KamSnaps review and Giveaway--$25 Gift Certificate CLOSED

When I started making my own cloth diapers a few months ago, of course, one of the first things that occurred to me was that I could eventually make them to sell them and help support my little family! Soon, I was researching all sorts of diaper making materials from FOE (fold over elastic) to PUL (waterproof, polyurethane-lined fabric).  Eventually, my research took me to snap presses.  Since I would love to not only make one-sized diapers, but I would also love to use snaps in the closures, I was duly interested...until I saw the price tag.  $80! Yikes! I mean, it's a good investment, for sure, but our tight budget does not allow for such expenditures at this time.  "Oh well.  I guess I'll stick with Velcro," I thought.  "Maybe I'll be able to eventually make the money I need selling diapers to buy that snap press."

Then, one day, I found Kamsnaps.com.  One of the first things that got my attention about their site was that in addition to an $80 snap press, they also offer Pliers for Plastic Snaps for a mere $27.  Another thing that I notice is that they have the cutest snaps I've ever seen! In addition to many different colors and sizes of plastic snaps, they also have painted snaps with things like flowers or skulls, and engraved snaps with monkeys or the Ooga Booga characters we cloth diaper fanatics know and love.  Can you say ADORABLE???

Of course I was thrilled when they sent me a set of pliers to review along with bumGenius blossom colored snaps engraved with one of the Ooga Booga monsters on it.  On their website they have a tutorial that shows you how to convert your tired aplix bumGenius to snaps and they asked that I do so and blog about it in return for the amazing materials they sent.  I was thrilled to, of course because my poor bumGenius diapers are a mess!!  They are the first diapers I had and because I started out with so few diapers but was determined to cloth diaper full time, they really got some wear and tear.  The blossom colored BG was especially tired since it was the only girly colored diaper I allowed in my stash for a very long time.  The laundry tabs on that diaper no longer held the hooks back from snagging other diapers in the wash and it was starting to get to me that every time I pulled a load of diapers out of the washing machine, they came out in one long chain thanks to my tiring BG diapers.

When the snap pliers and snaps came in the mail, I was extremely eager to start

My pliers set came with: 

1) Snap pliers

 2) 2 top metal rods (the one with the wider tip is for size 24 snaps, the other is for size 20 or smaller snaps)

 3) 4 cap dies to fit a variety of plastic snap sizes, including size 14, 16, 20, and star.  (Size 24 cap die sold separately.)

4) Screwdriver

 5) Awl to poke holes in fabric. (this is optional, it does not automatically come with the pliers but you need it)

The pliers set costs $27, and the awl is an extra  $3.50

My Snap Set Came With: 

100 engraved caps, 100 plain caps, 100 studs, and 100 sockets, all bumGenius Blossom.  This snap set costs $7

First things first.  I went to the snap pliers tutorial and read carefully.  Well, I thought I'd read carefully, but later I found out that I missed a few things--Doh! 
Then I practiced on some scrap material until I thought I had it down.  I used some extra T-shirt fabric from the T-shirt fitted diapers I like to make :-D

Then, it was time to work on the actual BG diaper.  I have to say, I was a little nervous to dismantle the diaper because I was afraid to mess it up.

The first step was to remove the aplix.  Do do this, I needed a seam ripper and a pair of sharp scissors.

Simply seam rip the stitches holding the strip of loops in place along the front of the diaper.  You don't have to rip every seam.  Ripping every 2-4 seams will do the trick.  Be careful just to rip the white thread holding it in place and not to rip the PUL.  

 

To take off the closure tabs, you'll first need to cut the tabs.  The reason you cut them is to make the seams more accessible.  Otherwise, it's hard to distinguish them from the hooks and loops on either side of the tab.

Next, start ripping the seams between the two sides of the tab.  Once the pieces of aplix start to separate, ripping the seams becomes easier.

 Before you know it, your closure tabs have been removed and you're ready to start adding your snaps.

Now, you need to decide how many snaps you want on your diaper and make a template.  How you space your snaps is up to you.  I just made sure they were centered and the same amount of distance was between each snap.  On their tutorial, Kamsnaps includes a suggested distance of .75 inches between each snap. 

You can make your template by tracing the front of your BG diaper, and then measuring and drawing dots for each stamp on your paper.  Then, poke your awl through each of the marks.

Now, place the template over the front of your diaper (Kamsnaps suggests using tape to keep it in place--great idea!) and use a marker to put a dots on your diaper through each of the holes.

The marks should be tiny, but visible when you pull your template off.  The snaps are wide enough that they won't be seen once they're in place.

You will NOT be putting  your snaps through all the layers of the diaper.  If you did that, then you would be unable to stuff your microfiber insert all the way to the end of the diaper, causing problems.  You want your snaps to go just through the front layer of PUL.  So, take your awl, and carefully go inside of the diaper (making sure not to catch on anything while you're in there--it's very sharp!_-) and start poking holes through all of the marks you made.

Once your holes are made, you can start snapping!

First, stick your cap through the hole from the inside of the diaper.  I used a non-engraved cap for this, since it won't be seen.

Next, place the socket on top of the prong that sticks out from the diaper.

Finally, use the pliers to secure the snap in place.  It was during this part of the process that I had difficulties with the pliers.  Now, mind you, I'd already figured out how to use them on scrap pieces of cloth and found that they worked perfectly.  The difficulty was that with the BG conversion, you have a layer of fabric between the pliers and the snap cap making it difficult to know whether or not they are aligned.  If I could go back and do this all over again, I would practice using the snaps MULTIPLE times on scrap fabric with another piece of scrap fabric between the snap cap and the pliers in addition to really using the pliers on another project.  After lots and LOTS of practice, I was able to get the hang of using the pliers through fabric, but I'm cocky and it took much more practice than I thought I would need.  After finishing my BG conversion, I used the pliers to add snaps to some of my Tshirt diapers, and they worked so beautifully.  Then, I went back and re-did a few of the snap sockets that were slightly misaligned and not snapping well and I found I had no problem fixing them once I was comfortable with the pliers.

 
I used one of the studs on my scrap material to check each socket to make sure they'd been put on correctly.  For the few that were put on incorrectly, I got to use my problem solving skills to remove them.

Kamsnaps suggests this for removing snaps: "You can try applying a small amount of heat to the cap prong at the center of the snap which holds the snap together. The heat will melt the prong, which will allow you to simply pull the 2 pieces of the snap apart. You can use a soldering tool if you have one, or just heat up the tip of a fork tine or knife over a candle and quickly place it against the prong."

I, foolishly, didn't read the part about a soldering tool or a fork tine and proceeded to use a lighter.  Not my brightest moment, I'll tell ya! It not only didn't work, but it started to melt the polyester of the PUL of my diaper.

I nearly lost it, thinking I'd ruined one of my prized pocket diapers.  However, despite the fact that the burn mark doesn't look so great, the integrity of the diaper does not seem to be compromised.  IN any case, this was MY fault, and not Kamsnap's fault.  However, in trying to fix this problem, I discovered my husband discovered another way to remove the snaps while I took deep breaths and tried not to cry too hard out of frustration. In addition to the soldering tool idea and the hot fork tine, you can also use a pair of needle nosed pliers to remove an ill-placed snap.  I used the tiny ones I have in my jewelry making case. If you don't have any, you can get a set of them at Walmart or Michaels for under $5 if I remember correctly. 

Just pinch the ball of plastic in the middle of your snap until it's skinny enough to slip out of the hole of the stud or the socket.  Quite simple.  You can see a removed snap cap in the picture above.
 

Adding the rows of snaps along the front of the diaper were definitely the most difficult part of the process, but I did it and I can't tell you how proud I am of the product and the satisfaction I feel for having done this myself!!!

Adding four studs and caps to the tab closures was a snap (ha ha! Pun intended!!!)  after adding the snaps to the front of the diaper THROUGH the layers of microsuede.  Again, I needed to make a template. I drew a template, measured the distance between the two rows of snap sockets on the front of my diaper, and measured to make sure the snap studs were the same distance apart, and added marks for each snap. 

 Then, like I did with the front template, I poked the awl through the marks, laid it over the tab closures, and marked the dots on my diaper.

Poking the awl through the diaper is super fun! I think I enjoyed it way too much! Be careful when you do so, so you don't end up with extra body piercings!

Now, it was time to use the fun, Ooga Booga engraved snap caps! Yippee!!  Stick the prong of the snap cap through the diaper, taking care that the pretty monster is on the outside of the tab closure.

Stick the stud over the prong on the inside of the tab closure, and then squeeze the snap pliers over both pieces to secure the snap stud in place.  

This part was SO much easier than the front of the diaper!!!  Besides, I loved seeing the cute little monsters looking back at me.  It gives the diaper a much more finished effect.

With that, the diaper was done!!!  Then, I went through and snapped each snap to the snap closures to make sure they worked.  There were still a few that hadn't gone in correctly, so I removed them with the needle-nosed pliers, added new ones, and my diaper was ready to use.

  It took me a lot of trial and error, but before I knew it I'd successfully added snaps to my tired and well-used bumGenius diaper.
Was it hard work?
Yes!
Did it get easier?
Absolutely. I learned more and more as I went through the process.
Would I do it again?
Definitely! 

Am I the only one who makes such a huge mess when crafting? 

Trying the diaper on.  The snaps on this diaper don't click together as well as some of my other snapping diapers.  But the snaps that I added to my handmade Tshirt fitteds work nicely--just like my professionally made diapers.  I think it's just because I needed practice before doing this on my BG.

It still works and it's super cute! I've used it lots since adding snaps, and I'm happy to say that the spot where I burned the diaper doesn't seem to have affected it at all.  Whew!
space

While I was at it, I whipped together a 10 minute iPhone case (did I mention my hubby got me one for Mother's Day?) and of course, it needed a snap. 

So, now my iPhone case has a cute little Oooga Booga monster on it!

Pros of Kamsnaps' pliers and snaps 
* The pliers are simple to use once you've practiced.
*The price of the pliers is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!
*The pliers can be used for a couple of different sized snaps. 
*The variety of snaps is amazing--they've got every color, size, shape, and design you could ever want!
*The snaps work great when they've been put on correctly. 
*Kamsnaps offers a great variety of products for a variety of budgets.
*Customer service is great.  When I had questions about the tutorials and snap sizes, they were very quick to answer and give me great advice.

Cons of Kamsnaps' pliers and snaps
*I had a little bit of a problem reading the instructions about my snaps and which pieces to use for my pliers because the snaps came labeled as "T5" and the instructions talk about sizes 14, 16, 20, and 24.  When I asked Kamsnaps about this, they told me that the snaps come from out of the country and are labeled with a different size system.  Sizes 14-24 are American sizes.  My snaps-T5- are American size 20.  That cleared things up!

*It was somewhat difficult to put the snaps on the BG through the layers of fabric (when the pliers weren't in direct contact with the snap cap) but this improved with practice. 

Well,  now for GIVEAWAY details!
Kamsnaps is generously offering one of my readers a $25 gift certificate to their store.   That pays for almost all of a pair of snap pliers! If you already have snap pliers or a snap press, it buys you a whole boatload of awesome snaps!!! They have painted snaps with flowers, electric guitars, and skulls; they have engraved snaps with monkeys, flowers, butterflies, cars,  Ooga Booga monsters, and even NB, S, M, and L so you don't need to add a size tag to your dipes!  They have snaps in matte finish, glossy finish, and even a few in a metalic finish! They have TONS of great colors to match any of your projects including colors to match your bumGenius and gDiapers! Since discovering this site, I've just been drooling over all the amazing kinds of snaps they have! I want them all, and if my budget allowed it, I'd already have them all :-)

After using the engraved Oooga Booga snaps and seeing how adorable they are, I don't think I can go back to regular snaps.  I'm going to have to get engraved ones all the time! And after using the snap pliers and getting the hang of them, I'm going to want to use them for all my projects--well, all my projects for which plastic snaps are appropriate :-D

BUY IT
Go on over to Kamsnaps and see for yourself how awesome their selection of products is.


WIN IT
From today, Thursday June 3 until Wednesday, June 30thou can win a $25 gift certificate to Kamsnaps with the following entries.  Please include your email address in each entry for it to be considered. 


Mandatory Entry: 
You must be a follower of my blog.  Then, tell me whether or not you would prefer snap pliers or a snap press and what snaps from their website you would like to buy. 

Additional Entries: 

1 entry: Publicly follow the Kamsnaps blog.

1 entry: become a Facebook fan of Kamsnaps

1 entry: Follow Kamsnaps on Twitter

1 entry: Follow me on Twitter

1 entry: Subscribe to their mailing list (left sidebar)

1 entry: Place their button onto their blog/website (right sidebar) and leave the URL to where I can find it.

1 entry: add my button to your blog and leave the URL to where I can find it in your comment.  

3 entries: blog about this giveaway and leave the URL to your post in your comment.

1 entry: mention this giveaway on facebook and leave a comment on Kamsnaps facebook page letting us know you did.

1 entry: Tweet about this giveaway and leave the URL to your tweet in your comment.  
3 entries: Enter this giveaway at the Kamsnaps blog and comment back here letting me know you did so.
2 entries: Show my friend Jess some love and enter her giveaway (only until June 6th)

That is SEVENTEEN entries total that you can make to win this $25 gift certificate!  Sweet, huh?

So remember: Key dates to my giveaway: June 3-June 30

                        Include your email address in each comment so I   

                         can contact you.

                        Go on over to Kamsnaps and check them out!!!