Easy Yarn Swatches

Ok, so I have a problem.... I'm a crochet-aholic! I'm addicted to everything relating to crochet!! From hooks to patterns to... yarn! I find myself pulling out my bins of yarn over and over to find the perfect colors for almost every project. That turns into a big mess. So I've come up with a solution and its helped me several times!

I've made myself some yarn swatches!! Perfect for matching colors, taking to the store to restock or even take to craft fairs for customers to see what choices you have to offer. With a few dollars, you can make swatches for all your yarn easily!


What You'll Need:

1. Glue Gun and extra glue
2. Plastic or cardboard bobbins
3. Permanent marker
4. Yarn
5. Yarn needle
6. Scissors
7. Metal Rings
8. Chocolate ~ as long as your not working with white yarn! He he, in my case, yarn and chocolate always seem to go together!

Step 1) Preheat your glue gun.

Step 2) Write the name of the color/brand of yarn on your bobbin. This can be done after but is easier to do before wrapping your yarn.

 Step 3) Taking a small amount of yarn, loop it around one slit at the bottom of the bobbin. Wrap it 5-7 times. (More times for thinner yarn, less for thicker.) From the back of the bobbin, loop the other end around the opposite slit.

Step 4) Using your yarn needle, weave the yarn ends behind the wrapped yarn just as in picture shown to the left. 

Step 5) With the glue gun ready, place a small amount between and around the ends. This will secure it.

Step 6) Let the glue dry.

Step 7) Snip the ends to give more of a neat appearance.

Step 8) Insert bobbins on metal rings. I have mine according to brand and weight. 

Keeping the colors somewhat together give a nice appearance as well! 

And there you have it! Just don't forget to eat your chocolate! 

Until next craft....

Saturday Spotlight Feature Week 2

I love to craft and am blessed to have as much as I do. Unfortunately, all my things are scattered throughout the house. In my bedroom, I have all my yarn and spinning supplies. In the basement, I have all my scrapbooking things. Then in various drawers and cabinets, I have little odds and ends. Totes are stacked in my livingroom for my WIPs. I bounce around my house looking for things I want to use. For now, its what I have to do. With two adults, two children and two labs in a two bedroom place, I don't get the luxury of a single space. My best friend & co-writer, on the other hand, has an awesome setup for her craft supplies! One day, I will have a similar setup, she might even have to help me get organized!

"I am one lucky girl, I think I have everything a crafter could ever want in one area and yet I always seem to be expanding. This year my hubby expanded my area as a Christmas gift and my Christmas gift to myself was to get reorganized. The hubby knew how much crafting meant to me and over the past year he has built me a chair that helps support my back and it spins 360 degrees so I can reach just about everything from the comfort of my chair. 

Also this year I acquired my grandmothers sewing machine which is built in to the table and then I have my sewing machine on top of the table. I have always wanted an antique sewing machine but getting something that was passed down always means so much more. Better yet it still RUNS!!!!!

He also expanded my large working table so that there is room for the whole family to sit during family time. I think that was my favorite part. I can now sit and do my crafts while looking up to see my son coloring or drawing and my husband working on what ever little project is up his sleeve that day. 

I love having a massive wall to hang all my WIP and to be able to organize a lot of my odds and ends. 

 This past year I have been collecting fabric for my stashes  most of the fabric on the shelf is cut already and was donated between family and friends. They have truly been my biggest supporters. Also on the shelf is my stash of vinyl. 

I think one of my favorite Christmas gift this year was this awesome wall organizer that I got from my Mother-in-law it was perfect for all my buttons, sewing odds and ends, ETC. 

Next to my new organizer is a shelf that my hubby built me that stores all my paints and other scraping materials that I store in jars and such. 

Last but not least is my main desk that I do a lot of my crafting at. It has 3 additional large shelves above the main table shown. These shelves store my large fabric, glues, tools, and the table that you see in the picture that is most of my scrapbooking inks, markers, glitter, ETC. 

The only thing not shown is my yarn stash we are currently finding a new home for that but to give you an idea my area filled up my fabric shelf plus one regular size storage bin. 

Well that's my space in a nut shell. Thank you for stopping by. I know that I am lucky to have all that I do. Its been years of collecting during Christmas and birthdays and lucky enough to get donations from family and friends for the stuff they no longer use." 

I love her space and her organizing! In what ways do you stay organized?

Happy crafting!

New Years Resolutions

*Let's Bring on 2013*

We have learned a lot not only about yourselves but we have learned so much through doing our crafts and sharing them with you. This has been an amazing year. We look forward to an even better 2013!!!

We would like to share some our our blogging resolutions that we have made for ourselves, to bring you a better and more friendly experience when you drop by to see what we have done.

Stephanie: 1.) My first resolution that I would like to start with is....That I will post at least 3-4 times a month. I am hoping to get at least one a week. It would be awesome if I could double that but a realistic goal would be once a week.  2.) My second resolution is to introduce more crafts using the Silhouette. Keeping in line with this. I will be releasing for limited time, downloadable vectors for you to cut out for your own personal use. These downloads will be in .PNG or .SVG format so that you can use them not only for cutting machines but that you can print and cut the out to use in our own scrappy way.  3.) Last but not least I would like to see some interactivity between us and our readers. I plan on having link up parties and more giveaways. I know I would love to see what you all do during your crafting adventures.

Crystal: 1) My first and foremost goal is to kick off Kiki Love Creations' first Scrap-a-long! This will get me back into something that I use to love but lost the time for. This scrap-a-long (SAL) will include monthly challenges. A few months will have techniques that I will demonstrate prior to the challenge. Anyone can join in the fun and I will be posting my project at the end of the month and encourage anyone participating to submit their works as well! Watch for the first SAL within the first week of January! 2) My main craft is crochet and this past year has taught me that not only do I love to make things from other's patterns, but I love to design my own as well. Over this next year, I would like to release at least 6 patterns for Kiki Love Creations! 3) My last goal is somewhat vague and I apologize for that but I would like to step outside my comfort zone and learn a new craft that I normally wouldn't consider. What is it you ask? I'm just not sure yet! But when I do figure it out, you'll be sure to get all the details right here on the blog! And if anyone wants to help with ideas, feel free to comment with suggestions!

We would like to take a moment to thank all our family members, friends, and fans!! You all have been the most amazing supporters of our adventure. Without you none of this could have been possible. 

We will see you in 2013!!!!!

Happy Crafting,

Crystal and Stephanie

After Chirstmas Sales that Benefit Crafters!

It's that time of year, Christmas is over and everything is discounted!! That's great for stocking up on new decorations for the next year but it can also benefit us crafters!

If you're out and about, take a look around. There are so many things we can create with this decor. Ornament are one of them.

I love to go out and purchase ornaments, and I try to keep them unrelated to Christmas. This is perfect for making refrigerator magnets!! And here's how...

Supplies
Magnets (any kind will work but make sure your using an appropriate size for the ornament you're using.)
Ornaments
Hot glue gun (other glues can be used but I prefer the glue gun.)
Hot glue sticks

Prep your area.
(If you want to protect your surface you're working on, place card board or newspapers down.)

1) Heat your glue gun with glue in it.
2) Remove any straps or hooks that make it an ornament. (I left my hook on. I was afraid to crack the ornament and its so small, I'm not concerned with removing it.)
3) When the glue gun is ready, glue a magnet on the back side of the ornament.
4) Set aside until its cool.

That's is! Simple, fun and makes for unique magnets!

The one I used is from my sister. We both love owls and while we were out shopping, we found these. We decided to buy one for each other! I really didn't want to put it away with the rest of the Christmas things, and instead keep it out all year round. This is the perfect way!


~ Crystal

Crafting Studio Remodel

My Newly Remodeled Craft/Sewing Studio

So I love that my husband loves to build things with wood. What this means for me is custom closet organizers, shelves and a new crafting studio. He knows that my world revolves around my family and crafting. We recently needed to expand a bit because it felt like all my stuff was just shoved into drawers and was never seen or forgotten about. I am a very visual person. So this is actually what we started out with.

Then the other night I was going through Pinterest and showed my husband a couple of ideas that I would like.

Within a couple hours he turned it into this. At first I was like I liked the dark wood better. He told me to wait till it was done being painted.  
We painted it with white paint. He kept saying trust me it will make everything look a lot more open when it's done (again going back to I am a visual person). I just kept looking at him, however I was loving the new deeper shelves.

After we were done painting and putting the second coat of paint on to make sure their were no bare spots. I  just hated the wood edges. Unless wood has a lacquer finish, I really don't like to touch it. This meant that the shelves now had to be laid with fabric and the wood edges had to be embellished.





I picked a slightly darker fabric to offset the white. I love lots of color so I was desperately looking for color, and still keeping in mind that people will see this space so I didn't want to go over board and make it pink. In the tutorial that I posted Yesterday on my other blog Smalltown Dreamz I went over the process on how I embellished the wood edges.

I was very lucky to have been given some ribbon by my Husbands Grandmother that actually went perfect
 with the fabric and the look I was looking for. I think the ruffled edges give it a nice touch. I also added some buttons as an extra embellishment. Buttons are one of my favorite things. I have a small collection, at least in my eyes it is a small collection.

My husband also had built me this rack shelf which is able to store all my beads, buttons, and other small embellishments. I love jars and bottles to store all my stuff in and this shelf came in  handy to hold all those things.


This new area also gave me a place to store all my yarn and make it easily accessible to see what colors I have and roughly about how much I have left of what colors. This is still a work in progress, so that is why it is still a mess. I have another whole container of yarn to add to this so I am hoping there will be enough room.



I was so excited to get all my fabric on to 2 shelves with more than enough room to spare on both. I have been slowly adding to my fabric stash. I always try to get a good deal when I can. My last great fabric deal was my National Monument Panel which cost 79 cents.



It is so nice to have an area to sew on and then a big table to do all my cutting and other projects. That way I don't have to worry about picking up and moving my sewing machine all the time.I think the best part for me was being able to get all my supplies out in the open like my glue, glitter, markers, embossing powders, etc.........

We also had picked up this cute little white shelf and it works perfect to hold all my paper and containers for my foam pieces.

We are currently working on the new ribbon system for my area since I have accumulated 4 times more ribbon. This will be presented in another DIY Tutorial hopefully next week. I can't wait to start working in my new area. Today I put all my crystals that I have collected in the window so when I am working during the day the sun can shine in and reflect rainbows all over my studio. That always brings a smile to my face. I look forward to a fun and creative year.

We always love to hear from our readers. If you could do anything to your crafting area what would you do?  What secrets do you have at organizing all your crafting material.






Happy Crafting
Stephanie

Dad's Treasure

Hi Everyone! Like many households, we're preparing for Father's Day! It's great day to celebrate all the little things, and big things, that my children's father does for them and me!

My son loves to paint! From sun catchers, to figurines, plain paper and even a treasure chest, he can sit for hours and continuously paint! Good thing for me because I'm running out of ideas of what my husband would want for any holiday! A treasure chest from my son is perfect though, and let me tell you why. When Ethan got old enough to learn about hiding and finding people or things, my husband started playing the treasure game with him. And I'm sure he will carry on the tradition of playing with our youngest son when he's old enough.

Just before Ethan's bed time every so often, my husband finds Ethan's little treasure chest and fills it with mini M&Ms and finds a hiding spot. After he found a good spot, my husband asks if Ethan want to go on a treasure hunt! He is always excited about this! With all the lights turned out and flashlight in hand, they go searching. They run into scary bears (stuffed animals) and wolves (stuffed dogs) and every now and then a scary mommy gets in the way!! In the end, the treasure is always found with a happy little boy emptying the treasure into his mouth!

With this, we decided to give daddy his own hand-painted treasure box! We also added a few special things...

Ethan painted wooden circles yellow for gold, a key to keep the 'key to mommy's heart' safe, a mirror that says "Best Dad in the World," a small bottle with 'love' confetti, a painting made by Ethan and a few other fun things!! This treasure chest can be personalized for the 'dad' in your life, and so much fun for the kids to do! For the older kids, a wood burning kit would be a great opportunity to learn something new as well as be creative!

Until next craft...
Crystal

A Year of Scrapbooking! Introduction: Part 1 of 5

 The Start of a Tradition

I love to scrapbook! When my first son was born, I decided to make a scrapbook of his first year. It was a slow start with a newborn but as he got older and more self-entertaining, I was able to work on it more. Half way into my year long project, I thought it would be a great gift to make for the grandparents. Committing myself to making copies for the grandparents, I thought it would be a great "thank you" gift to them for the year of love, support and advice.

Above picture is his actually day of birth. Only photos from that day were used.

The 4th month

The 10th month

At Ethan's one year birthday party,  I took a picture of each set of grandparents and Ethan to put in the corresponding book as well as a copy of his party invitation. After his years birthday, I presented the grandparents their books and vowed to add two pages every year, which I've held up to. Each year I add the new invitation and picture of them together, as well as a few more pictures of that year's growth.

Year 2 pages (grandparent picture has been blurred out.)
All pictures were taken between his 1st birthday up until his 2nd.

The book I've made for myself will eventually go to Ethan to look back on; remembering milestones, special events as well as many other things. But for now, it's a great way for me to look back on the beginning of their lives and see them grow with every flip of a page.

A Project in the Works

When my second son was born though, my passion for crochet consumed my spare time. I set card making and scrapbooking aside. Now with summer break here, I actually have the desire to unload my scrap supplies and create another "Year Book" of my second son, Kyler.

In the next month or so I will be going through the process of making another book and would love for you to follow me on this new crafting journey!

There will be 5 parts of this project:

Part 1: Intro

Part 2: Pictures

Part 3: Paper

Part 4: Description

Part 5: Assembly and Final Project

Reader's Challenge!

And I would love for you to create your own, whether it be a whole year or just a special occasion! If you're up for the challenge, over the next two weeks decide on what size book/pages you want to create and pick out as many pictures you wish to use. We will be posting a gallery for everyone to upload their creations and share. Details for that to come soon.

I will continue to do the 8x8 book because that's what I used for Ethan's. Also, if you don't have a personal printer, ordering wallet size photos will work for the right hand side page.

If you would like to see more of my page, just ask! I'd be happy to show you! 

Until next craft....
Crystal

Crystal

First off I would like to thank you for taking the time to look at our blog and hope you find that this is something you will want to follow!! We have so many crafts, hobbies and so much more that we want to share with you!! And we both look forward to hearing from all of our readers and what they want to see from us as well!

Crystal

A Little About Me

I am a mother of two boys and a wife to an amazing husband! I work for the local school district so during the school year, I will most likely be less active but the summer months allow me to dedicate more time to this blog! 

As for my crafting, my husband actually complains that I have 'too many hobbies' but its what I love to do. I love to crochet but I also love to scrapbook and make cards. I run a crochet store through Etsy.com and a Facebook page just for my handmade crochet items. Please feel free to check it out at http://www.facebook.com/myphotojewelry. Most my items revolve around my other favorite hobby!

I love photography!! Most of my crochet items are for photography props but love to make anything my hook allows me to! I'm hoping to be a registered photography business within a year and I believe photography can be an art in itself. I love to capture any special moments the camera will allow me to see!

Learning new crafts and being creative with the supplies I have is always a fun challenge to me! My mother and I have crafted together for several years together and always loved to find challenges for each other. So when Stephanie came to me with the opportunity of creating a crafting blog, I jumped at the chance. This is one of her many great ideas and I'm honored to be a part of it.

Outside of my crafting world, I love to spend time outdoors. There is a family cabin that my family and I love to spend time at no matter what season. In the warmer months, I love to sit out in the backyard while my children play and crochet! And I love crafting with the oldest one and making homemade games (the younger boy is only one so I haven't really done any crafts with him yet.) As this blog ages, I will be sharing the numerous things my children and I love to do together, including our fun handmade games!

Again, we encourage you to not just be a reader but also to challenge us!! Tell us what you want to see, tell us what you want to learn.... we'll try to become the 'crafting, hobby and so much more' blog that you can't wait to see what comes from us next!

Until next craft....

Crystal

Welcome!!

Welcome to KiKi Love Creations!! A blog all about crafting, hobbies and so much more!!

This blog is run by two mothers who love to craft and fill their time with a variety of things!! Keep an eye out for an upcoming post from each writer to get to know a little about them! And then, the real fun starts!! We'd like to share the things we love with you, our readers! From crafts to household tips to recipes... there is endless possibilties!!

If you have an idea or a craft you would like us to learn and post, or would just like to get ahold of us, feel free to send us an email at kikilovecreate@gmail.com or comment on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/KiKiLoveCreations

We look forward to crafting with you!