It is my daughter's 5th birthday next Wednesday as as usual, I have the trouble of finding presents that my daughter will like. What I mean is that my family end up giving me the money and I get their presents for them. I find this really difficult as she has a lot of toys and she hasn't really asked for anything. My dad usually gives her, her present early too as we have a large family and becomes bombarded with presents on her actual birthday.


I noticed Hama beads in Argos and thought that my daughter would have a great time with these. I decided t buy from Amazon as at the time it was cheaper and I managed to get the Disney princess set for just under £15 with free postage. I think this is a fair price to pay as the set does give your child to have hours and hours of fun using this set, although it does not look much. I made my purchase and it actually came this morning. I had the usual moan for my daughter as she did not want to go town and instead play with her new toy but we managed a hassle free shopping trip and she looked forward to coming home to play with her new set.

When I opened the box there was a large bag inside which contained 3000 brightly colored beads. There was a special section within the box so your child can open the bag and put the beads loose inside making it easier for them to access the beads. The set also contains 3 plastic grids to work the design on, one pattern template and two ironing sheets. I found the instructions very simple to understand and once I read what to do and explained it to my daughter we were off...


I found this set great. I really enjoyed myself to be honest. There are different patterns that come with the set allowing you to make a lot of different characters from the Disney films like Ariel and flounder the fish. I was quite surprised to how well my daughter took to completing these patterns considering she had never even attempted to do anything like this before. The beads were quite fiddly but she managed well and I even had a go myself. It is very time consuming and the slightest knock send your beads flying everywhere as they are not very secure on the grid which I found a bit annoying at times. This happened to me on several occasions with made my daughter laugh knowing id have to start again.


When you have finished your pattern, you then have to iron it to make the beads stick together. You do this by placing an ironing sheet over the pattern and then it says to run the iron over the top. This then melts the beads and they stick together. I had to keep doing this as the beads were not melting properly and this took a bit of time so longer than stated on the instructions. Once the ironing bit is finished you can then peel the pattern from the grid and when you turn it over it looks perfect. You have your very own Disney princess picture. I found these to be lovely and a really nice keepsake. My daughter has made quite a few to send to family and friends. I think it would be a lovely idea to stick these on the front of Christmas cards etc...


If you would like to try Hama beads. I would recommend that you purchased a set from Argos. I bought another one this afternoon as I was so impressed with this one and it is so much more value. This set is not a themed one but has patterns to make rabbits and flowers etc. The set contains more than double the amount of beads (7500) and is also cheaper. The set costs £9.95 but is in a 2 for £15 offer. I got two sets as I thought this was a bargain. I am either going to put the other set up for Christmas as a present for my niece or use it as a spare for extra beads for my daughter.