Chloe loves all things arty, pretty and make and do Jewellery sets always appeal, but they very rarely live up to the expectation levels.
When we first saw Colour Splasherz advertised I thought they looked great a fun kit for young girls to make some jewellery with an added twist of being able to customise the beads that change colour when you place them in water.
So when we were sent the Purse Set to review we couldn't wait to give it ago.
The colour splasherz Purse set is made by Character, and is priced around £12.99 from all good toy retailers.
Included in the set is a Purse shaped clear plastic storage container, a pink plastic square box, lots of colourful non colour changing beads, a selection of small colour changing beads and 2 larger round circle colour changing beads and backing pendant holders, 2 bracelet and 2 necklace chains.
The overall quality of the items is good, the beads are easy to thread and lovely and colourful, the chains are strong and have built in fastening so no fiddly knots needed.
The kit is aimed at children aged 5 and above, and the threading and making of the chains would be suitable for the younger people in this age range.
BUT the all important changing of the colours is not at all easy.
The instructions are simple, fill one side of the purse container with very hot (but not boiling) water and one side with VERY cold water.
Then dip the beads from one side to the other using the lifting tray connected inside the purse.
Now this all sounds great, however when you dunk the beads from hot to cold water all that seems to happen is that the beads completely change colour, and Chloe was abit disappointed with the difficulty to create pretty patterns on the beads. It is possible to make them half and half coloured, but it is very difficult to get any more creative than that, we tried splashing and dripping water on the beads and managed to make some pretty patterns but it was not instantly obvious what or how we should be doing this.
Included in the kit is a sheet of stickers, which the instructions state you can use to create fun designs.
We tried this and cut outvarious shapes on the stickers and stuck them on to the larger beads, then dunked the beads. Following the instructions to dip in the coldwater first, and then dry, then stick the sticker on, then dunk in the hot water.
But on removing the sticker, the beads had completely changed colour, and no pattern was left, I am not sure if our water temperatures were not quite right, it does state in the instructions that if the colour changing is not working how you expect try to make the water hotter or colder.
You can also use ice to 'draw' on the beads, but this is also extremely fiddly and does not give the effect Chloe expected.
Chloe loved the look of the pendants but thought the colourful non changing beads were abit 'young' so she didn't add any of these to her necklaces. and she ended up just placing a plane bead into the backing.
When I came back to the set however and gave it another go, I did manage to get a heart design into the beads, I stuck on the cut out heart shape sticker on the bead and then very very quickly dunked the bead into the hot water, and then removed the sticker, it did take me a few attempts, timing and temperature of the water is key.
It looked lovely, and adding into the pendant backing made a very stylish jewellery piece.
Unfortunately, however, after a few hours when Chloes body temperature rose, the heart pattern disappeared.
In some ways the fact the beads can keep on changing colour can be seen as both a positive and a negative, it means you can keep having another go, but it also can become annoying when you eventually get the pattern your after and very quickly it completely disappears!
There are other sets in this range, bigger jewellery making stations which may or may not offer more ways to pattern the beads. And for the young children aged between 5 - 8 they may not be as bothered about the ability to create a specific design and be more impressed with dunking from hot to cold and watching the beads change from yellow to red, or blue to pink.
Older children however I would say will get quickly frustrated with this kit so for the price it may not represent good value for money.
Chloe does like the pendant and has decided it is a 'mood' necklace, as it changes colour sometimes due to the heat of the room/body temperature. But priced at just over £12 it is an expensive novelty.
When we first saw Colour Splasherz advertised I thought they looked great a fun kit for young girls to make some jewellery with an added twist of being able to customise the beads that change colour when you place them in water.
So when we were sent the Purse Set to review we couldn't wait to give it ago.
The colour splasherz Purse set is made by Character, and is priced around £12.99 from all good toy retailers.
Included in the set is a Purse shaped clear plastic storage container, a pink plastic square box, lots of colourful non colour changing beads, a selection of small colour changing beads and 2 larger round circle colour changing beads and backing pendant holders, 2 bracelet and 2 necklace chains.
The overall quality of the items is good, the beads are easy to thread and lovely and colourful, the chains are strong and have built in fastening so no fiddly knots needed.
The kit is aimed at children aged 5 and above, and the threading and making of the chains would be suitable for the younger people in this age range.
BUT the all important changing of the colours is not at all easy.
The instructions are simple, fill one side of the purse container with very hot (but not boiling) water and one side with VERY cold water.
Then dip the beads from one side to the other using the lifting tray connected inside the purse.
Now this all sounds great, however when you dunk the beads from hot to cold water all that seems to happen is that the beads completely change colour, and Chloe was abit disappointed with the difficulty to create pretty patterns on the beads. It is possible to make them half and half coloured, but it is very difficult to get any more creative than that, we tried splashing and dripping water on the beads and managed to make some pretty patterns but it was not instantly obvious what or how we should be doing this.
Included in the kit is a sheet of stickers, which the instructions state you can use to create fun designs.We tried this and cut outvarious shapes on the stickers and stuck them on to the larger beads, then dunked the beads. Following the instructions to dip in the coldwater first, and then dry, then stick the sticker on, then dunk in the hot water.
But on removing the sticker, the beads had completely changed colour, and no pattern was left, I am not sure if our water temperatures were not quite right, it does state in the instructions that if the colour changing is not working how you expect try to make the water hotter or colder.
You can also use ice to 'draw' on the beads, but this is also extremely fiddly and does not give the effect Chloe expected.
Chloe loved the look of the pendants but thought the colourful non changing beads were abit 'young' so she didn't add any of these to her necklaces. and she ended up just placing a plane bead into the backing.
When I came back to the set however and gave it another go, I did manage to get a heart design into the beads, I stuck on the cut out heart shape sticker on the bead and then very very quickly dunked the bead into the hot water, and then removed the sticker, it did take me a few attempts, timing and temperature of the water is key.
It looked lovely, and adding into the pendant backing made a very stylish jewellery piece.
Unfortunately, however, after a few hours when Chloes body temperature rose, the heart pattern disappeared.In some ways the fact the beads can keep on changing colour can be seen as both a positive and a negative, it means you can keep having another go, but it also can become annoying when you eventually get the pattern your after and very quickly it completely disappears!
There are other sets in this range, bigger jewellery making stations which may or may not offer more ways to pattern the beads. And for the young children aged between 5 - 8 they may not be as bothered about the ability to create a specific design and be more impressed with dunking from hot to cold and watching the beads change from yellow to red, or blue to pink.
Older children however I would say will get quickly frustrated with this kit so for the price it may not represent good value for money.
Chloe does like the pendant and has decided it is a 'mood' necklace, as it changes colour sometimes due to the heat of the room/body temperature. But priced at just over £12 it is an expensive novelty.
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