A little while ago, the lovely Merry from Merrily Me was on twitter looking for parent bloggers to review some of their Hama Beads kits. Well, the girls are big Hama beads fans so I scuttled off to have a look. Now, being a naughty mummy, there is always a finished Hama beads creation sitting on the ironing board waiting to be ironed and I can never be bothered to plug the iron in and wait for it to warm up just for one Hama beads shape, so they inevitably get knocked and broken before I get around to it.
Therefore, my little eyes lit up when I discovered the existence of Hama beads kits that need no ironing ! This does mean that you can only use each board once but I still think that's a much better idea. The name on the box - Press & Play - tells you all you need to know. You just use the little enclosed tool to press the beads firmly onto the peg board and that's it ! You can put them away in the box unfinished - no more holding your breath as you carefully try to move the half-finished creations from the dining room table to somewhere safe without destroying an afternoon's work in one clumsy move ! - so they're perfect for kids who get bored before they've finished the whole thing in one go or who are a bit clumsy and keep knocking their beads over.
We received two kits to try out, each one containing 2500 beads and two differently shaped peg boards - Safari, with a lion and giraffe, and Pets, with a dog and cat - but there are others to choose from. I'd been warned that the press-on beads were quite difficult to press on but both 10-year-old Sophie and 6-year-old Juliette got to grips with them straight away, starting off by using the little presser tool for pushing them in, then eventually just using their fingers. If you accidentally put a bead in the wrong place, you can remove it with a lot of careful wiggling with a pair of tweezers but it's not easy, which is great news when you have a cheeky 2-year-old little brother intent on messing up all your hard work.
We were really excited to discover that you also get to make 3D models, because the peg boards are double-sided and the model shows you the design for the front and the back. Included in the box are little pieces that allow you to stand up your model, which had the girls excitedly deciding where they would put them on show in their rooms.
I asked the girls - who are total Hama Bead enthusiasts - which ones they preferred, the normal Hama beads or the Press and Play ones, and they both said Press and Play without a second's hesitation. Although I'm sure that's largely because they know they won't have to wait for me to get around to ironing their finished designs any more ! #Mummyfail !
For those of you looking for new designs to use with your regular Hama beads, you'll find loads of lovely designs here : http://www.patchofpuddles.co.uk/archives/category/hama-beads
For those of you looking for new designs to use with your regular Hama beads, you'll find loads of lovely designs here : http://www.patchofpuddles.co.uk/archives/category/hama-beads
star rating : 5/5
RRP : £9.95 for a kit with 2500 beads and two single-use, double-sided boards
for more information : http://www.craftmerrily.co.uk/section/432/1/midi-hama-press-system
Other reviews you may be interested in :
Oh, I am so pleased you liked them - that's a fantastic review - thank you!
ReplyDeletethe ironing had always put me off. until now i hadnt heard of these non iron ones. will make a nice stocking filler
ReplyDeletethe great thing is, they can be put away when they not finished and you want to come back to them another day, unlike the normal ones
Delete