I need some nice christmas crafts that I can sell to make a little bit of extra money. If you have any ideas please tell me, or if you know of a good website pease tell me this also.
~ They need to be inexpensive.~
Candle making crafts are great activities for the family. It is not so complex that children cannot participate. As a matter of fact, they can be involved in most of the process and they love it. It is a great activity for them and a wonderful way to spend quality time together. You may even decided to sell your candles to make a little extra money. Using candle making crafts to teach your children how business works is a plus. An added benefit is that people love gifts that are made by children.
Candle making crafts are a great way to generate extra income. You can let your creativity take over and make your own unique and beautiful products. Once you learn the techniques, you are free to let your creative juices flow and work on something fun and rewarding.
Before you can let your creativity take over, you must learn the basics which are really quite simple. You will need to learn about the different types of waxes and which one you want to start with. You will need to know how to properly melt the wax. If you want to add colors and fragrance, you will need to know the proper ratios to use. The rules for candle making crafts are clear and simple. Once you learn them the whole process becomes second nature and you will be able to let your imagination take over to make beautiful crafts.
You need to pay close attention to the ratios you use. Often, the dye and fragrance used are petroleum based. When mixed with wax, this can cause problems if the ratios are not correct or if it is not mixed properly. If the dye ratios are not correct, it can result in colors that are spotty or dull. If the fragrance ratios are off or not mixed correctly, the scent will be inconsistent. Sometimes you will notice a very strong fragrance while other times you will not smell anything at all.
Make sure you are diligent in your stirring. This is very important. Be sure to constantly stir the mixture until it is ready to pour. Paint stirrers work well for this. Also keep in mind that, because the dye may bleed into the wood, get a handful for different colors.
Finally, do not overlook the importance of the wick. This is a very important part of candle making crafts. If you want the candle to burn properly the wick must sit correctly so keep an eye on it.
Candle making crafts can be fun and rewarding. Although not difficult, perseverance will go a long way in making beautiful candles.
Pat McTigue is a scented candle making enthusiast. For more information on candle making crafts, visit http://candlemakingsuccessplan.com/.
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I am a new mom to a 4 week old and am very interested in working at home to earn extra money by assembling crafts. I tried a company last year making angel pins and the instructions were horrible and the crafts very hard to try to put together. Does anyone know of any legitimate easy work at home crafts that doesn’t require a large investment? This would be very helpful! Thank you!!!
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Take the Leap.
I think the most important advice is, you’ll never know if you don’t try! Have you got passion? Do you enjoy what you make? Have people complimented you on your items? All very good reasons to just give it a go.
The number one reason most craft businesses never make it, is because their owner is too scared to take the plunge, too scared of failure. Don’t be! If failing is the worse thing to ever happen to you in your life then you’re pretty darn lucky 
Do some ground work
You have to be passionate about your business. Try to get out of the head space of just items on a table at a market. Try to get into the head space of a larger corporation. Start looking at all those larger companies out there that millions buy from each year. What is there image, what colours do they use, what is there brand name? Start a folder with a bunch of clippings that you can go back to over and over.
Also start a savings fund, although start up costs can be relatively small, there will be a point where some extra money may be critical in advancing your business
Start thinking about your own name
Brainstorm for some catchy names, ask family and friends for input. Make sure the name is short, catchy and easy to remember. Also make sure that when you google it, a hundred other names don’t come up, because you’ll end up having to try and compete with all those other names already out there!
Start thinking about your own image
Who are you planning on selling too? Start thinking about the colours you would like to use, or the look of your logo. Look at your competitors sites, what have they done that you could imitate from? If you’re confident in design, create your own, or if not, do a search for a graphic designer to help you out. There are some inexpensive graphic designers out there who can offer you a design logo package for under a 100 dollars. If that seems expensive just remember that the logo design will be yours for life 
Build up stock
Make sure you actually have enough things for people to buy from. Nothing worse than having only a few items!
Photograph your items!
It doesn’t matter if you only have a cheapest digital camera, as long as you’ve learnt to use macro and utilise natural sunlight, you can really create some fabulous results. Start looking around at your favourite craft sites, why are they your favourite? Often a big reason is how well, presented their products are. Start paying attention to the background. Have they used a white background or maybe something more fancy?
If you do a google search on light boxes, there are some easy cheap tutorial out there for the hand-made variety. This will heap to achieve a natural light upon your products!
Start writing product descriptions
When you start to write the description, it’s useful to picture your target audience in your head. Perhaps you knit shawls and your target audience is in the older generation bracket. Imagine who your average customer would be and as your writing the description imagine you’re talking directly to her about why she should buy it. Don’t just list colour, size and materials (although these are very important) but list why it’s good, and what would be in it for the customer if they bought it. Again check out how other successful sites do it.
Make sure you do all the boring things!
It’s the least favourite part but you have to make sure you’re registered as a business and you have programs in place to keep in track of expenses and orders (for tax purposes) Staying ahead of it at the start will save major headaches come tax time!
Set up your shop
Maybe you have a large budget and can afford to have your own website, great! But if you’re not in that category why not try a site like etsy.com. It allows you to create your own little shop space. It’s a great alternative and you’ll be able to build up a customer base from and perhaps start saving for your own site.
You could be giving away 100 dollar bills, but….
If nobody knows you’re out there, whats the point? You have to get the word of mouth out there, start with family and friends and tell them to pass on the word to other people. They’ll be the most keen in the start to help you out! Add your site’s link to your email signature. This will be sent out at the bottom of every email and is a nice friendly way of getting the word out there. Wear your products everywhere, people will comment on how pretty something is and then you can let them know about your site! Contact craft blogs and let them know about your site. Send out samples and press releases to magazines. There are so many ways to advertise on a cheap budget and you only need to do a quick Internet search to find many more!
Never see your mistakes as failures, for really they are just another opportunity to really learn and remember, you’ll never know if you don’t give it a try! Most importantly, good luck!
I started my own site, www.peachypan.com, with not much clue of anything and I’ve grown so much as a person and as a business owner and it’s definitely been a remarkable experience.
-Fee
www.peachypan.com
Fee Harding is the owner of the successful site, Peachypan.com.
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With America’s aging population a lot of towns have not one but many retirement and adult communities in them. Many of these retirement communities hold craft shows, yard sales and other events to promote social activities while generating a little extra money from the surrounding township.
If you are a bead jeweler or jewelry artisan of any sort then you should definitely check out some of these retirement communities to see if you can be a vendor at their next craft show. Not only is their table space often dirt cheap or even free, but you are given the chance to promote your jewelry to a large audience of people who may not otherwise venture out to see you at any other storefront or fair.
However, if you are going to make and sell jewelry for older women, especially senior citizens, then you may need to make some physical changes to your jewelry to make sure it suits them and their needs. Here are a few ways you can modify your bead jewelry to appeal more for your older clients:
Use Easy To Open Clasps: You’ll quickly learn that arthritis and reduced hand dexterity makes opening and closing typical small clasps difficult for older people. Some senior citizens avoid wearing jewelry altogether because it is simply too difficult to put on and take off. You’ll want to use easy to open larger clasps on your necklaces and bracelets. You may want to consider using magnetic clasps of some sort. These are not as secure as more traditional clasps but they can be opened and closed much more easily by older people.
Consider No Clasps: You may want to skip the entire clasp issue entirely by making over sized necklaces and bracelets that can easily slip over the head and wrist. You will want to bring your jewelry tools with you so that you can shorten pieces for customers right at your table if your bracelets are simply too large for thinner wrists.
Choose Textures Carefully: You may want to try to choose non-allergenic materials and stick with beads that are more rounded than chunky and sharp. A bracelet of sharp square Swarovski beads may look great, but if the rubbing of the bracelet against the wrist all day is going to cause a skin irritation then someone may not want to buy it.
Clip Earrings: Some older people move away from using pierced earrings for the same reason they shun small tight jewelry clasps: earrings are simply too small and difficult to wear and remove. Consider making to clip on earrings that are slightly larger than the norm but don’t dangle too much. You may need to test out several clip on kits until you can find one that you think most older people will want to use.
Eyeglass Holders and Bookmarks: Sure, beaded necklaces, bracelets and earrings will still sell, but consider making more non-traditional jewelry items such as jewelry chain bookmarks or beaded eyeglass holders. You’ll be amazed at how popular they can be!
Selling jewelry to older people is usually a lot of fun and can be a very rewarding experience. You’ll learn a lot about life just by talking and watching your older customers. If you really want to please them then you’ll definitely want to take their needs into consideration and offer them something unique and made especially for them.
Visit the Bead Jewelry Blog to get more bead jewelry ideas, news, trends, tutorials and bead jewelry business advice.
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