When I think of summer, I think of warm weather, sandy skin, and friendship bracelets. Still to this day, I always make sure to stock up on an armful of colorful woven bracelets every time I want to feel summery. Is it weird that I get friendship bracelets for myself? Maybe, but IDC because they’re cute and I have no shame.

Which is why the Cool Maker KumiKreator, from Spin Master, is blowing my mind. This DIY crafting kit lets kids seamlessly create their own friendship bracelets, minus the knots and hours of braiding. It’s designed for kids ages 8 and up, but let’s be real, adults will love it too—I should know, I couldn’t resist making my own stack of bracelets.

Each kit makes up to 10 bracelets, and users can follow the patterns in the included design booklet to make different styles. The illustrations in the booklet instruct exactly where to put each color spool to create specific patterns. You can create a thick 12-strand bracelet, or a thinner eight-strand bracelet. Feel free to swap in different colors, or create your own designs altogether.

The kit comes with 88 preloaded spools of string in five different colors so to begin, choose your pattern, and pop the spools of string into their designated placeholders There is some assembly required to build each bracelet but it’s really not hard at all—once the spools of thread are in their holders, pull each string through the top of the holder so that all the colors are lined up properly. Once everything is in place, all you have to do to actually weave the bracelet is turn the handle on the KumiKreator—and the machine braids it for you! Turning the handle causes the spools to spin around and around, magically weaving the threads into a pattern that gets longer and longer.

The whole process takes about 15 minutes to complete one bracelet from start to finish. It’s mesmerizing to watch the threads turn into a bracelet before your eyes. Once the bracelet is long enough for your wrist, all you have to do is put a sticker on each end to secure the threads, then slip a clasp onto each end, with no knots needed. You can trim the threads as needed to make the bracelet shorter.

What makes the KumiKreator bracelets even better than traditional friendship bracelets is that the clasps make them removable. With the old school friendship bracelets, you have to knot them tightly onto your arm, forcing you to cut them off for good when you don’t want to wear them anymore. With these, you can take them on and off whenever, if you want to try a different color or pattern, or if you don’t want them to get all soggy in the shower.

The finished product can have so many different uses, other than just a bracelet—clip it onto a backpack, strap it onto a sandal, use tit as a key chain, or snap multiple bracelets together to transform them into a necklace. The completed product really looks high quality and will add a pop of color to anything.

Celebrate all your besties, or yourself, with these super fun KumiKreator bracelets.

 

About the author

Jackie Cucco

Jackie Cucco

Jackie Cucco was a Senior Editor of The Toy Book, The Toy Insider, and The Pop Insider. She covered toy trends, pop culture, and entertainment news, and made appearances on national and regional outlets, including CBS, WPIX, News 12, and more. Jackie spends her time watching horror movies and working her way through every Stephen King novel out there.

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