Are you looking for a fun and enjoyable way to make money from home?
If you’re a crafty person, you’re in luck! There are so many different crafts that make money.
But even if you don’t have a natural talent for crafts, it’s still possible to set up a profitable side business by making things to sell from the comfort of your home.
The gorgeous handmade products on this list don’t require much in the way of talent, training or special equipment. With a little time and patience, you can learn how to make and sell any of these items.
Here’s a list of 21 easy crafts to make and sell for profit, sourced from some of my favourite craft blogs.
By the way, most of these would also make great thrifty handmade gift ideas! Keep them in mind if you’re already planning next Christmas on a budget!
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Top tips for selling your crafts
Are you starting to get excited about selling your crafts for cash? Here are some tips to help you maximise your sales:
Think about niching down. There are lots of generic crafts for sale out there. Could you make yourself stand out by targeting a particular audience? Most of the ideas below can be customised by changing the fabrics, colours, wording, packaging, etc.
Weddings are a particularly profitable niche, and many of the items on this list would make great wedding decorations or favours! You could offer custom-made items themed to suit the wedding colour palette.
Along the same lines, think seasonal. Produce your crafts in appropriate colours and packaging for the major holidays and events – anything from Christmas to Mother’s Day.
Good presentation makes all the difference. Consider investing in some nice packaging materials, such as cellophane, ribbons and colourful shredded paper. It just makes your items look like you’ve taken more care over them – and also makes them ready for the buyer to give as a gift.
If you’re selling online, pay attention to the quality of your photography and lighting.
If you are thinking about selling homemade cosmetics such as the lovely lip balms and bath bombs listed below, please check local regulations, as well as the rules of the website or marketplace where you want to sell.
You will usually have to include labeling with full details of potential allergens and so on. And some jurisdictions may even require a licence to manufacture and sell these products, so please do your own research beforehand!
Read on to the end of this post for answers to your FAQs on making money selling crafts.
21 easy things to make and sell for money
No-sew hair bows
These little bows are so cute, and what’s more, they don’t require any sewing or any craft skills! You can make these in unlimited colours and fabrics. I’m picturing themed bows selling well for Christmas, Halloween and so on. This tutorial shows you how to attach the bows to simple hair grips but you could even add to other accessories. You could sell these online, at a school event or any event where there will be little girls and their parents!
Egg candles
These colourful egg shaped wax candles are perfect for selling at Easter craft fairs! You can get really creative with the colours. You could sell them individually or in simple cellophane packaging, but I really love the idea of selling a set of six in an egg box as shown here.
Leather bookmarks
All things personalised sell really well on Etsy. With these leather bookmarks, the options are endless. You can decorate them with any kind of phrase, picture or symbol that you like. And you could even offer custom orders. What’s more, you don’t need any kind of craft background to make these. So if you’re looking for a truly easy craft to sell online, this could be the one for you!
Juggling chickens
I love these juggling bag chickens! They are so cute and cheerful. They are designed to be used as juggling bags and would be great sold in a set at school fairs or children’s events. But they are so cute, I reckon you could also sell them individually as decorative objects! You can use pretty much any fabric scraps you have left over from other projects, so they can be super cheap to make too.
Nail polish marbled mugs
These mugs look so original and cool. I couldn’t believe the secret ingredient is nail polish! You can use polishes you already have at home or buy cheap ones from the pound shop, so these mugs can be really cheap to make. I think these crafts would sell well for events like mother’s day, especially all packaged up nicely in cellophane. You could even pack them with little gifts such as chocolate or mini hand creams to make extra special gift sets!
Felt bow bookmarks
These felt bows on a fabric strap make an unusual and pretty bookmark. I can see these selling really well with the bullet journal crowd – bullet journal goods are HUGE on Etsy! This tutorial does use a die cutting machine which you may not have, but you could always adapt it using the no-sew bows from above?
Ribbon wreath
How pretty is this DIY ribbon wreath! They are quick and easy to make even for an inexperienced crafter, but so effective. The colours and design shown in this picture would be perfect to sell at a Valentine’s day event. But think out of the box and you could adapt it to endless colour ways and themes. It all depends what ribbons you use.
Clay essential oil necklace
These necklaces look good enough to eat! In fact, they’re clay circles which you use with essential oils. The oil scents diffuse gently with the warmth of your skin. There are so many essential oil related products for sale on Etsy that I’m sure these would be a profitable product to sell. And they’re not too tricky to make!
Unicorn slime
If you have kids you’ll know how everybody’s going crazy for slime at the moment! This glittery, fragrant unicorn slime will be really popular with little girls. It would be a great craft to make and sell at a school craft fair.
Lavender bath bombs
Mmm, I can almost smell these handmade bath bombs! They’re packed full of essential oils and dried lavender. There are tons of customisation options (shape, scents etc), so you could even start a whole home business just selling variations on these!
Twine votives
These votives are simply decorated with baker’s twine, which you can buy very cheaply in a whole range of colours. And you can use any old jars which you have in your house. A quick, simple but effective craft.
Fabric covered notebooks
These fabric covered notebooks are another surprising effective craft that are simple to make, even for non-crafters! All you need are some cheap notebooks, fabric of your choice and some glue. You could niche down with these, for example make special versions to sell as wedding guest books or bullet journals.
Rolled beeswax candles
These candles look SO simple to make – you literally just take a sheet of beeswax, and roll it up! Even children can make this one. But once finished, they look very effective and are bound to sell at craft fairs. This could be an easy way to get your feet wet with selling crafts, even if you don’t think of yourself as a creative person.
Waldorf doll for infants
This is an adorable soft, floppy doll, designed for babies and suitable from newborns upwards. They are simple to make if you already have some basic sewing skills. They would make a great gift for a friend with a newborn, and of course you could sell them too!
Simple bunting
I think bunting is a fantastic idea of a handmade craft to sell for money. Bunting is really trendy right now and it’s in high demand for weddings and parties, as well as simply to decorate the home. This is a simple tutorial – it will help if you do already have some basic sewing skills and equipment, but I think anyone could learn this in a weekend. You can make them in endless colourways and even offer custom orders for a higher price!
Zinnia pine cone wreath
I had to do a double take when I first saw this wreath. I really thought it was made from colourful flowers, but in fact it’s painted pine cones! Depending on the season and where you live, you can probably pick up piles of pine cones for free. This makes it an extremely cheap craft that you can sell on for profit.
Washer necklaces
These necklaces are made from simple washers, plus craft paper and beads of your choice. There are lots of places to sell homemade jewellery, and these easy necklaces are a great place to start!
Olive oil lipbalm
Natural cosmetic products are so popular at the moment. This lip balm is sure to be a hit if you find the right audience to sell it too. It’s packed full of luscious and nourishing ingredients such as olive oil, essential oils and shea butter.
Felt ball garlands
These felt ball garlands are SO easy to make that anyone could make them at home, but it’s one of these things where people would rather just pay for the finished product! That makes them the perfect craft to sell for profit 🙂 You can buy the felt balls ready made to keep things extra simple, or you can try making them yourself before threading them together. As with the bunting above, you could sell custom orders to match wedding colour schemes, as well as theming them for Christmas, Halloween and other holidays.
Pink Himalayan salt scrub
I love the pink colour of these bath salts, and they look great in the jars as shown with the little wooden spoons! This could not be simpler to make, so if you’re looking for a truly easy thing to make and sell for money, give it a go.
Easy elastic headbands
These headbands only require minimal sewing skills and they are really quick to make once you have the basic technique down! This is a very easy craft that can make you money when sold at local craft fairs or online. You can make them in any fabric you like and they can be styled like a wide bandanna, or pulled into a thinner strip.
Frequently Asked Questions on how to make money from crafts
Where to sell crafts for money?
You have lots of different options when it comes to selling your crafts for money.
Craft fairs
The most obvious place to start might be craft fairs. That way you get to interact with your customers, take home your profits in cash, and you don’t have to worry about shipping or packaging.
You can research local craft fairs online. If you’re in the UK like me, a great website to start with is UKCraftFairs.
You can also try Googling for your town name together with words like craft fair, gift fair, artisan market, fayre, bazaar, and so on. Local schools, churches and village halls may also run this kind of event. Contact the organiser for details on how to get involved as a seller.
Online
If you fancy selling your handmade products online, you can reach a much larger market!
Etsy is the big name for selling online. You have to pay a small fee for each item you sell, but you can still make great profits.
You might decide to boost traffic to your Etsy store through Facebook ads, Instagram or other online methods.
Check out this interview with a crafter who sells her embroidered T shirts on Etsy for selling tips!
Wondering where to sell crafts besides Etsy? Folksy is a UK-based challenger. They have lots of tips for selling crafts online in the UK on their blog.
Alternatively, you could think about setting up your own site! This would allow you to run a blog as well as an online store, to build an audience and drive traffic to your products.
If you like the idea of setting up your own website, I have a detailed step-by-step tutorial (with screenshots!) of how to set up your own blog. Then, you can install a plugin such as WooCommerce to run your own shop from your site.
Shopify is another popular way to set up an online shop.
What is the easiest craft to make and sell?
There are lots of easy crafts to make and sell. I selected all the crafts on this list to be relatively easy, even for someone with minimal crafting experience.
The easiest crafts on our list above are probably the twine votives, rolled beeswax candles, unicorn slime and seasalt scrub. You don’t need any special skills or equipment for any of these.
If you have some basic sewing skills, the headbands listed above will be very simple for you. Here are some more ideas of simple sewing projects to sell.
What is the most profitable craft business?
Unfortunately, there is no easy answer to the question of what are the most profitable crafts. This is because it depends on so many factors!
When thinking about the most profitable craft ideas, don’t just think about what you can sell for the most money. You also need to think about your expenses.
The basic formula to remember is:
sales – expenses = net income
The net income (also known as profit margin) is the actual money you make after paying for materials, licencing, Etsy seller fees, etc.
So the crafts with the highest profit margin are things that you can sell for a lot of money, and/or have low expenses.
Let’s look at these individually:
Crafts that sell for lots of money
Consider what kind of thing people are willing to pay a premium for. For example, weddings, Christmas gifts, new babies – these are special occasions in people’s lives, and they are ready to pay more than they would for everyday items.
Also, a lot of people like to spend like crazy on their pets! Craft items such as dog bandanas can be relatively inexpensive to make, but have a high profit margin.
Other expensive crafts to sell are things that require specialist skills. For example, woodworking, costume design, bespoke clothing, fine art are some examples of crafts that make the most money.
If you already have a skill like this, make the most of it – and be sure to charge your worth! Do not undervalue your time and expertise.
Crafts with low expenses
One way to reduce your expenses is to find ways to sell the same work over and over again.
That might sound crazy but it’s possible with digital crafts, such as selling printable art on Etsy.
If you are a fine artist, you can sell the original painting for a high fee, and then sell digital prints cheaper but with zero additional costs.
You can also upload digital designs to be printed on T-shirts, phone covers and so on, using Print On Demand sites such as Amazon Merch, Zazzle or Printful.
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed this post, and came away with plenty of ideas for easy things to make and sell for profit!
Do you have any experience selling crafts online? If you have any top tips for us, please share in the comments below!
This post was first published on 23 April 2019 and was updated on 28 April 2020.
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