20 Crafts to Make and Sell for Profit in 2023

When a lot of people think about crafting, they picture glue guns and glitter, googly eyes, and construction paper.

But modern-day crafting is much more complicated than that.

In fact, if you narrow down your demographic and are strategic about where you sell your creations, you can turn what was once considered just a hobby into a lucrative side business and make money crafting.

The best part is, earning money by making and selling crafts is something that can literally be done anywhere – even from the comfort of your own home.

This could be a huge win for stay-at-home moms, people who can’t work traditional jobs for health reasons, or anyone else who is looking for a side gig with a big payoff.

If you are interested in taking the plunge and want to start trying to make money from crafting, but feel overwhelmed or don’t know where to begin, we have a few ideas that will help you get your creative juices going. 

I promise you: Anyone can do it! You just have to figure out where your talents lie, and go from there.

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Where to Sell Crafts for Money

Before we learn how to make money crafting, it’s important to find out if there is a market for our products.

We do this by looking at where to sell our creations.

Here are some of the best options out there for crafters to make money selling their very own crafts.

1. Etsy

One of the most popular ecommerce websites (and boasting around 40 million active buyers), Etsy is primarily focused on handmade items – perfect for creators looking to sell their crafts.

To begin selling on Etsy, choose a name for your business (if you don’t already have one), register for an account, and then open your shop.

Then specify your language and location and start listing items (you’ll want to include photos – preferably multiple pictures per listing).

When choosing your price point with Etsy, remember that the site charges a 20-cent listing fee for each individual item, and takes 5 percent of each transaction.

Plus, it charges sellers processing fees for sales using credit cards or PayPal, as well as a shipping label fee.

Related: How to Sell Your Photos Online 

2. Shopify

This online e-commerce platform allows its members to sell their items both online and at retail locations. Start by choosing from the site’s pricing tiers, which start at $9 per month (you can begin with a 14-day free trial to make sure this option is for you).  

Then choose a store name, enter your business address, decide if you want to purchase a custom domain, select a theme for your store, and then begin adding your products for sale.

3. Facebook Marketplace

You can use Facebook’s built-in sales feature to not only peddle your crafts to friends and family, but also to get your creations seen by people in your local area (and beyond).

To sell on Facebook Marketplace, take some pictures of the crafts you want to sell, choose your price, type out a description, and then wait for the offers to come in.

Unlike Etsy, Facebook won’t take a cut of your proceeds – but it also doesn’t offer buyer or seller protection like Etsy does.

4. Create Gift Guide Guest Posts

If you have a flair for the written word, consider compiling holiday gift guides (which of course should include – but are not limited to – the crafts that you’ve created to sell) that you can offer to other bloggers for free.

Include links to all of the items on your list to drive traffic to your (and other crafters’) Etsy shop or Spotify store.

If you don’t know how to create gift guides, this step-by-step tutorial from Nicholette will get you started. The sound is a little rough at the beginning but you will learn a tonne about creating gift guides using Canva.

Source:  Nicholette Styles

Crafts that Make Money in 2021

Here are my top picks for the best crafts to make and sell for profit online!

Maybe you already have an idea of what you could make that would help you bring in some extra cash.

But if you’ve been racking your brain, trying to decide what would be the most profitable crafts to sell, check out these money-making craft ideas and give them a try – or use this list as a jumping-off point for your creativity.

Let’s look at trending crafts to make and sell for profit and that are easy to create, as well.

1. Decorative Fabric Flowers

You can make and sell these cute fabric flowers from home by following a tutorial from Ina, the creator behind Crafty For Home.

This simple, but beautiful, craft is really easy to do once you get going, and there are a ton of design options you could use. The material costs about $5, and the flowers take around 10 minutes to make.

2. Felt Puzzle Dinosaurs

Felt With Love Designs came up with these super unique 3D felt dinosaurs – and has even provided the pattern to make them, free of charge to her subscribers. It takes less than an hour to sew one set, and costs between $5 and $10 for the supplies.

3. Decorated Clay Flower Pots

Looking for more popular things to make and sell from home? You can create three simple, beautiful, clay pots in just 30 minutes, and be well on your way toward building up an inventory to sell.

All it takes to make this budget-friendly craft by Hungarican Journey are some pots (which can be purchased at $19 for nine of them) and white markers – which can be used over and over.

4. Scented Candles

Hungarican Journey does it again, this time with a fun, easy, and inexpensive tutorial on making scented candles complete with dried flowers.

It takes just 15 minutes to make the candles, which then cool down overnight. The soy wax kits, which cost around $15, make approximately 30 8-ounce candles that can be sold at a nice profit.

5. Succulent Planters

These cute DIY concrete succulent planters accented with gold (or any other color of your choice) are easy to make and would look beautiful indoors or out.

The Soccer Mom Blog made hers with a bag of concrete, some sand, paint, and some old containers she already had lying around her house.

These planters can be created in any shape or size. Just let the cement and paint dry before planting the succulents (or sell them without the plants, and let the buyer choose what to put inside!).

6. Bath Bombs

Everyone knows that fizzy bath bombs make bath time way more fun – so why not turn that universal love into a side gig? Moms Collab makes a killer DIY bath bomb out of materials that are already in everyone’s kitchen: baking soda, cream of tartar, cornstarch, salt, and essential oils.

Combine the ingredients and pop into a mold or ice cube tray overnight. Once the bath bombs dry, they will be ready to sell to customers looking for that perfect fizzy bath time indulgence. Bath bombs are one of those crafts that make the most money.

7. Bangles

Resin has become one of the most popular crafting materials of today – and for good reason. It’s pretty, it’s versatile, and it’s fairly easy to use.

The Soccer Mom Blog put a unique spin on this ubiquitous tool by combining it with coral and seashells to make beautiful and functional bracelets.

She utilized items she and her kids had gathered at the seashore to put into the resin bangles, which she let dry for a full day. While the materials cost $45, they will last a long time and can be used to make many pieces of jewelry.

8. Custom Fleece Blankets

People love to give personalized items as gifts, and blankets are no exception. The Soccer Mom Blog came up with an easy DIY to add heat-transfer vinyl wording to fleece blankets for a completely personalized crafting option.

She used her Cricut or EasyPress to cut out the lettering, and then simply ironed the designs onto blankets that she picked up at Target or Wal-Mart.

The blankets cost between $8 and $15 each, and rolls of vinyl (which produce several designs each) cost around $14.

9. Pocket Tissue Holders

These tissue pouch packs by Sum of Their Stories are extremely quick and easy to sew – but turn out beautifully every time! They are usually made with scraps, and so cost next to nothing to make.

Even if you did purchase fabric to make them, they would still cost less than 60 cents each and take just 10 minutes to make – even less if you make them in batches.

10. Juggling Bags

If you already have fabric scraps lying around – maybe from making the tissue pouch packs! – put them to good use by sewing these adorable chicken juggling chooks by Red Ted Art.

You could also make larger chickens that could be sold as doorstops, corn bags, and more. All you need are your fabric scraps, pieces of felt, embroidery thread, and some rice, corn or other stuffing – making them super inexpensive to create.

11. Wreath

Turn a wood blend wreath form from the dollar store into a piece of beautiful shabby chic décor that anyone would be proud to display on their front door.

Mission: To Save used a mix of fabrics (she chose muslin and burlap), hemp cord and a faux flower to turn her wreath form into a work of art that can not only be hung on a door, but could also be used inside or as a tabletop display.

You can utilize materials you already have lying around your house, or pick up burlap, hemp cord, flowers and muslin at Jo-Ann Fabrics or Hobby Lobby. Due to the low to no material cost, wreaths are one of the crafts with the highest profit margin.

12. Monogrammed Frame

Another option that would allow your buyers to pick up a uniquely customized gift is this multi-season monogrammed frame idea from Mission: To Save.

She used her Cricut and some vinyl to cut out her recipient’s initials, which she then glued to some pretty scrapbook paper and displayed inside a picture frame (you can allow your customers to choose their own frame sizes, if you’d like).

Rolls of vinyl can be used for multiple projects, and the picture frames and scrapbook pages can be purchased for around $10 and 50 cents each, respectively.

13. DIY Clocks

Continuing on with the customizable crafting option – which is always a winner! – is this DIY clock tutorial by Studio R12 Stencils.

She just used a stencil (you can buy some or make your own with a Cricut or other crafting device) to paint designs onto clocks she picked up at Wal-Mart, Target, or even thrift stores.

The only costs are that of the clock, paint, and the stencil. You can even use textured pastes to apply your design, giving them the look of raised letters.

14. Comic Book Coasters

Drugstore Divas’ cute DIY comic book coasters are 100 percent customizable and take only $1 each and five minutes to make.

Simply use Mod Podge to decorate a plain ceramic coaster with a design cut from a comic book, magazine, photograph, etc. (the sky’s the limit!). Then let the coaster dry for 24 hours. And voila! Sell them individually, in pairs, or in packs of four.

15. Personalized Name Crayons

If your kids are anything like mine, you’ve got broken crayons coming out of your ears. Instead of throwing them away, put them to good use by making these personalized name crayons by Upcycle My Stuff.

Just put any broken crayons you have lying around the house into silicone molds and bake them in the oven for 15 minutes. You can sell your new letter crayons individually or as sets with full name options.

16. Necklace Pendant From Fabric Scraps

These cute and unique DIY necklace pendants from Kristen at Upcycle My Stuff can easily be made from fabric swatches or fabric samples.

All you’ll need to purchase are the pendant backs, which cost just a few dollars for a pack of around 20. Each necklace is completely customizable, and takes only a couple of minutes to create.

17. Squeeze Balls for Kids

If you are looking for easy things to make and sell then you should think about squeeze balls for kids.

These stress/therapy/exercise/relaxable balls (call them whatever you’d like!) are super easy to make, and can be assembled with items that you probably already have lying around your house.

Sara at Bitz & Giggles used a funnel to fill balloons with flour. She then cut holes in other empty balloons and put these over her squeeze balls to get that “ninja mask” look.

18. Stress Ball

Fill transparent balloons with water beads – another one of the hot craft ideas to sell right now – for a fun and colorful alternative to the flour squeeze balls. Bitz & Giggles let a bunch of water beads or Orbeez fill up with water before putting them into a clear balloon that she then tied off to create a fun and squishy rainbow stress ball. A $12 bag of water beads can fill dozens of stress balls.

19. Glitter Friendship Bracelets

Turn ordinary clear vinyl tubing from your local home improvement store into gorgeous, glittery friendship bracelets that your customers can keep or give to their friends or daughters.

Bitz & Giggles came up with this unique crafting idea and filled the tubing with baby oil and glitter (you could even put tiny beads into the tubing!). She then sealed off circles of the tubing to make cute bracelets.

Use any combination of colors you’d like for an unlimited number of choices! Sell them individually or as stackable options with coordinating colors.

20. Candy Bouquets

Transform a few boxes of movie theater candy and your customers’ favorite individual treats into a fun candy bouquet that’ll be perfect for any sweet tooth.

Down Red Bud Drive glues the movie theater candy around a wedge of floral foam, pops some tissue paper in for that “bouquet” look, glues candy to wooden skewers, and then sticks the skewers into the foam at different heights.

The finishing touch is a pretty piece of ribbon wrapped around the candy and tied in a bow. You can add anything else you’d like, like a small stuffed animal or balloon.

A large piece of foam can be cut down to make multiple bouquets, and you can also purchase candy from big bulk stores to keep costs down.

How to Make Money Selling Crafts

While this might feel like a daunting endeavor, creating items that people want to buy is really not as hard as it sounds.

All you have to do is explore your talents, decide what kind of crafting would most fit your lifestyle and abilities, and follow this guideline to figure out when and where to start selling your crafts to make money.

Step 1: Decide What to Make

Think for a second about what you like to do when you have some free time. Do you enjoy writing? Painting? Making music? Whatever your natural aptitude is, you can turn those skills into a way to make money crafting.

If you are feeling stuck, we have some ideas below that could help you get your creative juices flowing – but at the end of the day, literally anyone can use their existing talents (not to mention tools and supplies they already have around the house!) to turn crafting into a money-making endeavor.

Step 2: Create a Profit and Loss Statement

Once you’ve decided what you’re going to make, how do you determine how much to sell it for? This is where a profit and loss statement comes in – and it’s easier than it sounds. This crucial step can help you determine which are the most profitable crafts to sell.

To begin, simply calculate the cost of all of the materials it will take to make your pieces; add in any applicable selling expenses (i.e. how much websites like eBay or Etsy will take from your sales, or how much it would cost to have a booth at a craft fair) and pay yourself at least minimum wage for the time it takes you to make your crafts.

Divide the total amount by the number of pieces that you plan to sell, and use that as a starting point in deciding how much to charge for them.

Check similar listings to make sure your prices are fair and competitive, and if they seem to be too high or too low, adjust accordingly. As you grow your business, continue filling out your profit and loss statement to find out whether or not you are really making money.

Step 3: Decide Where to Sell

Once you’ve researched crafts that make money and narrowed down the type of craft you’re going to create, it’s time to figure out where to sell it.

Do you already have a blog? Consider selling to your existing readers. Do you have a decent following on Instagram or Facebook?

There are many ways that you can use social media to make money from crafting. And there are websites dedicated to selling that you could also take advantage of.

But don’t get overwhelmed by all of the options. Instead, determine which choice would be the easiest for you to figure out, and which one (or more) is most in your wheelhouse.

That way, you’ll be able to spend less time wrestling with technology and more time crafting!

Related: Business Ideas for Women

Yes! You Really Can Make Money Crafting

It really is not only possible, but fairly easy to bring in some extra income from crafting. All it takes is a little bit of brainstorming on your part to find crafts that make money and that you can create right from the comfort of your own home.

With just a little bit of time and minimal investment on your part, you’ll find yourself churning out those creative pieces – and bringing in some extra cash – in no time!