Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I had the original BeDazzler as kid - I remember bugging my parents relentlessly until they finally caved and gave it to me three weeks before Christmas. My mom and I spent a week trying to get it to work. At 11, I was unable to work it myself; my mom had to do everything for me. I ended up with a BeDazzled jean jacket (yeah, I'm old) and a matching pair of jeans. The jacket actually lasted quite awhile, but the jeans lost half of the rhinestones after the first wash. The BeDazzler was relinquished to non-washable projects only after that. Of course, I only remember thinking how awesome the BeDazzler was, so I thought it would be the perfect gift for my 9-year-old niece. I also assumed that after 20 years, BeDazzler would have worked out the kinks and started producing a better version. HA. When we opened the package, I found the exact same BeDazzler I received 20 years ago. I cut myself trying to open the package of settings and instantly remembered how I used to cut myself on those very same prongs years ago. Ah, the memories. I'm pretty sure the scar I still have on my left hand was from catching a BeDazzler prong. Anyway, I set everything up and we tried to BeDazzle a t-shirt. To my niece's horror, the setting wouldn't hold the rhinestone - I had to manipulate the prongs by hand to attach the rhinestone, which promptly fell right out as soon as she tried the shirt on. BUST. I packaged everything back up and shipped it back to Amazon for a full refund, and ordered a Darice Hotfix Rhinestone Setting Tos for less than a third of the price of this hunk o' plastic. I also ordered a package of 144 SS16 Swarovski crystals and still had more than a third of the price of this thing leftover. The Darice Hotfix Setting Tool does get insanely hot, so it's definitely not a good choice for younger kids and/or kids who don't listen well, but it is so simple to use and the results are FABULOUS. We re-"crystallized" the original t-shirt, a dress, two pairs of sneakers and a bunch of hairbows and they look damn-near professionally made. Other than my one-week love affair with the original BeDazzler, I had no prior rhinestone experience, so it's easy and quick to learn. Besides, Swarovski Hotfix crystals look infinitely nicer than the plastic BeDazzler stones, anyway. My niece loves her new "diamond sticker" tool and I enjoyed using it so much, I went home and promptly bought another one for me with the money I had leftover! My advice to you is to skip this overpriced plastic piece of crap and pick up a hotfix rhinestone setting tool. Amazon has quite a few, all of which are cheaper than this sucker, and there are a thousand different colors and sizes of hotfix rhinestones to choose from. Swarovski can get a little pricy, but there's plenty of non-Swarovski hotfix rhinestones available both on Amazon and at your local craft store. And the end result is completely wearable and washable - we tested the items we crystallized thoroughly, and lost only a single stone out of the 1,026 we hotfixed. There is one downside, though: hotfix rhinestones are extremely addicting. I typed this review while wearing my newly-crystallized pink Red Sox hat, t-shirt, tennis shoes and even my acrylic nails (I don't suggest that last one, I burned myself and almost melted my nails!). Now excuse me while I go stick some rhinestones on the dog's collar. And leash. And water bowl...