Gel-a-Peel Sparkle Bead Station – Review
Ever since we discovered Gel-a-Peel last year, the girls have been huge fans. We have tried the majority of sets within the range, made jewellery, cards and decorated anything and everything the girls could get their hands on, and we’ve been really impressed with them all so far.
So when we were asked to review the new Sparkle Bead Station, I was confident that we would like it, and going by the girls reaction when I told them about it, they were super excited to try out the latest product in the range.
The Sparke Bead Station comes ready assembled, a huge bonus for me!
The idea is to turn the handle with one hand, whilst applying the gel with the other, to create various patterned sparkle beads in two different sizes. Whilst Eva demanded the first go, she found it quite difficult to turn the rod and squeeze the gel at the same time and so Megan stepped up to turn it for her.
This didn’t quite go to plan as Megan was turning the wheel far slower than Eva would have liked, and then the opposite, far faster than she could keep up with!
As you can imagine, this didn’t end well and so, for the sake of my sanity, I stepped up as Chief Wheel Turner!!
Once we had got the hang of it, it was easy to get a steady flow of the gel to create the beads, although due to the beads needing to meet up at both ends, it was necessary to use a thicker layer of gel than we have done previously. I’m sure it would have been far easier for Eva to concentrate had Megan not been sat at the side of her demanding her turn, over and over and over!!!
I was worried whether Megan would be able to manage it, especially with the sets being aimed at 8 years +, but she was so excited to give it a try!
It was so lovely to see Eva demand that she turn the wheel for Megan, giving her words of encouragement, and plenty of advice, and actually Megan did a really good job with it. As long as a child is old enough to squeeze the gel with the right amount of pressure, and keep their hand steady, I would say this is suitable for younger children too.
Once the girls had made several beads each, we left the beads to dry on the drying rack. With previous sets the gel has dried within 30 minutes at the most but, due to using a thicker layer of gel, these beads took a couple of hours to dry completely – not helped by the fact that our heating was on full whack, what is this weather all about?!
Having promised the girls that they could finish their jewellery the following day, they were very impatient to check out their creations. I was pleased to see that all of our beads had dried and although using a thicker layer may have taken longer for them to dry, it was definitely worth the wait.
Eva was over the moon with her necklace, and I was so impressed that, at just five years old, she had managed to make it entirely by herself. We now have many more beads on the drying rack this evening, and tomorrow they plan to make a bracelet each, a ring and some earrings for lucky old me!!
The Sparkle Bead Station has a RRP of £24.99 which, considering the amount of beads you can create, works out at under 25 pence a bead. That’s pretty cheap for designer jewellery!!
Ooh I used to have something similar when I was younger, not that I was any good at making crafts mind but it was a lot of fun! I like the sound of the gel peel to make jewellery as does your girls by the look of it x
The girls love anything creative, they are so like me at that age! xx
This looks like so much fun, makes me wish I was a little kid again! One of our nieces birthday is coming up and we had no idea what to get her, I think we will have to check out this cute little sparkle bead kit!
It’s lots of fun, we love the whole Gel-a-Peel range! xx
This post was wonderful – your girls are so precious! I used to do plenty of things like this when I was little. This set looks wonderful though, I might get it for my cousin! x
Lots of love,
Marina Rosie x
http://marinawriteslife.blogspot.fr/
Thank you Marina, they love making anything they can get their hands on. I was just the same at that age too, it’s lovely to see them being creative. xx
Ooooh this looks lovely and like lots of fun! I always take the age recommendations with a pinch of salt as it’s amazing what some children are able to do.
I agree, unless there’s a risk of a child swallowing any of the pieces, I think it’s fun to see what they can create, even if it’s just a big mess! xx
Oh these look such fun the girls look really into it. I loved similar sets as a child
Me too, I was always making something! xx
Its so adorable to watch little kids crafting ♥ My nieces are spending all their time on tablets watching videos 🙁 Also, the little girl’s face in the 6th picture is hilarious and adorable! 😛 ♥
Hahah Megan was desperate for a go and Eva was taking way too long! xx
This looks like good fun! Sophie is much too young (she would swallow all the bits!), but I have to say I pretty much ignore some of the age restrictions as kids often find a way to make something work! That photo of Megan’s face is also brilliant!! x
I agree, I think older children would probably create “better” results, but I love the imperfect things my children create at this age! xx
I’ve seen a lot about the Gel-A-Peel brand and their products sound so unique! This looks like the kind of activity I would have LOVED as a child and I’m sure my daughter would enjoy it when she’s old enough 🙂
Definitely, I would totally recommend it! xx
This looks fab, i love craft things like this. My daughter is nearly 3 and I think she would like this even though it may be aimed at 8 + year olds.
Yes I agree, I have no qualms with letting my children play with it at this age. They love the whole range! xx
These sounds like such a fun thing for kids to play with. I always loved dressing up, but this would be super playful.
Me too! We love Gel-a-Peel! xx
Oh my gosh!
This product looks so fantastic.
Please tell little one I love her design, I’d wear it myself!
Love the accompanying images hehe
Ahh thank you. She was so proud of herself! xx
Wow this looks so fun, I love how they are using their motor skills while having fun! I wish I had little girls!
Definitely, Megan has hypermobility so anything like this is really quite therapeutic for her! xx
This looks to be a fun activity for young ones. would be good for my 3 year old..
Definitely. It’s recommended for children aged 8 and over but I have no qualms about allowing my younger children to use it! xx
Aw the girls look like they really enjoyed this! It looks fab and a good thing for the rainy days!
They loved it! So many rainy days at the moment! xx
lol at Megan’s face. Greatly captured 🙂 These look so much fun. I wish they’d been around when I was little! Great value for money too.
Me too! I had a lot of Filo which I made jewellery with, I loved that! xx
How fun are these?! When I was younger my granny and I used to spend hours making things like this! I remember I always felt to pretty when I went home with my new jewelry!
Ahh I was the same! I still enjoy doing it with the children now. xx
That looks like lots of fun. I think my daughter is a bit too old for this but she would have loved it a few years ago.
I enjoyed having a turn too, hehe! xx
Ah, they are so adorable working together and they are so focused and enjoying it. We didn’t have funny and creative stuff like these when I was a child
I loved anything like this as a child! My girls go crazy over it! xx
Girls are looking lovely doing the stuff. You can see they’ve enjoyed their Sparkle Bead Station.
-One Sporty Mother
They love it, we’ve got a whole array of gel jewellery now! xx
This looks like a lot of fun, I think Eliza would love to give it a go
We are huge fans of Gel-a-Peel! xx
This looks really fun and that picture of your little one looking annoyed is brilliant, they are super cute! My girls would love to get their hands on one of these.
Hahah she was so grumpy because she wanted a turn!! xx
This looks like a fun creative toy for little girls. I will get this for my niece. Her 8th birthday will be in June, and she does love making her own beaded bracelets.
I was just the same at that age, I wanted to make anything and everything! xx
Looks like lots of fun (despite the rather excellent grumpy face 🙂 ) !
Hahah the grumpy face is the best!! xx
good review, and sure loads of fun on display from this one. good you did a good job on it too.
Thank you, we really enjoyed it! xx
That necklace is so cool, Loads of fun for little ones. Eva looks like a little model
Ahh thank you, she was so happy with it! xx
It’s a great activity for rainy days and sleepovers. Not sure I could wait for the drying time either! The results look fantastic 🙂
Definitely! Our other sets have all dried so fast, 15 minutes max. xx
This looks brilliant! Anything that helps kids get creative is a winner for me. I LOVE little Megan’s face when she was waiting for her turn bless! 🙂 x
Hahah she does pull some funny faces! xx
I was never good in crafts as a kid! Looks like your girls had so much fun crafting! They are adorable!
I loved crafts, they are so like me at that age! xx
These bring me back to my childhood! I remember making these little necklaces and bracelets with my friends. I have a younger cousin who would definitely love this!
I was the same, I was always making something! xx
That looks fantastic, my daughter would love these I’m sure. Will check them out!
The girls are Gel-a-Peel crazy! xx