Cra-Z-Loom Vs. Fun Loom etc.

$5 on clearance. normally $9.88.

approx $10

These are recommended for ages 8 and up.
Both came with a loom, 600 loops, a hook, instructions, and 24 fasteners.
I got these for my 6 and 7 year old kids.  The instructions for the simplest bracelet are the same.  I was able to understand them easily and to walk my kids through how to place the loops on the looms with no problems. They both got pretty quickly how to hook and move the loops properly, but both needed help if a loop popped off or went wonky.  That's ok.  I expected to have to help fix errors.  For the most part though, they can make the simple bracelets themselves. I don't think they are ready for the more difficult ones, and I kind of doubt the average 8 year old would be either.

$1.97 ea.

Loops:  Cra-Z-Loom comes with latex free rubber bands that are thinner and look like regular rubber bands.  Fun Loom comes with silicone bands that are thicker and semi transparent. Bracelets made with the rubber bands come out somewhat bigger and are by far stretchier. Neither would influence my buying decision, as refills can be purchased in a variety of colors and styles from solids, to see through, to glow in the dark, to tie dye, sparkly, and even scented.  Personally, I prefer the silicone bands against my skin, but obviously that's totally a matter of opinion.

Looms: The Fun Loom has more rows across (4x15) which allows for more complex patterns without having to buy another loom, but the recesses in the pegs of the loom are harder to fit the hook in.  Cra-Z-Loom (3x14) pegs are numbered  making instructions easier to follow, but the hooked tip of the pegs makes it harder to move the loops from one peg to another in all but one direction. Both allow for additional looms to be attached at the sides or the ends.  (longer or wider)

Hooks: Fun Loom has a shorter more ergonomic handle, but a smallish hook which you need to be careful to not drop loops off of.  Cra-Z-Loom has a much longer handle than needed, making it a bit awkward to use, but the shape of its actual hook makes it work well with the loops.

Other looms on the market:
Wonder Loom: $11.59  3x13 cannot add looms to the sides
Rainbow Loom: $14.99   3x13 cannot add looms to sides. This is rumored to be the Cadillac of looms, but the hook looks difficult to use to me.
Cra-Z-Art Shimmer & Sparkle Loom: $12.99  identical to the Cra-Z-Loom but is pink
Cra-Z-Art Super Loom: $18.75  (6x14)  the same as if you put 2 regular Cra-Z-Looms together side by side

I used both looms for the simple bracelet, and the fishtail bracelets here to make my decision.

If you are buying one of these for a younger child

Fishtail Pattern

who is likely to be only making the simplest bracelets, I would recommend the Cra-Z-Loom because both my younger kids had an easier time with it.

If you want one for a teen or even yourself, and plan on making the more complex bracelets, I would absolutely recommend the Fun Loom instead.  It's smaller tipped pegs make the more complex patterns (where loops need to be pulled in multiple directions) simpler to complete.  With the Fun Loom I felt I was fighting against the pegs when I needed to move a loop in any direction but one.

Also, I should probably warn you.  These things are kind of addictive.  My 7 year old son made several bracelets a day for at least a week.  I needed to buy refills after a few days.  I found myself breaking the looms out and making bracelets several times as well, and I still want to try to make one or two of the super complex patterns.

The Curse of the W.I.P.

Yes, the Work In Progress.

Something about my personality makes me aspire to do BIG projects, but to get bored with them after a week or two, or to get distracted by the next shiny lovely thing I want to try; and so, my WIP pile grows and grows.

I really don't like this bit of my personality, but I can't seem to shake it no matter how often I try.  I make the decision to not make anything new until I clear away my WIP pile but get overwhelmed trying to choose which one to do first.  If I can manage to put them in an order of "to dos", I find that after going back to something that has been sitting in a bin for months (sometimes even years) I can't remember where I was in the pattern, or I no longer like that pattern, and end up having to tear it all apart. And, even if I do manage to complete a couple, I somehow feel like it makes it ok to reward myself by starting new projects which, quite likely, will end up in the WIP pile also.

I literally have a project that I have been working on, on and off, for 26 years.  I started it when I was 14 and have frogged and changed plans for it so many times I have lost count.  I just can't get it right. It's currently sitting in a bin and I know I need to frog it again and start over, but that alone is a daunting process I have been avoiding. Yes, it's the one from my And So It Grows Rug post.  It's still sitting there heckling me from my office.

There is another bin that held the materials (cotton craft loops) for a braid rug for almost 10 years. I originally tried to make it round, but I apparently sewed it too tight and it buckled up, so I had to cut the stitching back out and start over.  Being me, of course, I then decided to make it an oval big enough for my living room (or as close as using ALL the bags of material would allow).  I finally made ALMOST all the braid last year, and then it went back into the bin because it hurts my back to even think about the actual sewing part.  I'm hoping to find the ambition to try it when I dig my dining room table out from all the clean laundry piles, but somehow I doubt even a magically open work space will get me to start sewing that bugger together any time soon.

I have drawers full of decoden kits I never put on the bin full of phone cases, and now the phone styles are a year out of date so it seems it would be a waste to decorate them. They all sit awaiting my decision between buying more recent cases to decorate or using them on something else someday.  Either way, I need to get around to selling those cases before they are tragically outdated.

I have at least half a dozen quilts siting anywhere from cut pieces in a pile (like the picture below) to fully assembled tops waiting to be backed and finished, and easily that many afghans also in varying states of progress.  It's probably considered some kind of sickness in some book somewhere, some bizarre combination of ADD, OCD, and hoarding, but I just can't seem to ever get ahead of that pile.