Blog - Essential Of Life

Lucillin, Ajax, ON

CREATIVE CRAFTS  (A Borrowed Article)

One of the most rewarding and profitable ways to make money in your spare time is with crafts. You can often get materials at cut-rate prices and use them to create beautiful handmade objects that everybody wants to buy.

Start with the easiest, inexpensive items first. Take a look at decorating magazines and handicraft books for ideas and find the simple, low-cost instructions that require no expertise and little equipment.

If you have many sources for castoff items, you will want to consider recycling and making new from old. You can cut old bottles to make vases or glasses. Or, you can make lamps from bottles or any object that will fit the electrical switch and cord.

Rug hooking and braiding are good ways to use up lots of fabric scraps and discards. They're something you can do in your spare time - even in front of the television. For those who are good with woodworking: wooden boxes, cutting boards, stationery racks and spice holders sell fast at the craft shows - they're wonderful presents.

You might be interested in needlework. Crocheted aprons, appliqu�d dolls, needlepoint pillows are always good items. You can make a high profit from handmade quilts or Afghans. What about plants? House plants in unusual planters are clever items and go quickly if they're reasonably priced. Dried flower arrangements draw attention if they're well done and in nice-looking holders.

And don't forget ceramics. They're ever-popular at crafts shows and can be put into any practical use. Not only can you sell cups and saucers, but vases, pitchers, and bowls go quickly too.

You can make clocks out of any object. Clock kits are not expensive and can be mounted on stone, wood, plastic or fabric. Think of what will sell. Watch the craft fairs and check prices. How can you make a profit?

There are thousands of objects that you can make at home with very little effort. And these produce a high profit. You can make jewelry, handbags, bookcases or candles. At craft fairs, even paintings, photographs and original design stationery are popular. What are you good at doing? Are there crafts you always wanted to get into? Maybe you constantly make small items that you give away at Christmas, like potholders, or birdhouses, or macram� hangers. And everyone you know has one. Why not take them to market?

Be careful about pricing. Often crafts in the shows are of excellent quality, but they demand an equally high price. If you need to price your items high, carefully consider the wealth of the buyers.

A good way to make money fast is to create dozens of small, two or three dollar items. You can set them up on a simple folding card table with the price. Sometimes people will buy a small item on impulse because everything else is too expensive.

Consider the difference between the practical and the pretty. Crafts sell because they can be used, rather than hung on the wall or stored on a shelf. Practical items are easier to sell. Craft fairs are not the only places to display and show your goods. You can set up and sell them at swap meets, church bazaars, or even on street corners.

Go ahead - try it. Make some homemade toys or Christmas stockings or leather bags. You'll find it enjoyable as well as profitable.