How to Turn Your Jewelry Making Hobby Into a Home-Based Business

Many years ago a sister-in-law of mine had gotten me started in making jewelry at home while my daughter was a toddler. This business had helped generate a second income for my family so that I could stay at home with our daughter.

A friend of hers had two shops that she was running in local western themed parks. The jewelry that was being focused on was pieces that were made and worn by Indians native to the areas. The jewelry pieces were geared toward necklaces and chokers, but by requests from the local attendees visiting these attractions, she added a line of earrings for her consumers.

At this time many pieces of jewelry were being made from seed beads. This type of bead is roughly .08mm in diameter and strung together with jewelry thread for earrings. For the necklaces, the beads were strung and woven together on a small jewelry loom so that a pattern could be made for the medallions or for the chokers.

I found that this was a fun and lucrative way to earn some extra cash through a hobby. A year or so later, my sister-in-law’s friend had to sell her shops due to health reasons and therefor we were unable to continue on. However I did continue to make the earrings and a few necklaces which I was able to sell some of these items through another consignment shop.

During this time, I found many places that my jewelry supplies could be purchased locally at wholesale prices rather than retail prices at craft shops. Many of these suppliers are located in offbeat areas where I lived.

While I have since moved onto other things, I still make jewelry on occasions to keep up on the latest trends and how to make these pieces. Since the time twenty years ago I learned how to make jewelry at home, the beads and other supplies have changed tremendously through the years.

The one basic thing that hasn’t changed over the years is that handcrafted jewelry is still sought after due to the higher quality and time that are put into the pieces that are found at arts and craft shows, bazaars, and at online auctions. A handcrafted jewelry business is still one of the best money makers around today.

The added bonus that I have seen over the years is that with the use of the internet, you are now able to purchase your jewelry materials and tools through the internet from companies around the world. These tools and supplies can be purchased wholesale just as easily as going to the local stores where I live. Although, I would suggest not purchasing your items via the internet because there will be occasions where you will need supplies for your jewelry before your order arrives. It is best to have a list of online and offline suppliers for your jewelry business so that you can keep up with the demands of your customers.

There are many different styles of jewelry that can be made. You can purchase the standard beads that you find in today’s market along with the threads, wires, earring hoops and posts, and any other materials or you can create your own hand-crafted beads from clay and various other types of materials.

There have been many times that I have found broken necklaces and bracelets at various types of sales and purchased them to take home to repair them or to make a new piece of jewelry from the beads and other pieces. There are many unique beads that you can find at yard sales, garage sales, church bazaars, and estate sales that are no longer being manufactured.

These pieces that I took the time to repair or create a whole new piece of jewelry from sold faster than any of the other pieces that I had made. This was due to the fact that the piece was something that was brought back to life with a contemporary look and feel from the days of old.

I wouldn’t suggest buying a perfectly good piece of jewelry to tear it apart to make another piece from it though. You could purchase such pieces of jewelry and use it as a template to make more modern looking pieces of jewelry. There are many people who love the look of the retro pieces of jewelry, but would rather have pieces of jewelry made that is more contemporary with beads and embellishments.

There are many magazines and online forums that can help you choose the right means for jewelry making. You will also find that with the use of online forums, you can ask your questions about jewelry making and receive an answer the same day from many different people sharing their knowledge and experience with jewelry making to help you decide whether or not a jewelry making home business is for you.