Customer Reviews

Funky Junk: Cool Stuff to Make with Hardware (Kids Can Do It)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was very excited when I first looked through the book. I decided to make the robot pencil sharpener. The items are a bit expensive and many can't be bought separately. We are still looking for the squeeze connector that couldn't be found at the hardware store or Home Depot. I was going to do it as a craft project for 12 students but found it would cost in excess of $50.00. Also the metal pencil sharpeners were very difficult to find. I realize that the book was intended for a single person craft but that would still be expensive as many items must be purchased in bulk. Also, my husband had to do the shopping and he needed to take the book because he hadn't heard of some of these peices. I have a feeling that the projects won't be easy to make either, but I may never get to that point. We may never find the squeeze connector or be able to afford the project.

I thought this book would have some fun ideas for our 8 yr old boy to do. We decided to do a project from this book for his birthday party. We gave up on the pencil sharpener robot after we were unable to find a suitable pencil sharpener. Talked son into the alien keychain. Spent about an hour in Home Depot finding parts. Found an okay spring to use, but later decided to try to find the one in the book, 7 stops later, still didn't find the right spring. Unless they start selling this book with supply kits, I wouldn't waste my money on it. MIGHT be okay for group project ideas, but to spend all of this time looking for supplies for one child's project is definitely not worth it.

We are in the process of making the chess set. So far it's turning out really well. It can be difficult to gather all the pieces together, but believe that is true of any project. The end result, I believe, will be worth it. Am fully prepared to make a couple of the other projects in the book, and intend to make about 3 of the chess sets. Very cool project!

The seller sent the book in a timely mannor. This is an excellent craft book for kids to teach them how to read, follow instructions and make neat projects. Highly recommended.

After years of making soft material crafts I was delighted to find this book. I checked the book out of the library several times and finally bought it so I would have it when my grandson was old enough to make something with him. These are crafts that I think kids would want to make and that kids could personalize to suit their style.

This is a great book, but you need access to a REAL hardware store if you are going to find the right stuff. By "real" I mean one that has fasteners by the piece (instead of by the box of 50), and caters to people who tinker and fix things. Oh, and staff that knows what they have in the store. (Home Depot is not a real hardware store.) Unfortunately, this type of hardware store is going the way of the dodo. My only complaint is that some of the sizing on the parts can be difficult to follow. But, my son and I just used the pictures in the book to pick stuff that looked right. The thing I like about this is that my son now looks at all the stuff he's gathered from taking things apart in a new way--what else could he make out of it?