Robotime have sent us some more cute kits to try out and this time it’s a set of miniature shops from the Rolife Story Frames series that you can hang on your wall.
Story Frames are part of the Rolife range of cuter and easier kits that anyone can complete. Instead of being square rooms, like the Super Creator kits, these designs fit into a plastic box frame that you can hang on the wall or display on a shelf. I received 2 of the newest additions – Sweet Scoopery Ice Cream and Fluffy Cat Bakery!
This is what was inside the Fluffy Cat Bakery kit but the other kit was very similar. There’s a full colour English instruction booklet, box frame (front & back pieces) printed wood and paper pieces and small plastic decorations. You also get a bag of tools and supplies including a battery pack, electric lights, screwdriver, tweezers and double-sided tape strips. All you need to add are scissors and 2 AAA batteries (and potentially a craft knife but I think I only used mine once).
If you’ve read any of my previous Rolife reviews, the process is very similar with various pieces you join together, paper templates to fold up and printed stickers to add decorative details. The instructions are very clear with diagrams of each step, plus an image of the finished item and a guide to the final arrangement. Most pieces are bagged together in order but there’s also a visual guide to help you locate any additional pieces or stickers.
Unlike the Super Creator kits, most items are made from wood so they need little strips of double-sided tape (you get a sheet with pre-cut strips in 3 sizes) to hold them together. The wood is very thin so you do have to be careful not to snap anything and it’s much harder to take things apart if you make a mistake. These kits had some fun new challenges like the fuzzy thread for greenery, and packaging tiny cookies into plastic bags. The Sweet Scoopery also included some holographic plastic pieces and even bedazzling strips.
Once again, it’s hard to share process photos as everything comes together so easily. Once you’ve made all the individual items, it’s time to join them together. You can see how many layers there are in the Sweet Scoopery and getting everything to stay in place can be tricky. The instructions are weirdly stingy with the sticky tape, despite there being at least twice as much as you need, so I was more generous. Everything does need to be stuck down as otherwise it could fall out of the frame when you display it. You can also see the electric lights in the ceiling. This is the hardest part by far, as you have to twist the wires together and join them with electrical tape, but it’s mostly just fiddly.
The box frame is really deep to hold the shop design and there are printed backgrounds to add more depth. To power the lights, there’s a removable battery pack, which is hidden behind the built-out corner on the left. There’s a little socket inside, a power button on top of the frame and the batteries can be accessed from the back of the frame when they need to be replaced.
You then plug in the lights and slide your shop into place before adding the front frame and the last of the decorations. There’s a sturdy hook on the back to make it easy to hang up and you can see how deep it is from the side. Being able to hang it on the wall is great for those of us running out of shelf space but the depth means they also display really nicely on any flat surface without a stand.
The Fluffy Cat Bakery is my favourite as the lighting is so cosy and there’s a little cat! I also love that the door opens so you can see the shelf inside. There were lots of fun and new things to make here, like the plastic windows (with bunting!), the display cabinet and the cookies in bags.
Click/swipe through the slideshow to have a look at some of the details, and how it looks on display.
The Sweet Scoopery ice cream parlour was a little less enjoyable, mostly due to the shop front having so many pieces to join together. It fell apart when I was moving it to take the process photos and I had to add even more tape. The lighting is also not as bright, despite having 2 bulbs. All the animal-shaped ice creams are adorable though and I had a lot of fun building the ice cream cart and holographic bedazzled sign.
Click/swipe through the slideshow to have a look at some of the details, and how it looks on display.
Overall, I really enjoyed building these kits, though they are very fiddly in places and you need to have a bit of patience and take your time. They’re not quite as accessible as the Super Creator kits, which all click together easily, but these still have a difficulty rating of only 1.5/5 and can be finished in an afternoon. The main reason to choose the Story Frame kits is being able to display your finished piece more easily, especially if you don’t have the space for a larger piece, They’d be lovely to gift too, as either a kit or a finished piece for someone who isn’t crafty.
I’ll share a video on our Instagram later but you can get a look at all the kits in Robotime’s video. The Story Frames series currently includes 6 kits, each priced at £34.99/$39.99. As well as the 2 I reviewed, there’s a book store, flower shop and 2 Christmas designs. They’re available now from the Robotime online shop, which ships worldwide from China. If you’d like to try them, SCK readers get 10% off any order with the code supercutekawaii.
Robotime also sent me another kit for a Fairytale Amusement Park Book Nook! This is a more complicated kit so look out for a review in a few weeks.
Which kits would you like us to try next?
(Kits were provided by Robotime for review but all words, photographs and opinions are my own.)
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