Creating Halloween Jewellery And Accessories With Gel-A-Peel

With Halloween approaching I have been making some plans for crafts with the kids. Whilst there is the obvious pumpkin carving I would like to include some alternative activities for the children over the half term.

We were very kindly sent a ‘Gel-A-Peel Colour Pack‘ to sample and review, this seemed like the perfect product to use to create some Halloween themed jewellery and accessories with the children.

What Is Gel-A-Peel?

Gel-A-Peel is a coloured gel which is applied to a plastic sheet and left to set to create a range of jewellery and accessories including earrings, bracelets, mobile phone cases and more. Gel-A-Peel comes in a range of colours dependent upon the pack purchased.

What Is In The Gel-A-Peel Colour Pack?

• 3 x Neon Gel-A-Peel gels (bright orange, bright yellow and bright pink)
• 5 x Designer Tips
• 60 x Plus Gel-A-Peel Design Templates
• 1 x Plastic Crafting Sheet
• 1 x Set of Accessories For Earrings and Cuffs
• 1 x Cleaning Tool

Packaging Problems

Due to the packaging the ‘clear design sheet’ arrives folded and whilst the instructions suggest that it should be bent in the opposite direction and held under a warm tap to try to straighten the mat, I found that despite my best efforts I was unable to straighten the sheet. I used two heavy books to hold the mat straight rather than masking tape as the instructions suggested as I didn’t fancy having to peel tape from my kitchen table.

Using Gel-A-Peel Gels

I began by experimenting with the gels myself to get a feel for how the kids might make their own designer jewellery.

Whilst I enjoyed using the gels I found that they emitted a strong chemical odour and were fairly messy to use. My husband suggested that the gels were similar to builders silicon, they were certainly as difficult as builders silicon to remove from the skin when I accidentally got some onto my hand.

We began changing the designer tips to experiment with the different effects, whilst they made some difference to the designs the gel still seemed to settle into a similar texture when left to dry. We also found drying time to be fairly lengthy, kids may require patience when waiting for their designs to dry.

Suitability

Gel-A-Peel is suitable for children aged eight years and over. I found that my son struggled to create his own Gel-A-Peel designs without my assistance, my three-year old daughter on the other hand really wanted to give it a go but was sadly a little too young to try it out for herself.

Getting Crafty With Gel-A-Peel

I worked alongside the children to create some of their Halloween designs using the Gel-A-Peel gels, our first attempts sadly snapped when worn but our second attempt was far more successful. I would therefore suggest that Gel-A-Peel, similar to most crafts may take some practice and patience to master.

We had a good go at creating some Halloween themed Gel-A-Peel accessories and my daughter was particularly pleased with her finished bracelet. We will be sure to wear a few of our Halloween makes on the big night whilst we are out and about trick or treating.

Pricing & Further Information

Gel-A-Peel Colour Packs can be purchased from a range of retailers including Toys R Us, The Entertainer and Amazon. The Gel-A-Peel Colour Pack is currently listed at £14.99 on Amazon but may vary in price according to differing retailers.

For further information upon Gel-A-Peel and the different packs available visit www.gel-a-peel.com

Did We ‘Gel’ With Gel-A-Peel?

Gel-A-Peel is a potentially messy product and there are a fair amount of warnings included in the small print of the package. After having to scrape Gel-A-Peel from my own furniture and skin due to spills, I would advise that this product requires full adult supervision.

Whilst we enjoyed experimenting with this product it isn’t something that we would purchase in the future. As fun as it may have been to create our own jewellery and accessories it was simply far too messy for my liking.

I can however see that Gel-A-Peel may be appealing to older children and teenagers that wish to create their own jewellery and accessories. It offers a unique way in which to create their own designs in a 3D format.

Disclosure: I was sent the above products for the purpose of this post however all opinions are my own (and J & E’s of course!).