also found they stayed in place well and we haven't lost a jewel from the box yet and it's carried around quite a lot believe me.
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John Adams Chocolate Coin Maker
by carlz2001uk
Before my eldest daughter broke up for the recent half term, a letter came home explaining that after the holidays they would be learning all about chocolate. She is only in class 2 so I assumed they would most likely be learning about how it's made, how it melts and can be made into different shapes, so I thought during the holiday it ... would be good to do some activities with chocolate at home. When I offered to do this with her, she excitedly told me she had seen an advert on the TV for a chocolate coin maker and pretty please with a cherry on the top could we get it?! I set to work looking for said chocolate coin maker and soon came across the John Adams one. We have lots of experience of John Adams sets, some good, some not so good, but I decided to take the plunge and pay the £12 to buy it (RRP £14.99).
In preparation for the chocolate coin makers arrival, I stocked up on lots of chocolate buttons which were recommended to use, plus coloured buttons from the baking aisle in the supermarket, so we could experiment with orange and strawberry flavoured chocolate for something a little different.
The chocolate maker is described as a little mini factory which comes with a melting unit, moulds and lids, gold foil sheets and embossing discs. To use it is a fairly long process, you melt the chocolate in the melting unit with warm water. I can see why it recommends warm, as obviously young children and boiling water don't mix, but this process is painfully slow. You place the circular moulds into the unit and then place the chocolate buttons into the moulds to begin the melting process. Once it has melted you place a lid on top of the coin and then put in either your fridge or your freezer. If you have the time to wait I would recommend putting in your fridge but this can take 40 minutes to set, whereas it will set in around 20 minutes in the freezer. While you are waiting for the coins, you can take the opportunity to make the foils. Once the foils are on the coin you can emboss the foils to any of 20 messages or pictures including Happy Birthday, Good Luck, Best Mum, Merry Christmas, or pictures of a football or smiley face. You can also make your own design with the tools provided. It is slow to make the chocolate, etc but once the sets are in the fridge/freezer you are playing a waiting game. You are able to buy add on packs which include extra moulds but I thought this was just a rip off to be honest.
The gold foil that comes with the set, really isn't enough to make more than a handful of coins and after this you will need to buy some more, which I wasn't particularly happy about. Luckily it works well with standard kitchen foil, but I still wasn't impressed by the small amount of foil supplied.
So my thoughts on the set? We didn't particularly like it. I found it fiddly and a bit of a nuisance to be honest and after the first time we used it I went online and bought some chocolate lolly moulds and some lolly sticks. We had much more fun making chocolate moustaches on a lolly stick and sticking all kinds of colours in. I was able to heat the chocolate at much higher temperatures and help my daughter to pour the chocolate in and decorate them. If you plan on making anything chocolaty with your child, I would recommend making lolly's at home yourself as opposed to buying this machine. It will be going to the charity shop at the earliest convenience.
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