The world of crafting isn’t just amazing because it gives you the opportunity to take satisfaction is something you created yourself, but also because, when you make things that are worth selling, you have yourself a hobby that can also bring you money. The market of handmade trinkets is now more evolved than ever, and it brings forth plenty of decorative and wearable items that you can contribute to as well.
What Hot Crafts to Make
If you already have a developed artistic side to your personality, you probably don’t need any advice on what to make. But if you’ve just discovered your love for crafts and DIY items, you might want to know what are some things that you can make and sell, and which don’t even require that much crafting practice to create.
Jewelry
This is one of the best-selling handmade markets of the past years because people love to own unique pieces of jewelry. Because no two pieces will ever be alike, jewelry is very easy to sell once you’ve learned how to tap into the market of people that are interested in purchasing such products.
Making jewelry gives you a lot of artistic freedom, particularly with earrings and pendants which can take all sorts of shapes and sizes. The best part is that you can get super-creative with the different materials you use, plus you get the chance to recycle old trinkets and break them into parts that might prove useful in making new pieces.
As long as you pour your heart and soul into every piece, customers are very likely to fall in love with your work and buy it.
Phone cases
Making a phone case from scratch might be a little difficult but buying plain ones in bulk and customizing them is surely a fun idea that could also bring you some cash. As cell phones have become more of a social status statement and are used for so much more than just calling and texting people, they are now a gadget that we use regularly from day to day. So, it makes sense that people want to invest in cool-looking accessories that showcase their personality.
From fuzzy cases to stickers, and from nail polish art to googly eyes, people have gone to great lengths to acquire or make cases that are different from what everybody else owns. So, if you’re not lacking creativity or are looking to accept custom orders, this might just a nice little side business that could bring you some cash.
Coasters
Back in the day when coasters first made an entrance, their main purpose was to make sure furniture was kept safe from liquid stains. Today, coasters come in all sizes and are made from different materials, with the most ingenious prints and designs you can think of. So, what if you start making your own custom coasters and sell them for a nice profit?
There are many different materials that you can use to make coasters. You can use all sorts of water-resistant materials, such as repurposed pieces of wood (like maybe popsicle sticks) or perhaps pieces of plastic cut and glued together to form a colored puzzle. You can even use tape, stickers, acrylic paint, or whatever other things you can think of to create customized surfaces that people would love to put their coffee cups on.
Mason jar candles
This is one of the easiest DIY projects you can turn to if you want to make money, but it also gives you plenty of room to play around with the small details that can make a huge difference. You can decorate your mason jars with colored and semi-transparent stones so that the light cast from within will create a playful pattern.
Personalized picture frames
One of the things that you have to appreciate about people living in the digital era is that they still love printed photos to decorate the house with. While digital images are better preserved, there’s nothing like having pictures on your desk and furniture that you can look at with no effort.
And since photos need frames in order to look even more adorable, this is one craft that you can work with and make money out of. You can buy a bunch of simple wooden frames and paint them, burn the wood, add glitter, glue seashells and rhinestones, and do pretty much whatever you want in order to create a unique piece that sparks interest in buyers.
Candles
Yes, you can never have too many scented candles, so that’s definitely a market worth exploring. Candles are quite inexpensive to make, plus you can make a whole bunch of them at once, which helps save time and results in a larger product quantity (have to start thinking like an entrepreneur now).
There are plenty of differently shaped silicone molds that you can use to make candles, plus essential oils or other ingredients that can be combined with beeswax to create products with amazing scents and aromatherapy properties.
Storage boxes
One of the best things about crafting and selling storage boxes is that you have a lot of options when it comes to combining materials and styles that would fit inside a home. Storage boxes come in many different sizes, can be made from anything from wood to fabrics, and can be decorated in the style of your choice.
Aside from the materials needed to make the actual box, you can recycle plenty of other materials and decorate the box, like leftover fabric from upholstery or curtains to beads, lace, and even wrapping paper.
Wood burned items
If you own a pyrography kit, it opens up a world of possibilities in terms of unique items that you can craft. From personalized cutting boards to storage boxes for jewelry and other personal items, a burning pen and a vivid imagination can go a long way in creating items that people actually want to buy.
However, what’s really interesting about this craft is that you can also make sellable items even if you lack the artistic touch. There are plenty of abstract images or free drawings that you are allowed to download, print, transfer onto your wood piece, and burn.
Bath bombs
Have you ever received a bath bomb as a gift and thought it was the most useless item on the planet? No? Well, that’s because bath bombs are something that people love to use. Aside from the frizzy response they offer, bath bombs are like bathing in luxury. But what some people don’t know is that they really aren’t that complicated to make, so if you’ve ever wanted a chance to have your own bath bomb business, this might be it.
Bags
Tote bags, make-up bags, refurbished old bags: these can all be turned into raw material for making awesome new bags for people who are interested in owning unique accessories. If you buy a simple tote bag, for instance, you can sew it, stitch it, color it (with special fabric dye), and basically style it in any way you want. And then sell it, of course.
Same goes for pouches, backpacks, or even shoulder bags. If you don’t want to repurpose some of your old bags, you can actually make new ones from scratch.
Hot Craft Ideas – Selling Tips
For the sake of argument, let’s assume you lack knowledge or practice in the marketing and sales department. And even if you did, selling your own work could prove to be very difficult because we often have an incorrect perception about the value of our own time and work. If you’re serious about making crafts that people want to buy, consider the following tips to help you get started:
- First of all, you want to take advantage of all the platforms that will allow you to sell your work. The idea is to get your products in front of as many people as possible. You can use Facebook’s Marketplace, Etsy, create an Instagram page, use the forums, or whatever other platforms you can think of that will allow maximum exposure.
- You also want to focus on building a community, and one of the best ways to do so is to create giveaways. When you’re ready to gift products to your community, you will open up the possibility of more people being drawn to your page, profile, or website. How often have you liked/followed/subscribed to a page to enter a contest and then unsubscribed immediately after? Chances are that one those people have landed on your page, they’ll stay there.
- Take honest pictures. This way, you will save time with having to answer all sorts of questions that might be related to the products you’re selling, but it will also shorten the odds of people giving you negative reviews because the product didn’t match the description.
- And speaking of description: write as much info about the product as you can. This will draw a bigger picture of the product in the potential buyer’s mind, so you know that the people placing an order are really interested because they already know the important details related to the product.
- There is a concept in marketing and sales called scarcity. Scarcity means that people are more likely to be interested in a limited-edition product. If you advertise your product as being handmade and one-of-a-kind, people will be drawn to the idea of buying something that only they can own.
- Always answer questions and respond to all reviews, be they positive or negative. Transparency is something that customers value, and you can rest assured that if someone left a negative review, others will look to see if you’ve replied and check out your answer. This gives potential customers a clearer idea of what type of crafter/seller you are and can further choose to trust or discard your products.
- Knowing your market is like the first sales amendment. When you know who your target market is, you also know what characteristics they’re mostly looking for, and can adjust your sales message accordingly.
- Build a newsletter. It may sound like a lot of trouble, but a newsletter can help you create a community of people that are closely interested in your work and share your passion. You can send weekly emails with all sorts of information that people who are interested in crafts and DIY projects can learn from. It also gives you a chance to build rapport with the people who follow you, who will always represent a list of potential customers.
- Be original and take your craft seriously. If you make a bracelet and try to sell it today, and then make another one in three weeks, people are not going to take you seriously. The consistency of your work sends people a certain type of message: that you are really passionate about what you do and that you invest time and effort into creating unique pieces. Most of us have come across products with high and unjustified prices and thought “who would pay that much money for this?” But what some people understand, and others fail to see is that handmade products often have a good story behind them, and if you learn to sell that story, you will add value to your work in the eyes of others.
Bottom Line
There are plenty of reasons why people take on crafting. Some see it as a way to repurpose old items to make new ones. Others just find it relaxing to have something to focus on. But what if you could actually make things that you like and then sell for a nice profit?
Literally anything that you make can be sold, because there’s a market for everything. While the article above gives you some product suggestions that might generate new ideas on stuff you can make and sell, we’ve also added a bunch of sales tips that will help you get your products out and cash in.
