Looking for personalized gifts for an upcoming wedding or special event? Niki Nak Crafts has everything from engraving to one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces. Based in Northern California but able to ship almost anywhere, you’ll be saying “add to cart” before the end of this spotlight!
Spotlight Summary
Meet Niki — a crafter turned entrepreneur based in El Dorado County, California. In this spotlight, Niki highlights her journey from a hobbyist to a full-time business owner, emphasizing the importance of balancing her day job as a bookkeeper with her crafting. Niki Nak Crafts offers hand-made jewelry, heat-press apparel designs, personalized engraving on items like charcuterie boards, Stanley cups, Yeti tumblers, and more!
Vendor Spotlight: NikiNakCrafts
Q: Welcome here! Please begin with telling us who you are, what you do & where we can find you!
A: I’m Niki with Niki Nak Crafts. We do laser engraving, small batch custom apparel, one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces, party favors, gifts & more. We are a home based business in El Dorado County and can ship anywhere in the United States! You can shop our website, www.nikinakcrafts.com. Please also check out social media where we showcase past custom orders. We are on Instagram @nikinakcrafts and Facebook @Niki Nak Crafts.
Q: What items do you make the most?
A: We have friends who treat us like their personal Etsy shop! They’ll call when they need a retirement gift or a wedding present. Our focus is on practicality and working with high-quality materials. We want what we make to last and to give our customers a quality product.
Our wood-engraved gifts, especially the charcuterie boards, are always popular. I also make a lot of jewelry that sells in a few local shops. Apparel has been growing too, with more custom heat-press designs. We’re a great option for small businesses needing short runs of custom shirts at a fair price. Acrylic projects are on the rise, and we’ve been creating more signage with it. We make a lot of resin coasters, often with fun inclusions like beer caps or retro soda lids. Our biggest coaster seller? Bullet shell coasters!
Q: Can you give me some examples of recent custom orders?
A: Our custom charcuterie boards are always a hit—especially when personalized with a name, event or logo. (These make perfect realtor gifts for clients, too!) My sister-in-law wanted an olive wood board, and I helped her find exactly what she envisioned before personalizing it for her. We also create a variety of custom drink-ware—like laser-engraved shot glasses for 21st birthdays, koozies (i.e. “Bob’s 50th Birthday”), and tumblers labeled “Bride” or “Groom.” We always aim to make items people will actually use—not just a chachki that will end up at the thrift store.
Q: What other wedding industry specific items have you been working on?
A: We recently connected with a client from the 2025 El Dorado County Bridal Expo who’s requesting custom wooden invitations. They’re laser-cut from oak and designed to fit perfectly inside an envelope. Her wedding is on the smaller side, so she’s ordering about 20 of them—and they’re much more affordable than you’d expect! How special for guests to receive a personalized wooden invitation that’s worthy of a frame.
I especially love making engraved cedar wood hangers for weddings. They look so pretty in photos—whether it’s your wedding dress or bridesmaid dresses hanging together. It’s such a simple way to add a meaningful detail to your big day. (and practical—they go right in your closet after!)
You can also find some of our bridal party gifts at Blue Pearl Bridal & Occasion. We offer stainless steel wine tumblers labeled “Bride” and “Bridesmaid,” along with pint glasses for the “Groom” and “Groomsmen.” We also have flasks, bottle openers and stainless steel shot glasses.
Q: How hands on are you with clients?
A: When someone contacts our business, the messages come directly to me. I’ll text with clients, share design proofs, and collaborate until everything feels just right. When we work on custom orders, I truly love personalizing each piece for our customers. Sometimes I probably spend more time than I should—but I really want each piece to be exactly what they imagined. I don’t want anyone to just say, “That’s nice… thanks,” and move on. I want them to love it.
It would be easier to just have an online form with limited script options. Many businesses do that, and it works well for them. But I enjoy going a step further. When customers share their inspiration, we can work together—back and forth—to make it happen.
Q: What is the process for custom orders?
A: The best way to reach us is by email or text—either works great. You can send an idea of what you’re looking for, and I’ll follow up with any questions. Once we finalize your proof, our lead time is usually up to two weeks. Sometimes we’re preparing for shows, which can make our schedule a bit hectic. But even with that in mind, two weeks is pretty minimal compared to larger companies.
For certain custom projects, the timeline can extend to about a month. This happens if we need to source specific materials. We often group supply orders to help keep costs low for customers. When special items are required, it might take a little longer.
Once materials arrive, we take time to fine-tune every detail. Each project requires calibration and setup—it’s much more involved than just uploading a file and pressing “start.”
If you’re local, you can usually skip shipping altogether which will also speed up the process. We love meeting up in person for deliveries! You can also pick up your order at My Bestie’s Closet, a consignment store in Cameron Park.
Q: How did you get into crafting?
A: Honestly, I’ve always loved arts and crafts, and I started creating at a very young age. As an adult, I’ve discovered that making one-of-a-kind gifts for friends and family is truly my happy place. Crafting brings balance to my day, offering a creative outlet to offset the numbers and structure of my daily jobs. I started making jewelry mostly, like beaded necklaces, earrings and bracelets. Then I transitioned into resin and pouring glass cabochons. Once I began creating regularly, our inventory grew quickly. My husband joined in on the fun too—we lovingly call him “Mr. Laser Guy.” His laser machine is like his baby, and it’s become an essential part of our creative process.
Q: What can you laser engrave?
A: Metal, wood, glass, acrylic—almost anything! There are a few limitations with the laser, but my husband now owns three, each with its own specialty. Why stop at one laser when you can have two or three, right? He’s already eyeing a few more, so another might be in the works soon.
Q: When did you grow from just holding inventory into a business?
A: We are going on our third year of business (est. 2022). We became an official business about three years ago, but I opened a bank account a couple of years earlier. When I had made that initial step, I hoped to dedicate more time to the business, but life pulled me in many directions. I had become president of the board I was serving on, which required 10–20 volunteer hours each week. Between that role and my regular day jobs, I simply didn’t have the bandwidth to focus on Niki Nak Crafts yet.
The business started with jewelry, but expanded quickly into other gifts once we acquired our laser. We started out at farmers markets and learned what people were really looking for as far as custom gifts. Once we dialed that in, we pivoted our business plan a little bit. I actually wanted to get the business up and running sooner than that, but I was really busy with some other ventures. I’ve been deeply involved with nonprofit work and busy raising my kids, but now that my youngest graduated last year, I’ve finally been able to dedicate the time to Niki Nak Crafts that it deserves.
Q: Do you have another job in addition to your business?
A: Yes, I also work two other jobs on top of running Niki Nak Crafts. I work as a bookkeeper and also serve as the board clerk for the CSD. I’m fortunate to have a lot of flexibility between the two roles. One job gets me out of the house and connecting with people, while the other lets me work comfortably from home. Our business keeps us social too—we love attending shows and meeting new faces. Recently, we’ve cut back on the number of shows so we can focus more on custom orders and really putting ourselves out there in that way. We especially enjoy being involved in El Dorado County and appreciate the strong sense of community here.
Q: What’s your biggest tip for balancing a regular job and adding a hobby to become a job?
A: Make sure you give yourself some downtime. It’s easy to throw yourself 100% into your business at first. When we started, I was also working a regular day job. I’d come home from work, just to dive into making inventory until ten at night. Rinse and repeat.
Then came the weekend shows, so it felt like working seven days a week. At the beginning, I booked shows back to back—sometimes two or three a month. It was probably more than I needed to take on, but I was so excited! Now we have fine-tuned our rhythm.
So, schedule your downtime—it’s important. If you’re a go-getter who loves staying busy, still find ways to balance it. Sometimes I’ll make jewelry while watching a movie with my family. But I still plan full weekends off because everyone needs to recharge. For us, camping is our reset. We can’t take the laser or dial into the internet where we go, and that’s the point. I may take some jewelry projects with us, but that’s it. It’s our way to unwind and reset before getting back to work.
Q: For small business owners, what’s the best way to keep track of expenses?
A: When it comes to bookkeeping, it’s important to track your inventory and know what actually sells. Some people use an Excel spreadsheet, and that works fine. I prefer programs like Quicken or QuickBooks. They make it easier to track your cost of goods and overall profit. You can even import your information automatically—you don’t have to enter every sale by hand. The key is making sure everything reconciles at the end of each month.
Keep up with your records and review what’s selling well. Look at profit margins, too. Sometimes you realize you’re making very little on a popular item. That’s when you decide—do you keep selling it because you enjoy it, or shift your focus? Maybe you continue to sell something regardless of the low profit margin just because you want to do it. Remember, every business has overhead, even home-based ones. Gas, supplies, and utilities all count.
Definitely open a business bank account and credit card. Keep your business and personal finances separate, even if it’s a side thing. It makes tracking easier and helps when it’s time to file taxes.
Q: How’s working with your husband / how long have you been together?
A: When Niki Nak Crafts first started, it was just me. I went to shows and farmers markets on my own. Eventually, my husband started coming along to help more and more. We work really well together. Over time, we’ve learned to define our roles. One of us takes the lead in certain areas, and the other steps back. That helps avoid overlap and tension. He’s great about letting me know when he needs more time or a buffer to finish projects. I manage the marketing, admin and bookkeeping. I also handle most of the design work for the laser engraving, and he’s the man behind the wheel, so to speak. We’ve been together almost 30 years and married for 23—it’s definitely a team effort.
Q: Have you always been in El Dorado County?
A: No, we moved to El Dorado County almost 19 years ago—and we absolutely love it here! This community is so supportive. If someone is struggling, everyone pitches in to help. That’s just how it is here. We’ve done a few shows down in Sacramento, but you’ll usually find us vending at local El Dorado County events. We love the slower, small-town pace up here—it suits us so much better than the rushed environment down the hill.
Q: Is there one last piece of advice you’d like to share with fellow small business owners?
A: Always promise your clients a timeline you can actually commit to. Things happen that are out of your control, so it’s best to under-promise and over-deliver. If you miss deadlines often, people lose trust. They won’t return or refer you to others, which can really hurt your business—especially in a small community.
Sometimes we get requests to expedite an order. Occasionally we say yes, but doing that too often leads to burnout. Could you? Sure. Should you? Probably not.
It’s also important to connect with your customers on a personal level. When they see you as human, it builds trust. We often share stories or talk about family. Around here, there’s rarely more than one degree of separation—everyone knows everyone. When you connect with people, they remember you.
Conclusion
Thank you for joining me on getting to know Niki and learning more about the personalized gifts offered by Niki Nak Crafts for weddings and events. Please visit her website for more information and to reach out with any questions you might have!
I hope there is something you were able to take away from this Vendor Spotlight with Niki Nak Crafts. Remember to Pin this post for when you are ready for next steps.
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