If a global pandemic taught us anything, it’s that anyone can make things with their hands. DIY content on platforms like TikTok exploded. A quick YouTube search uncovered craft tutorials for everything from embroidery to woodworking. And sourdough was having a moment.
It’s unsurprising that we collectively turned to crafts in a time of isolation. Studies show that working with your hands offers many mental health benefits. Crafting diversifies your brain activity, especially for those who do computer work, helping to increase creativity. And the sense of accomplishment in creating something from scratch can decrease stress and anxiety.
Better yet, exploring your creativity may even spark a business idea. If you’re looking for a hobby you can monetize, let’s get crafting! Ahead, explore trending crafts to make with ideas for every skill level. Learn how to turn your passion into products to sell online, at craft fairs, and everywhere in between.
11 DIY crafts to make and sell
- Resin and polymer clay jewelry
- Tufted rugs and mats
- Textile dyeing
- Paper flowers
- Home fragrance
- Ceramic or clay plant pots
- Face masks
- Vintage upcycle
- Tote bags
- Woven and knotted home décor
- Handmade beauty products
1. Resin and polymer clay jewelry
Both resin and polymer clay jewelry creations began trending a couple of years ago but are still popping up all over the web because of their versatility and appeal as DIY crafts. Resin jewelry is often characterized by items like dried flowers “preserved” in a hard, clear substance, while most common polymer clay jewelry is composed of opaque geometric shapes in bold colors.
Both require some upfront investment for materials but have a low learning curve with plenty of online tutorials. Great as a hobby, jewelry is also an easy craft to scale into a side gig, as you can produce multiple pieces in each batch.
🧶 Tips:
- Resin jewelry is slightly more complicated, as it involves mixing chemicals and can be messy. Trial and error will help you avoid bubbles in your creations.
- Polymer clay jewelry can be made by cutting freehand shapes, or using mini cookie cutters, then assembling the pieces with jump rings. Invest in a rolling pin designed for this purpose for a more professional finish.
- Consider how this medium can be used beyond jewelry. Think: holiday décor like Christmas ornaments or picture frames.
2. Tufted rugs and mats
Another trend that’s still going strong is rug making, using a hooking or tufting method. Whether you hook by hand with a punch needle or use a mechanical/electric tufting gun, you can create unique rugs, mats, or textile wall art based on your own designs. The top creators are often fetching hundreds of dollars for one two-by-three-foot rug. It can be a lucrative business if you find your niche.
🧶 Tips:
- Offer a custom or made-to-order service, creating tufted rugs to your customers’ specs.
- Starting out in this space will cost you a few hundred dollars for materials, especially if you opt for the tufting gun method. Try a class, if one is offered in your area, to see if you enjoy it before investing.
3. Textile dyeing
Tie-dye cycled back in popularity (again) in 2019 and is holding strong, popping up in fashion retailer collections on everything from sneakers to underwear. Tie-dyed goods are easy to make and sell from home, requiring very few materials and skills.
You can buy and dye bulk blank t-shirts or tie-dye fabric to sew into one-of-a-kinds products, depending on your skill level. Also try traditional Japanese shibori, a trending method of resist-dyeing using natural indigo dye.
🧶 Tips:
- Fabric dye, both synthetic and natural, can be purchased commercially. You can also experiment with making your own dyes with ingredients from your pantry, like avocado skins, turmeric, or teas.
- Tie-dyeing typically can be done using string or elastic to resist dye. But anything can be used for this purpose—try bulldog clips, clothespins, or a wax-resist method like batik.
4. Paper flowers
Paper flowers are simple crafts to make and sell, and potentially can be a fruitful small business idea. The wedding services market, though hit hard by the pandemic, is bouncing back and expected to be worth upward of $414 billion by 2030.
Marketing paper flowers as statement-making décor for weddings and events could score you a piece of that very big pie. Tons of free online paper flower tutorials and templates make it easy to get started. Better yet, paper flowers are among the easiest crafts to make and require very little upfront cost to get started.
🧶 Tips:
- Find or create designs that can fold down and be unfurled by your customer to save on shipping costs.
- Why not try making and selling craft kits for kids or adults, assembling and cutting elements of paper flowers that customers can assemble at home?
5. Home fragrance
One of the easiest crafts to make and sell online, home fragrance products like candles require no prior crafting experience. And, they’re in demand. The home fragrance market is expected to reach $9.2 billion by 2026.
You can purchase a basic candle-making kit to experiment with the process of adding essential oils to melted wax. But the possibilities are endless: get creative and stand out with unique containers/shapes like those by Yui Brooklyn, great branding like Boy Smells, or unusual scent combinations like Frostbeard candles.
🧶 Tips:
- Other home fragrance crafts to make and sell include room and linen sprays, custom essential oil blends, and natural diffusers.
- If you plan to make and sell candles online, be mindful that they are products susceptible to breakage and melting. Factor this into your packing and shipping strategy.
There are endless things to make and sell, such as pet treats, DIY coasters, wooden cutting boards, and metal picture frames. Find the DIY project that’s suited to your skills and interests.
6. Ceramic or clay plant pots
The plant-parent population grew like a weed at the onset of the pandemic, and businesses selling plants and plant accessories harvested the benefits. And, with plant care being a long-term commitment, tangential businesses will see benefits for years to come.
There is often a higher barrier to entry to pottery due to the need for specialized ovens (called kilns) to fire the clay. These are often cost- and space-prohibitive, but you can generally find community centers or clay studios that rent kiln time.
Pottery-like plant pots can also be made from air clay or cement (poured into molds) and do not require firing.
🧶 Tips:
- Take a pottery workshop or class to learn how to work with clay and get access to a kiln.
- Consider other plant accessories like garden markers, hanging planters, watering spikes, or window boxes that can be made from a variety of materials.
7. Face masks
While mask mandates have dwindled in some regions, face masks are still in demand as COVID variants continue to spread. Plus, in some parts of the world, face masks are widely used for combating the spread of colds and the effects of smog.
If you have basic sewing skills, you can make and sell fabric face masks using online tutorials or by designing your own pattern.
🧶 Tips:
- Face masks are available everywhere you turn. Why should someone buy yours? Consider how you can improve on the average mask, either through design or function. The founder of Second Wind gained traction for her face mask line that helped popularize masks as statement accessories, earning her celebrity clients like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and J.Lo.
- Face masks are flat enough to ship through lettermail. Offer free shipping and build the minimal cost into the retail price.
8. Vintage upcycle
If you’re looking for a sustainable idea for a craft you can do from home, vintage upcycling might be for you. The process involves sourcing vintage or used clothing—maybe pieces that have rips, stains, or dated shapes—and repurposing parts into new products.
Upcycled materials from a torn maxi-skirt could become a tote bag, a faded vintage sweatshirt could be cropped and redyed, an old t-shirt could be reimagined as a baby hat. The possibilities are endless for this DIY trend.
🧶 Tips:
- You don’t need to have sewing skills or even a sewing machine to upcycle vintage clothing. Try distressing denim or cropping and dyeing tees. Etsy identified ’90s/Y2K and pre-owned denim as trends for fall 2022.
- Consider what’s in demand. Which fashion trends from the past have cycled back? How can you convert less-desirable cuts into modern silhouettes?
9. Tote bags
This is one of the most versatile craft ideas on our list, with options for every level of skill and creativity. At the low end, you can buy blank cotton tote bags and personalize them with silkscreening, beading, hand painting, textile dyeing, or embroidering.
For more advanced crafters, sew tote bags from scratch from your own pattern—add pockets, closures, and other details to make yours unique.
🧶 Tips:
- As a sustainable option, upcycle vintage clothing or fabric into a usable tote bag. Consumer trends continue to tip toward businesses with a sustainability slant.
- Consider finding a niche in this crowded market. What about: tote bags just for wine bottles, totes that convert to backpacks, bags that fold up to fit in a pocket, or totes screen printed with memes and pop-culture references?
- If you truly don’t have a knack for crafting, consider uploading your designs to a print-on-demand partner and have them shipped directly to your customer.
10. Woven and knotted home décor
Woven and knotted textile art has made a big comeback in tandem with midcentury home trends. These home décor crafts have a range of options for every skill set. Macramé is a knotted technique popularized in the Victorian era and revived in the 1970s that can be used to make belts, textile art, and hanging planters.
Searches for “hanging planter” spiked in 2020 but have had sustained interest since. It’s an easy craft to learn and requires little to no equipment.
Other textile crafts like hanging wall art can be made with a weaving technique using a loom—these can range from a simple wooden frame or hand loom to large electrical power looms.
🧶 Tips:
- A beginner weaving kit can cost as little at $30 and contains all of the supplies you need to weave a trial project.
- What other woven crafts can you make and sell? Consider placemats, bathmats, soft baskets, DIY rope bowls, or jewelry.
- Follow trends in home and décor when planning your collections. Etsy identified bold color and texture play as trends for fall 2022.
11. Handmade beauty products
DIY beauty products can be easy crafts to make and sell—even if you’re not very creative. Dabble with testing simple products (like DIY bath bombs) in your spare time before progressing to more complicated craft ideas like nail polish or lotions.
🧶 Tips:
- As handmade beauty products make great gifts, consider building your collections around gift-giving occasions. Gift sets are a great way to bundle products and make shopping simpler for your customers.
- When you’re just starting your craft business, you can save on overhead costs by using upcycled materials like Mason jars for product packaging. Local thrift stores are often good sources for these ideas.
Launch a craft business, live your dream
Arm yourself with a glue gun and your winning idea. It’s time to upgrade your skills from a side hobby to your own craft business. Build a solid brand, write a business plan, and identify your target customer. Remember to follow DIY trends and consider seasonality. You’re ready to make crafts at home and sell them anywhere from a craft booth to your own branded online store.
Written by Shopify (Author: Dayna Winter)
Link to Original Blog: https://www.shopify.com/ca/blog/crafts-to-make-and-sell
