Shimmer n Sparkle Crystal Craze Gem Cuff Bracelets kit review

We always love the craft kits in Character's CRA-Z-ART range so we were over the moon to receive the Shimmer n Sparkle Crystal Craze Gem Cuff Bracelets set to review (even if it is a bit of a mouthful !). It's a simple kit aimed at girls aged 6+ and two of the Madhouse mini-testers gave it a try - 10-year-old Juliette and 5-year-old Pierre, proving that it appeals to children of both sexes (although he didn't want to wear the finished articles - he gave them to me, awww!). You can see how they got on in our vlog below.

You can see why I don't do many vlogs - Pierre always manages to sabotage them !!

The finished bracelets are very pretty and they take literally a few minutes to put together. The braided one (that you can see at the end of the vlog) is particularly striking and looks like it should have been much more complicated to make than it really was.

There is one item in the kit that we didn't use - the shiny metallic thread.

The instructions tell you to wrap it around the gems then glue it into place but Juliette and Pierre both decided that they didn't want to do this for some reason. Pierre thought it would be too fiddly and Juliette thought it wouldn't look as pretty and didn't want to risk ruining her already very pretty creations.

Here's what they should look like if you use the thread - I must admit, I don't think it really adds much to the finished design !

It's a lovely kit that's very simple and quick to use so children of all ages could quite successfully make the bracelets, even if they're slightly younger than the suggested age range. I did think it was a very big box for what you get inside (excess packaging is one of my bugbears !) but this is probably to justify a higher price tag because it is quite expensive for what you actually get (5 bracelets, 20 gem sticker strips and some thread). Both Pierre and Juliette had great fun and were extremely proud of their finished creations so they thought it was well worth it.

star rating : 4.5/5

RRP : £14.99

for more information : http://www.character-online.com/products/Cra-Z-Art-Shimmer-n-Sparkle/Crystal-Craze-Gem-Cuff-Bracelets/

Disclosure : We received the product in order to write an honest review.