It was my girl's birthday last weekend and they were super pleased to receive the "Boho Chic" themed Cool Cardz Scratcheez to review as it meant they could make little thank-you cards for the girls that came along and celebrated with them. You can make all sorts though, whatever takes your fancy - party invites, VIP passes, secret club cards etc.
The Cool Cardz range is something most young girls (aged roughly 6 - 12 years) will enjoy as it combines creativity with cool and there are loads of different sets to choose from. You make little credit card sized laminated cards for any occasion. This boxed set comes with a Boho Chic handbag design studio, 20 cards and laminate pockets as well as some gems, two sheets of stickers, a pen, a couple of ring stampers and the new scratcheez stickers.
These are the part that my girls really enjoyed. You can use the supplied tool to scratch a design into them or you can write a secret message on the card (one pen included) and then add one of the scratcheez stickers over the top of the laminate and your friend can scratch it off to reveal the message. There are two sheets, one with black stickers that scratch through to a multicoloured zig-zag pattern underneath and the gold coloured stickers that scratch through and reveal whatever you have underneath - writing, the pattern on the card or you could even put a little photo underneath it.
There are a good variety of card designs included and the cards are good in that they have shapes on them that match the scratcheez stickers exactly so you know just where to write or draw your secret message.
I'm pleased to say it was all super simple and my 9 year old's were able to just get on and play by themselves. I do hate it when craft packs are so fiddly that I have to be involved every step of the way. Independence is a great thing for the girls to learn.
Here is how to make your cool cards -
Step 1 - Choose your card, write messages, do drawings, add stickers or scratch into the scratcheez sticker. Ensure you are happy with your design.
Step 2 - Take one of the laminate pouches and slowly place your card into it, removing the arrow placeholder
Step 3 - Place your laminated card into the handbag design studio and pressing down use the roller to smooth the laminate and make sure it looks nice
Step 4 - Add any extra embellishments that you fancy, like gems or a scratcheez sticker if you wish your friend to scratch it off.
My girls made about five cards each and a friend joined them and made a couple. So that was 12 of the included cards gone in about 20 minutes and thus at £19.99 for the set it was quite a lot of money for a short activity. Each card works out to a cost of about £1.00, which for something that is credit-card sized is quite high I feel.
If you are buying this just for one child to do alone then I'd imagine they would have about 1-2 hours of fun with this set and if they really like it they can buy the refill set which is £7.99 to make 10 laminated cards, thus giving a cost of about 80p per card for extras.
I like that idea that once you finish one play session all the cards and stickers can easily be stored in the Boho Chic handbag design studio, so this is nice and small for storage.
In all my girls did enjoy this set but like with many craft sets I feel the price is quite high for what you get and I'm not actually convinced that you need the plastic design studio. When I made a card and put it carefully in the laminate packet and just used a credit card to rub across it to ensure it is sealed nicely that worked just as well.
Cool Cardz are part of the Cool Create brand and there are loads of other fun items you can get like Mr Frosty Crunchy Ice Maker, Chocolate Bar Maker and Shaker Maker models. Find out more and download fab craft project ideas from Cool Club Create.
Disclosure: We received this set free of charge for the purpose of this review. I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.