DIY step by step crafts for sale. Home work ideas, photos

Original and high-quality hand-made products are in demand and are highly valued. Craftsmen who create things with their own hands at a high artistic level can put them up for sale. Thus, an exciting hobby will become a source of additional income, which over time can take the place of the main income.

What crafts are in demand?

Themed souvenirs and accessories are in high demand before the holidays. For example, Christmas tree decorations for the New Year or images of hearts for Valentine's Day.

In places regularly visited by tourists, memorable souvenirs are popular: magnets, figurines, mugs, badges and other small items with symbols of the city or attractions.

Many women prefer handmade jewelry and accessories. Pendants, earrings, brooches, hairpins, handmade, are unique and this is what distinguishes them from mass-produced jewelry.

People willingly buy original items for home decor: sofa cushions, decorative candles, embroidered pictures, key holders, boxes, panels, painted kitchen boards, tea houses. Any products for children are in demand: from toys to clothes.

Festive paraphernalia: invitations and place cards, artificial bouquets and garlands, table linens, festive clothing and accessories.

Sale through an intermediary

The craftsman himself or another person on his behalf can present the handicrafts for sale. The advantage of independent sales is that the craftsman can present his work in detail to the potential buyer and answer any question.

Sales take away the time it takes to create crafts. It is more expedient to organize the implementation through an intermediary in one of the available ways. Each of the options has its own characteristics that need to be taken into account.

Sales at markets and exhibitions and fairs

Features of selling handicrafts in markets:

• A specialized handicraft fair is preferable to a regular market because it is specifically attended by people interested in such things.

• The works offered for sale must correspond to other goods of the seller: by subject, purpose, category or other characteristics.
• Trading places at fairs are paid, so you should resolve this issue with the seller in advance.
• The seller must be competent in the same type of handicraft as the master.

Master classes or school of creativity

Teaching various types of handicrafts can also be a source of income. If you have a desire to teach other people, but have no experience in organizing such activities, you can offer your services at a leisure center, private creative studio, or amateur interest group.

Recommendations:

• It is advisable to start by holding a master class to find out the degree of interest of people in a particular type of handicraft.
• If the master class has aroused interest, you can negotiate with the director or owner of the studio about organizing ongoing courses.
• Each lesson should be carefully prepared, thinking through its topic and plan, taking into account the age and level of the students.

• It is necessary to stock up on materials, tools, and craft blanks in sufficient quantities.
• Some types of handicrafts require specific tools and materials that are difficult for a student to find on their own. Providing course participants with the necessary raw materials can become another source of income for the master.

Internet platforms

Online sales significantly expand the circle of potential buyers, and also save time and money. There is no need to spend money on renting a retail space, paying the seller, or delivering products to a store or market.

You can put your handicrafts up for sale on the following sites:

• social media;
• specialized portals and forums dedicated to handicrafts;
• personal website;
• blog;
• thematic sites aimed at a target audience (wedding, for young mothers, for toy collectors, and others);
• Free classified ads board.

These resources act as an intermediary between the master and his potential clients.

To improve sales efficiency, you need to master some additional skills:

• creating a photo of a product that sells;
• writing sales copy;
• a deep study of the technical capabilities and features of the resource on which the works will be offered to buyers.

Handmade goods store

When giving away crafts for sale, you should take into account the features of such stores:

• Different conditions. Some stores pay a percentage of actual sales. Others have a monthly shelf rent system.
• Well-placed shelves that are in full view of customers may be occupied by other craftsmen. Visitors pay almost no attention to shelves that are in distant and dark corners or very high. The likelihood of selling products from such shelves is minimal.

• Products on nearby shelves may not match in theme, quality of execution or other indicators.
• Such stores often feature a large number of identical crafts with repeating designs. Only original, memorable works that attract the attention of buyers should be given for sale.

Decoupage

The essence of the technique is to decorate various objects with cut-out images., which, with the help of special technologies, are “implanted” into its surface.

Along with complex and labor-intensive varieties of decoupage, there are simple techniques available to beginners. For example, decoupage of a cutting board with paper napkins.

How to do decoupage:

• Sand the surface of the wooden board to make it smooth.
• Cover the board with white primer using a brush.
• If any unevenness appears on the surface of the board, sand it again.

• After the board has dried, apply a second coat of primer with a sponge.
• Tear the desired fragment of the drawing out of the napkin with your hands, apply it to a dry primed surface and carefully coat it with glue using a brush.
• After drying, cover the board with several layers of varnish, drying each layer in between.

Floristics

Floristry is the art of creating flower arrangements and bouquets. Each arrangement reflects a certain mood and atmosphere of the event for which it was created.

For beginner florists, it is recommended to create a simple bouquet for the bride:

• Fold 5 strips of organza, 30 cm wide, in half and cut into 2 equal parts.
• Fold each piece in half again and cut into strips 3 cm wide. Do not cut to the fold of the fabric.
• Assemble the organza blanks into the shape of flowers, twisting the “legs” and tying them with wire near the base, connecting them together.

• One flower should have a long stem left, which will act as a stem.
• Collect fresh flowers in a spiral, placing tulips on one level and randomly distributing the lanicum throughout the bouquet.
• Place the prepared organza decoration around the living plants.
• Tie all the stems together with floral wire. The higher the tie, the better the bouquet will hold its shape.
• Cut the stems with pruning shears to the required length.
• Separate the green leaves from the cut stems and add them to the bouquet, distributing them around the circumference of the composition.
• Decorate the place where the stems are bundled with plastic tape, wrapping it around several times.
• Decorate the ends of the ribbon with beads, stringing 2-3 on each of them.

Toys for animals

DIY crafts for pets are the best option for starting a handicraft business.

Having honed your craftsmanship on simple items, you can move on to creating more complex works for sale.

Toys for cats	Toys for dogs
Moving object of hunting	Rope made of knitted strips
Teaser-fishing rod	Jute ball
Interactive puzzle box	"Bone" made of dense fabric

As an object of hunting, you can offer the cat a toy mouse on a string, sewn from felt, artificial fur or any dense fleecy material. The toy does not require detailing, so any simple pattern with a minimum number of parts will do.

Puzzle boxes are made from thick cardboard or plywood, with holes, passages and tunnels cut into the walls. The box is filled with rattle balls, which the cat will catch through the holes in the box.

Toys that can be chewed, toyed with, or carried in the teeth are suitable for dogs. Toys should not be decorated with rhinestones, beads, sequins, or other small elements, as the animal may bite off and swallow them.

Decorative pillowcase

Decorative pillows can complement the design of a living room, bedroom, children's room and other rooms. The most practical is to make a decorative pillowcase that fits over a regular sofa cushion. If necessary, it can be removed and washed, and in the case of a radical change in the interior of the room, it can be replaced.

You can create decorative pillowcases using different handcraft techniques:

• sewing;
• knitting and crocheting;
• wallow;
• patchwork;
• macrame;
• cross stitch, satin stitch, ribbon embroidery.

Combining different techniques in one product allows you to further expand the scope for your creative imagination. You can sew a pillowcase from plain satin or satin and weave an openwork mesh of a contrasting color over this cover using the macrame technique. A pillowcase assembled from knitted and felted elements will look no less interesting.

Sofa cushions and covers can come in a variety of shapes, from traditional squares and rectangles to stars, hearts, and even animals and birds.

Fabric paintings

Handicrafts for sale or as a gift are created not only in widely known techniques, but also in rather unusual ones. One of them is kinusaiga, which came from Japan. The second name of this type of handicraft is patchwork without a needle.

The essence of kinusaiga is to create paintings and panels from scraps of fabric of different shapes and sizes, which are assembled into various images. like a mosaic. Foam plastic is used as a base. Various decorative effects can be created by combining fabrics of different colors, textures and prints in one picture.

The procedure for creating a painting using the kinusaiga technique is as follows:

1. The drawing is transferred onto a rectangular sheet of foam plastic 2–3 cm thick using carbon paper.
2. The outlines of the drawing are cut with a stationery knife to a depth of 0.5 - 1 cm, and a frame of arbitrary width is marked out along the perimeter of the base in the same way.
3. Carefully apply PVA glue into the recesses that outline any of the image segments.
4. Place the fabric piece on top of the foam and carefully tuck the edges into the slits using a nail file.
5. Excess fabric is carefully cut off with scissors.
6. Each segment of the image is filled in stages, starting with large areas of the background.
7. The edges of the fabric that forms the frame are carefully folded to the back of the painting and secured with a stapler.

Beginners should choose simple schematic drawings consisting of large elements.

Having mastered this technique, you can create complex images of any subject: landscapes, still lifes, portraits of people with complex and fine detail.

Polymer clay products

Polymer clay consists of a polyvinyl chloride base and a plasticizer, which evaporates during heat treatment at a temperature of 100 - 130 ° C. Products made from polymer clay can be baked in a regular home oven, after which it acquires hardness.

The range of application of the material is very wide. One of the popular areas is the production of costume jewelry. From plastic, as this material is often called, you can create brooches, pendants, earrings, beads, bracelets of any shape and color.

No less popular is the decoration of dishes and cutlery. Cups decorated with three-dimensional images of fairy-tale characters, animals, toys look very attractive. The same figures can be used to decorate the handles of spoons and forks.

Polymer clay is also used to make three-dimensional figurines, souvenirs and children's toys. Plastic elements can be used to decorate many household items and interior items: vases, key holders, bags, candlesticks, wall clocks and much more.

Magnets as a gift

Magnets can be made from various materials:

• polymer clay;
• salt dough;
• genuine leather;
• gypsum;
• papier-mâché.

This type of work requires a minimum amount of materials and little time. The price of magnets is low, so they are readily purchased as gifts and souvenirs.

The theme of magnets can be varied: tourist attractions, memorable dates, images of animals and birds, humorous wishes, holiday symbols.

Postcards

There are many handicraft techniques that allow you to create unusual cards:

• Iris folding, or rainbow folding, is a technique of creating an image from colored strips of paper that are fanned out to cover a shaped slit.

The cut-out hole can be of any shape, even the outline of a human figure, animal, or bird.

• Papertol – this is a three-dimensional image with a 3D effect.

It is obtained by layering elements of a design, which are secured with voluminous double-sided tape.

• Tunnel - these are three-dimensional postcards in a box. A square container is glued from thick Whatman paper or cardboard, and holes are cut in the walls.

Layer upon layer of image elements are placed in the space of the box, creating the effect of perspective.

Scrapbooking

Classic scrapbooking involves making designer albums for family photos. Each page of such an album is a photo collage expressing a certain idea or thought. Thematic albums are created dedicated to various family events: weddings, vacations, birth of a child.

In addition to albums, this type of creativity includes:

• leporello (accordion albums);
• house albums;
• albums-baskets;
• cardmaking (creation of postcards).

To create works, there are special blanks of various shapes, silhouettes, stickers, templates, which significantly simplifies and speeds up the work.

Wallow

There are 2 main methods of felting – dry and wet.The dry felting process is carried out using special needles with notches. A tuft of wool is tightly rolled up and repeatedly pierced with a needle, evenly over the entire surface, until it becomes compacted.

This is a fairly long and labor-intensive process. Well-felted wool has density and hardness, does not sag under the fingers. The dry felting method is used to create interior souvenirs, toys, and jewelry.

Wet felting requires water and soap. Thin strands of wool are laid out on a flat horizontal surface. Then they are covered with a mosquito net or bubble wrap, moistened with a soap solution and begin to gently rub the wool with your palms. As it is felted, the friction is increased, and then the woolen cloth is rolled into a roll, wrapped in a towel and rolled on the table.

Using the wet felting method, you can create any clothing - from winter coats to summer dresses, shoes, bags, hats. Beginners are advised to practice felting skills on small projects: wallets, scarves, mittens.

Having learned how to felt several small items well, you can start making money with this type of handicraft.

Fusing

A rather rare and labor-intensive type of technique, which is a type of stained glass. A distinctive feature of fusing is the smoothness and softness of color transitions, unlike conventional stained glass with sharply defined boundaries.

Pieces of colored glass are laid out on a glass base according to the sketch of the design. The composition is placed in a furnace and heated to 800 °C. The melted colored fragments are sintered together, forming soft color transitions at the joints.

Handicrafts for sale made using the fusing technique will be in demand. The competition in this type of handicraft is small, and the result is very impressive. Panels, tabletops, mirror frames, vases made of colored glass will decorate any interior.

Soap and candles

The technique of making soap and candles is available to craftsmen of any level. For beginners, it is recommended to use paraffin for making candles. Experienced candle makers may use wax or stearin as a base. The wick is made from a twisted cotton thread or taken from simple household candles.

You will also need natural dyes (for example, coffee or tea), or powdered food dyes. Dried flowers, coffee beans, and glitter are used to decorate candles.

The ingredients for making soap can be found in craft stores. The base is a mixture of lye, vegetable oil, and water. You can use baby soap.

Base oils are added to give soap certain properties: softening, moisturizing, skin nutrition. Base oils include: sea buckthorn, coconut, peach, almond oil.

To add aroma, add 1-2 drops of essential oil per 100 g of the main component to the base. Special dyes can be replaced with herbal decoctions or vegetable and fruit juice. Adding cream, honey, chocolate and other natural ingredients will give the soap additional beneficial properties.

Leather goods

Genuine leather is an expensive material that can be easily damaged by improper handling. Therefore, for the first works it is advisable to use old leather items.

From an old wallet or clutch you can make a stylish accessory: a brooch, a keychain, a hairpin. And from an old leather coat you can create a whole set: a pencil skirt, a bag and a set of jewelry. When sewing together parts of a leather product, it is important to select needles of the appropriate diameter that will not leave large holes on the surface.

Those who decide to seriously engage in this type of handicraft need to purchase special tools for leather:

• punch;
• forceps;
• vice;
• hole punch;
• hammer.

Even from small scraps of leather you can create many useful things: a key holder, a belt or sash woven from strips, a bracelet, earrings, flowers for an interior composition, and others.

Crafts for school

Mastering new types of applied art is available at any age.

Classes in various types of handicrafts develop perseverance, attention, and creative imagination in children.

Making simple crafts helps you master basic skills and, at the same time, demonstrate creative independence by adding your own elements.

Picture made of matches

Sequence of work:

• Use a simple pencil to draw the outline of the drawing on a sheet of colored cardboard.
• Lay out the pattern using matches along the pencil outlines, independently determining the length of each match.

• Glue matches to cardboard.
• If desired, add elements from other materials (rhinestones, glitter, threads).

Paper bouquet

Step-by-step execution of the craft:

• Cut out 3 identical circles with a diameter of 10 cm from pink crepe paper.
• Place the circles on top of each other and roll into a cone.
• Staple in the middle and bend the edges outward, giving them the shape of petals.
• For the stem, take a thin wooden stick and wrap it in green crepe paper, carefully gluing the edges.

• Cut out leaves from green paper and attach to the stem.
• Attach the flower to the stem.
• Make 4 more roses.
• Place 5 roses together and wrap in cellophane like a real bouquet.

Educational toys for hands

The most popular hand toy among schoolchildren is slime. The plastic, viscous mass can take any shape and does not stain hands.

You can make such a toy yourself:

• Mix PVA glue, food coloring and water. The amount of glue should correspond to the volume of the toy.
• Add sodium tetraborate (boric acid salt).

• Mix all ingredients thoroughly.
• Place the mixture in a bag and mash.

Boric acid salt can be replaced with baking soda.

Paper bookmark

Progress of work:

• Cut out 2 red stripes and 2 yellow stripes from colored paper.
• Place the yellow strip horizontally in front of you, place the second yellow strip and one of the red stripes perpendicularly on it. Glue with double-sided tape.
• Glue the second orange strip on top of the 2 stripes parallel to the first yellow stripe.
• Turn the workpiece so that there are 2 strips on the right and left.

• Fold the right yellow strip from right to left.
• Fold the left yellow strip from left to right.
• Repeat the folds on each side in turn until the strips are woven into a pattern to the end.
• Glue and trim the ends.

Friendship bracelet made of beads

Sequence of actions:

• Cut 35 cm of waxed cord.
• On the cut cord, tie a 1.5 m long cord with a regular knot as the working thread.
• Make 5 flat knots, taking into account the first one. To do this, turn the left part of the working thread to the right, placing it on top of the base thread. Then pass the right part of the working thread under the left end, turn it to the left, pull it over the base under the left half of the working thread. Tighten the knot. Repeat all actions in mirror image.

• String a bead onto the base thread and move it close to the last knot.
• Tie 3 flat knots.
• String the next bead and tie knots.
• Repeat until the end. Finish the bracelet with five flat knots.
• Cut the working thread and melt the ends with a lighter.
• Cross the warp threads and braid them with an additional 20 cm long thread.
• Trim the ends, put one bead on each and tie knots.

Original bird feeders

Feeders can be made as follows:

• Empty metal cans can be painted in bright colors and decorated with patterns.
• The jars can be decorated with jute twine, carefully wrapping it around the entire outer surface and securing it with glue.

• Tie the jars in the middle with bright ribbons or cords.
• Glue wooden poles to the bottom of the opening of each can.
• Fill the jars with food and hang them on branches using ribbons.

Making various crafts with your own hands is a fascinating creative activity for children and adults. Regardless of whether the item is intended for personal use, as a gift to someone or for sale, it must be done qualitatively and carefully.

Article formatting: Natalie Podolskaya

Video about making crafts for sale

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