Best Money Making Ideas

Old T-Shirts and New Quilts

Doesn’t it seem like your entire favorite t-shirts just seem to add up over the years and it is hard to part with them because of all the memories that you have attached to them. You wouldn’t dream of ever wearing them again, but you just can’t part with them either, sometimes you couldn’t even fit into them again if you wanted to.

Many people would love to have their entire collection of favorite old and new t-shirts, transformed into a practical warm cozy quilt, blanket, pillowcase, or more. Why not have them bring the t-shirts to you and pay you up to $125 (or more) to transform them into something more practical for them.

Since these can be prize possessions, you will need to handle them carefully and keep them organized, returning any that may not be used in the project. Find out which of the t-shirts are their most important, so that you can make sure that they are incorporated in the project first.

If you enjoy sewing, this should be an easy and fun project to offer others that don’t sew. It is not a complicated project, as long as you are careful and plan the projects well. You will want to make sure that all of your seams are sturdy, since t-shirt material does stretch and can fray. The more professional the finished article, the more money you can ask for to put it together for them.

There are several ways to market your services to the public. You might first make one or two for yourself, so that you can have examples to show to others that you may know that could be interested in your services. Take pictures of your final projects and check with friends and neighbors to see if they would be interested in your service. Advertise your services in your local newspapers too.

Local sewing and craft shops may let you leave small flyers with them also, so it is worth checking with them. You might also offer to teach classes in these types of stores and craft stores to show others how to make these practical projects.

This is an unusual service but once you get the word out you may be pleasantly surprised at how many people would like to have you make items for them. You also have the option of offering your services from a web site store too. Try to come up with a memorable name for your store and offer to sell some items that you can make from old t-shirts you find, in used clothing stores and clearance sales in chain stores. Offer these items on your site and offer to make personal items for your customers also.

Resources:

http://quilting.about.com/

http://www.campusquilt.com/

http://www.wildzipper.com/

http://www.pshquilts.com/

http://sewingneedlework.suite101.com/article.cfm/recycle_old_t_shirts_into_quilts

http://sewingneedlework.suite101.com/article.cfm/5_sewing_projects_using_tshirts

Photographic Jewelry

If you are able to create new fun items with your customers’ photos, you will have some very happy buyers. Owning an item that is one-of-a-kind makes people contented, they love to show them off whenever they can. Including the personal pictures to all of your different items you offer should make you a very popular merchant to order from.

In order to do this you will need photos from your customers, a Shrinky-Dink type of plastic for your printer, scissors, a hole punch, sandpaper, spray sealer, epoxy resin, a gold and silver leafing pen, adhesive, image editing software, and anything else that you might like to add. All of those items are just for the photo part of your creations, and then you will need chains, the typical tools needed for making jewelry, lockets, beads, clasps, wires, and rings.

The items that you make can be for sentimental reasons or just practical reasons. Wouldn’t it be great to have your own personal luggage tags with your picture permanently attached to them? You could use them for not only luggage, but to carry attached to your purse, computer bag, business tote, backpack, I. D. for your keys, there are just so many things that you could use these personal tags for.

With the sentimental side, you might have a bracelet or necklace with pictures attached of a customers children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, or a lost loved one. Alternatively, for those romantic customers deeply in love, make jewelry using a photo, or photos, of their beloved one. You could even offer to make jewelry including pictures of famous people that the customer should provide.

This would be a great business to start on the Web, opening a store on the web will allow you to reach customers worldwide. Just make sure that you make it easy for your customers to download their personal pictures and order quickly and easily. Display clear pictures of your items and make it easy for your customers to see the prices and options available.

Make sure that you also stress what great gifts these items would make too. They will be unique and show that the giver gave great thought and effort in providing the needed pictures for the gift. These types of gifts are the best idea for people that are hard to buy for, since they most likely will never have just the same item with the same pictures.

When it comes to advertising, you have several different options, depending on how you decide to sell your exclusive creations. Make sure that you have items of your own to wear and this will draw attention to your skills and merchandise. People that like your creations will approach you and want to know where you were able to buy them. Always carry business cards with you and pass them out to interested people. Be prepared to tell them what you charge for your items also.

You can even approach small shops that carry exclusive clothing items and accessories and see if they would be willing to offer your line of items to their customers. Leave a few items with them to show their customers. Be sure to leave your company information and order forms. Offer the shop a percentage of your profits from the customers they refer to you.

Resources:

https://www.planetjill.com/

http://jewelrymaking.about.com/

http://www.jewelrysupply.com/

http://www.joann.com/joann/

http://www.craftdirectory.org/

http://www.wire-sculpture.com/store/index.php

http://jewelrymaking.bellaonline.com/Site.asp

http://www.shutterfly.com/shop/product_c10150-p2301/Apparel_Accessories_Sterling_Bracelets

http://www.kimbrastudios.com/

Make Money on the Go

Diamonds are a girl’s best friend. At least, that’s the common notion. In fact, women spend thousands of dollars every year purchasing jewelry. It’s no surprise, then, that jewelry is big business. In 2004 alone, Americans spent more than $57.4 dollars on jewelry and watches, a rise of almost seven percent from 2003.
Business doesn’t stop with the selling of jewelry. Women, and to a lesser extent, men, purchase jewelry and wear some of it on a daily basis. The problem is jewelry gets dirty. And, people don’t always have the time and/or the resources to clean and polish their jewelry. Unfortunately for jewelry wearers, soap and water doesn’t do the trick. Those who have tried it can attest that soap only dulls gold and silver. Fine jewelry requires even finer care.

Become part of the booming jewelry industry by offering a mobile jewelry cleaning service. Clients will call you to set up an appointment. You go to their homes or offices (wherever they prefer), clean their jewelry and receive a check or cash as payment. Easy as that.

**Note** You’ll want to discuss licensing and bonding with your insurance company, especially since you may be working with valuable jewelry. This will ensure that if anything happens to the jewelry you are legally protected. It’s always better to be safe than sorry.

So, how do you clean jewelry? Well, it’s a small investment, but you’ll want to check out the Speed Brite Ionic Cleaning System. (A quick Google search, and you should find plenty of sites selling the system, or you can purchase it here: Julie’s Jewels.) In short, with the aid of Brite Ionic Cleaning System, you can clean all types of silver, gold and all jewels. Perhaps the biggest advantage of this system is it can clean even the softer jewels-emeralds, opals, turquoise and pearls, to name just a few-without causing damage.

With the Brite Ionic Cleaning System, you have to do very little work. The system is actually a small machine that uses a special cleaning solution. Simply place the jewelry in the machine and it will clean and polish the pieces. The Brite Cleaning System is an investment-you’ll pay a little over $300 for one. However, depending on what you charge per cleaning, you’ll likely quickly pay for the cost of the machine.

Of course, if you know of a more effective method of cleaning jewelry, by all means, use that system to get your business started. You may find it works just as well but later decide to invest in the Brite Ionic Cleaning System once business takes off.

To find clients, you might consider placing ads in local papers and sticking flyers on cars in office parking lots. You could offer convenient “lunch-time jewelry” cleaning to office workers. You might rent a booth at the mall or even have a table at craft shows, flea markets and other public events. You may get new clients and also pique a lot of interest from passersby at the same time.

Resources:

http://www.shakeandsparkle.com/?directLoad&uid=7082D7355E14321D00991331C3874C0F

http://fastfixdallas.com/jejetjest.html

http://www.fetpak.com/whstore/main.pl/more_info?JC4

http://jewelry.about.com/cs/gemcare/a/diamond_jewelry.htm

http://jewelsmall.com/cleaner.html?OVRAW=cleaning%20jewelry&OVKEY=cleaning%20jewelry&OVMTC=standard&OVADID=4398299021&OVKWID=44794024021

http://jewelrymaking.about.com/od/polishingmetaljewelry/a/012008.htm

Mahjong Game Jewelry

It is amazing to see the huge variety of beautiful designs on Mahjong tiles. Finding old used games can be the best way to collect the pieces to make your jewelry out of. Look for pieces in thrift stores, estate, garage, and yard sales. If you can acquire your pieces this way you will be able to make a profit by selling your jewelry made with them.

Since these tiles are small in size, they are a good size to make jewelry with. There is such a wide variety of items that you can make with them, from small pendants and key fobs, to large bulky bracelets and necklaces.

You can sell your jewelry in many different ways. If you choose to start slowly with your business, start by making your jewelry available to friends, co-workers, students, and family. You can also offer your jewelry in small local boutiques; try to sell your pieces to the owners. If the owners are not interested in buying your jewelry, they may still offer to sell your jewelry for you. Make sure that you mount your pieces of jewelry on cards or package them in a way that you are able to put your name on them. This will help customers to get to know and recognize your products.

Another way to sell your jewelry is by selling from your own web site. This might involve a little more initial investment, but it is well worth it because you will be able to sell to a huge marketplace, worldwide. Just make sure that you are able to have a large amount of jewelry made to fill orders. You will also want to make sure that your Web Store has an easy to recognize and remember name, it is easy for your customers to find and use, and include as much information and clear sharp pictures of what you are selling. With this type of business, it is also important that you fill your orders quickly and ship quickly. Since the jewelry is fairly light in weight you will want to ship carefully, and the cost of shipping shouldn’t cost too much. Make sure that you package your jewelry well and in a way that makes it look special when your customers receive it.

Keep a list of all your buyers, so that you can offer updates on sales and clearance items. This will especially be helpful if you have your own Web Store. Contact your customers regularly with updates and offers of new items you are carrying in your store.

You should be able to charge from $10 to $30 for your pieces of jewelry, depending on what kind you are selling. The better the quality of your jewelry items, the more you will be able to charge for them.

Resources:

http://www.lapidaryjournal.com/src.cfm

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=mahjong+tiles&category0=

http://www.decodermot.com/mahjong.htm

http://www.exclusivelymahjongg.com/

How to Start a Jewelry Business

Ah, the jewelry business: the fine art and creativity of creating beautiful pieces of jewelry. Are you a generally creative person? Do you love working with arts and crafts? Do you like to design unique things that you know are just your own? Making stunning, original jewelry can be a very fun and rewarding career for you!

You can choose one line of jewelry to stick to, a few, or do all of them! It doesn’t just stop at creating necklaces and bracelets. You can strive to create a new, unique piece of jewelry! You could start a new trend! That’s the wonderful part about making jewelry ? you are the creator, the designer. You decide what goes where, and the outcome is something beautiful that someone, somewhere will cherish for times to come!

A lot of consumers enjoy buying their jewelry from small businesses or a single business owner, because they know that piece was carefully hand crafted. They also know it’s more original and unique than anything they could find at a large chain store. Anything in those stores is probably worn by hundreds, maybe thousands!

How to Find Those Precious Supplies:

Visit thrift stores, yard sales, antique stores, and more to find unique jewels you can take apart to create something new. You’ll know it when you see it. You’ll never know what you will find at these places, and that’s part of the fun; hunting down jewels you can craft into your own beautiful pieces. I’m sure you will also go home with ideas flowing through your mind. You will need to write down or sketch your ideas so you don’t forget them. A simple notebook or drawing pad will do. Keep this as your idea book. It will come in handy! Bring it with you everywhere so you can jot down an idea at anytime. They always seem to pop up during inappropriate times.

Find your nearest arts and crafts store, or a good shop online. You will need string, wire, brackets, beads, and other items to put your pieces of work together. You will probably also want to get something to keep everything organized in. Sometimes a small fishing tackle box works well! You could also find a plastic tool organization product. The many small compartments will come in handy for your supplies.

Setting up Your Business:

Create a website where you can display images and descriptions of your jewelry for sale. You might need to get a professional photographer to take the pictures, and a copywriter to write captivating descriptions for your pieces.

Sell your items on EBay, Etsy, or a general website elsewhere to increase your sales.
Get business cards and other materials to market your business. Try VistaPrint for great materials at an affordable cost.

Start creating your work and selling away!

Resources:

www.86beads.com

http://www.etsy.com/how_selling_works.php

www.jewelrysupply.com/

www.contenti.com/