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Making Things to Make Money

Making things to make money doesn't have to mean difficult crafts. Sometimes it can be just simple assembly, not artistry or craftsmanship. Here are some examples:

Make Money Making Jewelry

I have friends who make and sell elaborate, expensive jewelry. We are not as artistic, or our tastes aren't as rich, but my wife and I used to regularly make and sell pendants at flea markets and craft shows. Our jewelry only involved tying a string to a pewter figurine or to a coin with a hole in it. There's probably more money to be made in the well-crafted, fancier jewelry, but there is a market for all types.

Selling Pewter Figurines

You can buy pewter wolves, dragons, turtles, lighthouses etc., from several companies online. Smaller pieces can be bought for about 20 cents each. My wife puts these on rocks, shells (the mermaids) and glass gems with E-6000 glue. We sell them for 2 to 10 dollars at craft shows and flea markets. The kids in particular love the dragons on glass gems or agates.

Pewter Lighthouse
Pewter Lighthouse on Rock

Walking Sticks

Find a friend who wants his property cleared of the weedy young poplar trees. Bring a saw and knife. I can make about forty walking sticks in a day with the easy woods, like poplar, for example. I buy old leather coats at thrift stores, cut them into strips and use this to put handgrips on the sticks (after they dry for a few weeks). The addition of wood burning, feathers, inset rocks, etc., makes some pricier, but I've had best luck with the $14-and-under sticks. I've sold them for up to $22 and wholesaled them for as little as $4 (very basic ones). We sell them at craft shows and flea markets and have wholesaled them to buyers who sell them at pow-wows and gun-and-knife shows.

PVC Bow and Arrows

Cut a piece of half-inch plastic pipe to about 3 feet long, put a slit in each end and put a piece of nylon twine on it. It is now a bow. I know a man who sells these for $6 at pow-wows and flea markets. He dresses them with colored tape and includes one arrow made from a dowel and pointed pencil eraser.

Sandstone Coasters

I don't bother to make things to sell any longer (other than my ebooks), but I do still like to create things from natural resources from time to time. Recently I found that I could collect sandstone pieces while out hiking, and grinding them down to flat coasters for setting drinks on. I glue cheap felt to the bottom. I'm not sure what they would sell for, but I imagine that if someone used the right tools (I just grind them manually on a cement block), and lived near a good supply of sandstone like I do, these could be made quickly and easily. They're attractive, and the stone soaks up perspiration from the glass, so it doesn't run over the edge and onto the table.

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Unusual Ways To Make Money | Making Things to Make Money