INSIDE: Get tons of great ideas with these DIY summer crafts to sell. Engage your kids and make it a family affair. Just 5 steps to get started!
Are you looking for a summer craft project to keep your kids busy? How about a family craft business?
You can earn extra cash if you launch a craft business. Folks love buying handmade goods. If you can create easy home décor essentials and sell those homemade items in a vendor booth at a local craft fair, you’ll enjoy the satisfaction of running your own successful craft business and putting extra money in your pocket.
What would you do with an extra hundred dollars each weekend?
You could pay down high-interest credit card debt. Add a buffer to your savings account. Or even treat your family to a vacation.
All it takes is choosing a few DIY crafts, putting together your inventory from great craft ideas, and selling your craft at an art fair, craft festival, or online on your own website or in an Etsy shop that you promote on social media.
DIY Summer Crafts to Sell: 5 Easy Steps
Even during a pandemic, you can connect with others who love art at a craft show and earn extra money. Start your craft business in just five easy steps:
- Decide what DIY crafts you want to build and sell
- Reference an online tutorial to learn how to make bestselling DIY craft ideas – or use your imagination to create truly unique handmade items
- Set up a website or Etsy store and promote it on social media to jumpstart your craft business
- Look into attending a local craft fair as a vendor
- Watch your craft business grow as you become known online and within your community
Launch Your Side Hustle: Find Cool Crafts That Will Sell
When determining what DIY summer crafts to sell, you’ll often find inspiration for bestselling items when you think about the crafts and hobbies you love.
You don’t want to put time into promoting a craft project you wouldn’t enjoy creating or wouldn’t be proud to display as part of your home decor.
Find great craft ideas by thinking about the items you buy and use. From handmade chalkboards and white boards to mason jar candles or tissue holders, rustic style items sell year-round.
For summer, you may also consider the following themes and then find easy crafts that showcase these fun summer items:
- Seashells
- Flip-flops
- Wide-brimmed hats
You can also customize t-shirts and water bottles with cute sayings using a vinyl cutting machine for fun summer gift ideas to sell.
If you still aren’t sure where to start, ask your kid and their friends. They will know the hot summer items, from handmade turtle bracelets for the VSCO girls to cute masks adorned with buttons to wear during the Covid-19 pandemic.
For the best summer crafts, consider a combination of practical and fun items – from beaded mask holders to tie-dyed t-shirts. Mask holders promise to be a back-to-school trend for students and teachers alike; simply attach a beaded string to both sides of the mask so the mask can hang around your neck when you don’t have to wear it.
Bath bombs and soaps appeal to online shoppers and craft show attendees of all ages. People will buy these thoughtful handmade products to give as back-to-school teacher gifts or
Try These Kids Craft Ideas to Form a Family Business
Many of the crafts you’d like to sell as a vendor at farmer’s markets, at a local craft fair, or even on your Etsy store are easy enough for your kid to help you make. That’s why making DIY summer crafts to sell is the perfect family business.
Share your love of art and turn your craft business into a family affair with these easy kids craft ideas you can make and sell at an event.
Lanyards
You and your kids can make useful handmade products with nothing but inexpensive lanyard string (usually less than $10 for a 100-yard spool), keyrings or hooks, and a scissor to cut the lanyard when you’re done.
You can weave lanyards into keychains, bracelets, zipper pulls, holders for ID badges, and even mask holders that go around your neck. One year, my kid wove lanyards for the whole family in our choice of colors and we attached them to our reusable drink bottles that we carried to theme parks so we wouldn’t get our bottles mixed up.
Lanyards can also be handy for marking your luggage so you can spot it easily on the airport carousel. Attach a plastic tag and it also makes a great luggage tag.
Bracelets
Your imagination is the limit when it comes to bracelets. Your kid can show off their creativity with this great DIY project. You can sell a lot of casual bracelets and ankle bracelets in the summer when people like to wear short sleeves, shorts or dresses and want jewelry to show off on their wrists or ankles.
Turtle rope bracelets made with rope and turtle beads set the tone for a fun summer. You can also make bracelets from seashells, sea glass, or beads. These handmade products will sell at a local craft show or farmer’s market event. If you live in a tourist area or near the beach, vacationers will love to bring a fun reminder of their trip made by a local artist.
Bath Bombs
What better way to relax after a day in the sun on vacation than with bath bombs? These popular handmade products appeal to women of all ages and some guys, too. You can purchase a kids craft kit to make bath bombs in many different shapes and sizes.
But bath bombs are also an easy DIY idea without a kit. The secret lies in using silicone molds to craft bath bombs in any shape you wish and adding essential oil for a relaxing or invigorating scent. Bath bombs combine art and science, making them a great kids craft that you can also sell at a high profit margin.
Package your bath bombs creatively in tulle or place a collection of coordinating bath bombs in a mason jar and adorn with ribbon for a great craft idea.
Handmade Soaps
Like bath bombs, handmade soaps combine art and science into handmade products people love. How about putting together a gift basket of bath bombs and soaps and selling it at a local art fair or craft show as the ultimate back-to-school gift.
Choose scents like coconut and pineapple for summery flair. Whether your region is returning to the classroom or doing distance learning, teachers will appreciate a warm welcome back to school with a gift that reminds them of the scents of summer.
Cloth Masks
Let’s face it. Cloth masks may be the season’s hottest handmade products. Make sure any face masks to protect against Covid-19 feature double layers of cloth. You may include an opening for the wearer to slip an N95 filter, too. You can create coordinating sets of t-shirts, face masks, and scrunchies or even handmade bags. Look up an online tutorial to learn how to make all kinds of DIY craft ideas and handmade fabric products, including:
- First aid kits
- Travel kits
- Sleep masks
How to Market Your Summer Crafts: Start an Etsy Store
With a little bit of tech-savvy and a computer (or even your smartphone), you can turn your crafts and hobbies into a lucrative business with an online Etsy store.
Etsy is one of the most popular sites for folks to sell handmade products and it’s free to set up a store.
Be aware that Etsy takes a steep 5% transaction fee, plus 3% + 0.25 payment processing fee plus they have a .20 cent listing fee for each item.
However, if your craft businesses waxes and wanes or you aren’t sure how many listings you’ll want to do per month, you could end up paying less on Etsy than opening a store on Shopify or somewhere else with a monthly fee.
Plus, as a way to market your handmade products and DIY crafts, Etsy is an industry leader. That means consumers often make Etsy their first stop when they’re looking for DIY crafts and homemade products. Try these hot craft ideas to sell on Etsy.
Create a compelling listing that:
- Describes your products
- Shows how they are unique
- Indicates how they can help those who buy them
- Provides all the details of your product, keeping in mind your customers can’t touch or hold the item
- Appeals to readers’ emotions
Sell Cheap Crafts at the Beach
As vacationers and locals, alike, gather on beaches, you can take the opportunity to sell your easy DIY craft products. Items like bracelets, ankle bracelets, decorated flip-flops, masks, and mask carrying cases will do well for beach sales.
You might also consider decorative hats to keep people’s faces out of the sun and beach umbrellas.
If you enjoy quilting, consider making beach blankets.
Check with the regulations at your local beach before you begin selling your handmade goods. You don’t want to break any rules, and beaches may not want competition to their tourist shops or concession areas.
Become a Vendor at a Farmer’s Market
Farmer’s markets take place from spring through fall in most regions, and year-round in warmer climates. You can set up a vendor booth at your local farmer’s market for a small fee and sell your crafts alongside fresh vegetables and home-baked goods.
To save money, consider teaming up with a friend that sells complementary items. For instance, if you make wreaths and candles, a friend who makes other home decor goods like trivets and dish towels could help you beef up your booth presence.
Showcase Your Art at a Craft Fair or Festival
Like farmer’s markets, a craft fair or festival provides an excellent opportunity to sell your items without spending too much time in front of your computer. Those who like socializing and want to connect with other crafty people will gravitate toward local craft shows and festivals to sell their items.
Plus, if you have kids who craft, getting them involved helps teach them about customer service, sales, and even math. You can teach kids how to take inventory, add prices when a customer purchases multiple items, and give correct change.
To attract attention at your craft fair booth, consider choosing a theme for your DIY summer crafts to sell. You can color coordinate items and cluster them on your table, or decide to sell items that matches home decor for a beach house, sunflower-themed rooms, farmhouse style, chabby chic, or any other home decor style you can imagination.
Stay Safe with Social Distancing at Craft Fairs During Covid-19
During the Covid-19 pandemic, social distancing remains a concern if you decide to sell your homemade items at a craft fair, art show, farmer’s market or festival.
To keep yourself and your shoppers safe, consider:
- Choosing outdoor venues only
- Creating cute signage encouraging customers to wear a mask
- Wear a mask with your company name and logo to promote your business while staying safe
If the venue doesn’t place stickers on the floor reminding those in line to social distance, make your own. You can use vinyl or paper. Choose a color and style that matches the brand of your craft business. Bring a tape measure so you can measure six feet of distance between customers.
You can purchase transparent acrylic from a home improvement store to create a barrier behind your table. Also, don’t forget the disinfectant spray to sanitize items between customers. Most shoppers know not to handle merchandise they don’t intend to buy, but having spray visible on your table can give shoppers peace of mind.
Also, keep hand sanitizer at your booth for customers to use. Sanitize your hands before and after every transaction. When possible, encourage cashless transactions to minimize handling money.
Promote Your Side Hustle Year Round
You don’t have to stick to just DIY summer crafts to sell. You may have launched your craft business during the long days of summer, but you can keep your business running year-round.
People need homemade home décor items for every season. Craft festivals don’t stop when it gets cold; they just move indoors.
Shift your merchandise to seasonal items for the holidays to promote your side hustle year round and earn extra cash for holiday gifts, entertaining, or just to stay ahead of those holiday bills.
If you start your side hustle selling DIY crafts now, you may be surprised about your profitability before the new year rolls around.
— By Dawn Allcot
