Start now
←  Fourthwall Blog
·
May 10, 2024
·
10
min read

17 DIY Crafts and Product Ideas to Make and Sell from Home

Make It, Sell It, Profit: DIY Product and Craft Ideas to Generate Revenue
things to make and sell blog image

Table of Contents

Between the currently challenging economy and the job market, a growing number of creators are turning towards DIY (do it yourself) crafts to de-stress and earn extra income by selling online.

Making and selling homemade products is a great way to showcase talent, creativity, and earn profits from the comfort of your home, and there are so many different DIY craft avenues to take, from gift baskets, home decor, scented candles, and lip balm to jewelry, paper crafts, tote bags, digital products, and wall art.

If you want to start your own DIY home business to sell crafts and generate extra revenue, we can help you unleash your creative potential and entrepreneurial spirit.

Let's take a look at things you can make, ways you can make your items stand out, and where you can sell things online - from brick-and-mortar shops to craft fairs to online ecommerce outlets - to make extra money.

17 Crafts To Make and Sell

1. Candles

Handmade scented candles, especially soy candles, are an eco-friendly, sustainable, and customizable DIY craft idea, making them a perfect home decor item that's frequently seen at craft fairs and online marketplaces.

Experiment with various molds, scents, and packaging options to attract different customers; even the container that you make your candle in (ceramic, metal, or a glass mason jar are some options) and the labeling can help set your product apart and make it stand out from other candles on the market.

The typical melt-and-pour method of handmade candle making is fairly easy for beginners to learn (just make sure you label your products with the correct safety warnings, as your product does involve heat/fire).

And you can even create collections of candles with complementary scents to encourage your shoppers to add them all to their home decor.

Similar to candles are essential oil blends, an easy craft that adds pleasant scents to your customers' homes or offices without needing matches; customers might especially love customized blends that you could make to order.

2. Hand Crafted Jewelry

Handmade, hand-crafted jewelry is an easy craft and a timeless DIY product to make and sell.

Jewelry trends, however, are ever-changing, so it’s best to do some research before you start making jewelry designs; follow some fashion influencers, read fashion magazines, and check out what’s currently popular in jewelry styles.

For this craft idea, you can experiment with various jewelry-making techniques, include materials like beads, charms, crystals, and gemstones in your jewelry, and add on extras like chains and velvet jewelry bags.

Bespoke, personalized jewelry items could also be a big seller, as personalized jewelry is always in demand.

Laura Wilson’s Crafted in the Wee House jewelry business sells her striking homemade resin and copper jewelry via her Fourthwall store.

3. Bath Products

A variety of bath products are fairly easy to make and sell and can even packaged together to create higher-priced offerings.

Handmade soaps let your customers choose customized scents, shapes, and gifts for specific occasions; you can source natural ingredients to create unique scents and textures, including goat milk, honey, lavender, and calendula.

Body scrubs and bath bombs are complementary products that can also be customized with scents and textures; consider adding ingredients like natural herbs, scents, and glitter to skew your bath products more toward high-end.

Once you have these products made, you can combine them into bath kits, starting with your bath bombs or homemade soaps and then adding items like soap dispensers and fizzies to make a full luxury experience for your customers and make extra money for you.

4. Handmade Ceramics

Customers love handmade pottery pieces, home decor items that add a sense of rustic, homemade flair and are another frequently spotted product at local craft fairs.

This DIY craft idea is also subject to trends, but a little less so; it’s more to your benefit to come up with unique designs so you stand out in what’s become a fairly busy hobby ceramics market.

It’ll take a little effort to learn what you’re doing, especially if you’re creating earthenware, stoneware, or porcelain (which must be fired in a kiln), but some easy ways to get started include air clay or polymer clay (which don’t require a kiln) or even poured concrete for larger items.

Alternately, you could skip the first step of creating the items and purchase pre-made pottery pieces that you then customize with paints and glazes before they’re fired.

5. Stickers

Stickers are a popular and easy craft item to make and sell online for extra cash.

People often enjoy decorating their laptops, tower computers, reusable water bottles, phones, and notebooks with stickers, and you can supply a wide range of stickers that you design for them to choose from.

Stickers can be created and sold in a couple of different ways; you can go directly to DIY paper crafting by designing your stickers in PhotoShop or Canva, and then printing them on a sticker printing machine like a Cricut, to mail out to your customers.

For an even more pro level sticker with less work for you, you can have your sticker designs printed as digital products on-demand via a site like Fourthwall.

On Fourthwall, you can host an entire store devoted to your stickers as digital products, eliminating printing and shipping costs and generating passive income for you.

Once you decide on your design niche, you can create themed collections and customize your stickers to match customer preferences.

6. Homemade Cosmetics

If you're on top of beauty trends, making homemade cosmetics could be the perfect item for you to sell.

Lip balms, for starters, are an ideal entry-level DIY product; similarly, you can create face and hand balms, face scrubs, toners, serums, and body butter.

Creating interesting blends with natural, organic, beautifully-scented ingredients will help differentiate you from your competitors.

Packaging several products together (for instance, as a set of themed lip balms in tropical flavors) can increase purchases.

And don't ignore the appeal of packaging; as an engaging set of brand labels, product names, and marketing could make your cosmetics even more popular to shoppers looking for more unique beauty finds.

Jen Keel of Pretty Farm Girl has watched her Vanilla Bean Farm Girl Lip Butter become one of the best-selling items on her Etsy shop.

7. Custom T-Shirts and Tote Bags

T-Shirts are classic DIY products to make and sell online!

You can create your own designs, slogans, and patterns to attract your desired target market, which could be gamers, music fans, travel enthusiasts, sports fans, or fans of your own unique brand.

Those same designs can be placed on other products as well, one of the most popular ones being tote bags, which people use for everything from textbooks to groceries.

Fourthwall offers a wide range of t-shirts and bags that you can customize and sell as print-on-demand products in your own dedicated Fourthwall store so you can eliminate printing and shipping costs and make extra money more easily.

8. Handcrafted Leather Goods

Are your DIY crafting skills of the leather-tooling variety?

Handcrafted leather goods, including items like leather journal covers, wallets, belts, handbags, personalized gifts, home decor items, and even customized horse tack items, are all popular among leather craft fans.

You can experiment with various forms of leather, textures, stitching, hardware, and tooling/designs to make your leather craft products unique.

Another side gig of the leather craft idea is leather repair (IRL) - you could additionally offer your leatherworking person skills to fix leather items that have been torn or otherwise damaged.

Violeta Designs sells unique handmade leather (and also tweed) vintage-style handbags in their Fourthwall shop.

9. Original Paintings or Drawings

If you're artistically inclined, original pieces of art like paintings and drawings are an ideal DIY product to make and sell online.

You can offer various styles and mediums like pencils, acrylics, and watercolors to cater to how you like to work and what types of art your customers enjoy purchasing for their own home decor.

You can also sell them in several different ways, the most obvious being to just sell the original painting or drawing.

Alternatively, physical pieces can be photographed or scanned, allowing them to be repurposed as digital product prints. This approach not only increases revenue potential but also eliminates shipping costs and creates a reliable source of passive income.

Your paintings and drawings could also be sold in yet another way, on products like t-shirts, mugs, or mousepads; the possibilities are only limited by how far you want to take your art.

10. Keychains 

Keychains are a fun, versatile, and easy DIY product that appeals to a wide variety of customers.

Whether you're creating quirky designs, fandom-inspired themes, or minimalist aesthetics, keychains are the perfect small item to add to your product lineup. They are lightweight, inexpensive to produce, and easy to customize, with endless possibilities for shapes, colors, and patterns.

Platforms like Fourthwall make designing and selling your own custom-shaped acrylic keychains incredibly simple. With Fourthwall’s tools, you can create unique designs, upload them, and have them manufactured and shipped on demand.

You can experiment with vibrant colors and intricate designs or even add personalized touches like initials or names to make each keychain unique. Whether bundled with other products or sold individually, acrylic keychains are a must-try item for any DIY maker.

Chocoandpancake sells custom acrylic keychains on their Fourthwall store based on their brand's mascots.

11. Printable Wall Art

While original paintings and drawings are in their own art category, they're a one-time thing, which means you can only get revenue from each painted or drawn creation once.

Printable wall art as a digital product is a popular DIY product to make and sell online and allows you to sell prints of your art indefinitely for passive income well past the creation of the art.

Printable art is affordable, easy to customize, eliminates shipping costs, and can be quickly downloaded by customers and then either printed on their home printer or brought to a local shop for larger-scale printing.

If you prefer physical mediums, you can draw or paint your artwork and then have it scanned into digital format for selling prints. Or you can create your artwork from scratch in a digital drawing or painting program like Photoshop or Canva and export it to easily printable formats and sizes.

12. Unique Paper Crafts

Similar to the printables above, you can also design and create various paper craft digital products like notebooks, calendars, planners, and greeting cards.

There's an equally wide range of design niches and trends in this category, from wildflowers and Western motifs to modern art, illustrations, and Pantone trending colors.

You can also add personalization options for your customers, like color choices and customized names. 

This category of paper craft DIY can be sold via two different methods, as you can have your paper products bulk printed and sell them individually (for instance, birthday cards or calendars) or in sets (boxes of assorted greeting cards or themed planner collections), or you can sell your paper crafts as digital printables, which results in ongoing passive income for you.

Fourthwall is a great place to sell notebooks and other paper goods, including holiday wrapping paper you can have printed with your own custom designs.

 Graphic designer Cindy Lu sells her own holiday wrapping paper via her Fourthwall store.

13. Woodworking Items

If you have woodcarving or building skills, this craft idea has you crafting items made of wood.

Wooden goods can encompass any era of trend, depending on what you research as in demand. 

You can sell items like coasters, handmade cutting boards and serving trays, rulers, wooden flags, custom signs, home decor items, and carved wooden wall art pieces that are generally popular year-round.

You can even add in products like wooden carved Christmas trees or miniature sleds over the holiday season. 

Woodworking and built home goods can also be priced a little higher, as it's a time-intensive skill that's worth more.

14. Plushies, Patches, and More

Got sewing, knitting, or crocheting skills? There are plenty of options for you in this category of goods.

Knitted, sewed, or crocheted plushies (stuffed toys) are a classic DIY product to make and sell.

They're ideal for kids, but adults also love these unique and cuddly creations, especially if you create quirky, individual characters or recreate characters from pop culture, video games, or other well-known fandoms (just be careful of copyright issues).

Similar imagery, along with logos, words, and designs, can be used on another sewn item - embroidered patches that can be sold and then sewn onto bags, backpacks, or jackets.

Alongside this category are other items that would be perfect for wintertime sales, like knitted/crocheted scarves, hats, socks, and mittens.

15. Curated and Subscription Boxes

Curated subscription boxes or gift baskets are a unique DIY product that can take many forms and that you can also personalize for any occasion.

What kind of subscription box or basket you curate is up to you; researching what’s in demand will, of course, help you gain more sales.

Some examples of curated gift basket contents might be food, coffee, tea, beauty products, home goods, or anime collectibles; you could sell these IRL (in real life) for pickup in your immediate area or sell them via your online store. 

Expanding this idea into subscription boxes means you choose a niche (for instance, coffee) and then offer a six-month or one-year subscription where you send a box every month with a different hand-selected coffee in it.

The products in the curated subscription boxes or gift baskets can simply be a variety of things you hand-select, or you can combine two of your business ventures by showcasing several of your own handmade items in each shipment.

For instance, candles, baked goods, and an herbal tea blend to make a “Sunday Chill” subscription box.

16. Homemade Foodie Gifts

Perfect for home chefs and those who enjoy experimenting with food, there are several categories of homemade foodie gifts that you can sell.

Creating homemade spice blends can help your customers add an extra kick to their cooking; you can experiment with different seasoning combinations, from classic Italian herbs to smoky BBQ rubs.

If you're skilled at making marinades and sauces, you can make batches of those and sell them in jars with your own custom labels; homemade garden salsas would also be a big hit.

Other options that would be easy to make, package, and sell for some extra cash include candied nuts, baked goods, homemade jams and jellies, olive oil blends, and pickled items like olives or garlic.

17. Gourmet Coffee Blends

With coffee being one of the most consumed beverages in the world, creating gourmet coffee blends is an excellent DIY project to make and sell online.

You can experiment with various coffee beans, roasts, and flavors to create unique blends and package the bags of coffee in unique ways like burlap pouches or customized tins.

If this idea appeals to you but you don't have the equipment or time to create your own coffee blends at home, you can always count on a company like Fourthwall to help you achieve this goal.

Fourthwall lets you blend your own coffee and choose the packaging, easily shipping your new custom gourmet coffee blend to your fans and customers.

Grumpy Bear Coffee sells bags of custom whole-bean coffee via their Fourthwall store.

Where Can You Sell Your DIY Products?

As a DIY maker, you have the freedom to create customized products that cater to unique customer needs.

Whether you're focusing on crafts to make for fun or crafts to sell for extra cash, creating products is only half the battle.

The other half involves finding potential buyers and channels to sell your work.

Some of those transactions can be done IRL, while selling online offers a second excellent—and often much easier—opportunity to sell your DIY products and showcase your creations to a much broader audience.

IRL Outlets

If you're willing to put in the legwork, there are plenty of IRL outlets where you can sell your handmade goods and crafts to sell.

At the high end, you could contract with an art gallery, home decor store, gift shop, or other brick-and-mortar location to sell your products either via outright purchase or on commission.

This is probably the most prestigious way to sell crafts on the ground and gives you dedicated physical locations where fans can find the things you make.

Other IRL opportunities can be found at local craft fairs, art shows, or farmers' markets. However, for these venues, you'll also need to supply your own sales booth, signage, and displays.

Additionally, getting galleries or stores to accept your crafts is generally a challenge that requires time, effort, and often high shipping costs from your side.

For these reasons, selling online is a much easier and potentially more lucrative venture.

Online Stores

Opening an online store to sell your crafts to make and sell is something you can do immediately, giving you complete control of your products and brand.

With an online store, you can create a unique shopping experience that customers can identify with.

Platforms like Fourthwall empower you to launch a branded website where you can showcase your products, highlight your story, and cultivate a community around your brand.

Fourthwall allows you to sell online with features like a built-in store builder, product listings, shopping cart functionality, and secure payment processing.

Building an online store not only expands opportunities for selling DIY products but also allows you to feature your brand identity, sell crafts to a global audience, and make a lasting impression on your target customer base.

Online Marketplace

Online marketplaces like Etsy are another popular option for selling items online, especially crafts, ranging from fashion to bath bombs, home decor, gift baskets, handmade soaps, printables, and more.

Etsy is ideal for makers who may not have a large customer base yet or are just starting out. The platform simplifies the process of launching an Etsy shop, reaching a larger audience, and offering secure payment processing.

However, unlike establishing your own online store for selling crafts to make, marketplaces like Etsy offer minimal brand control, lower discoverability, and intense competition.

Since you're surrounded by other sellers promoting similar products, standing out can be a challenge.

Sell Your DIY Products With Fourthwall!

Fourthwall is a one-stop-shop solution for makers who want to make extra cash by selling online.

By partnering with Fourthwall, you gain access to various features and tools designed explicitly for makers.

You can launch a branded website, set up a print-on-demand product line, and showcase your physical products, from candles to home decor to accessories like keychains and jewelry. You can also customize your web pages and access helpful analytics and insights to help grow your brand.

With Fourthwall's built-in store builder, you can manage your product listings, track sales, and process secure payments.

Digital downloads and print-on-demand are two of the easiest ways to sell things online, and Fourthwall offers plenty of support and customization options for both methods.

But what you might not know is that you can also sell your own goods on Fourthwall - you can ship your items on your own from home, choose another fulfillment method by yourself, or Fourthwall can step in again to help with their own 3PL fulfillment service.

If making things isn’t your thing, you can even let Fourthwall do the work for you! You can create unique, customized items like wall art, plushies, pillows, candles, and more, choosing the artwork/design and having the items created on-demand for your customers.

With Fourthwall, you have lots of options. Get started today and start selling your own DIY items to your fans online!

Design & sell custom products

Multiple designs being placed onto a sweatshirt/jumper/crewneck and then being shown as a mockup image
4.6
(766+ seller reviews)
Fourthwall is the best way to create your own premium quality products to sell to your online audience
Premium quality. Fast shipping. No minimums.
Multiple designs being placed onto a sweatshirt/jumper/crewneck and then being shown as a mockup image

Build your brand. On your terms

Browse our product catalog

Choose from hundreds of premium products you can design and sell instantly
Cotton Heritage M2580
Cotton Heritage Unisex Premium Hoodie
71
Printed
Embroidered
From $25.45
|
No minimums
+11
Allcolor 5493
Kiss Cut Stickers
46
Sticker
From $2.20
|
No minimums
+0
Mugz WGM78
White Glossy Mug
43
Sublimation
From $5.95
|
No minimums
+0
Mugz WGM79B
Black Glossy Mug
42
Sublimation
From $8.95
|
No minimums
+0
Gildan 5000
Gildan Heavyweight T-Shirt
42
Printed
Embroidered
From $9.50
|
No minimums
+31
Mugz WGM79C
Ceramic Mug with Color Inside
40
Sublimation
From $8.95
|
No minimums
+6
Gildan 64000
Gildan Unisex Softstyle T-Shirt
34
Printed
From $9.25
|
No minimums
+3

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to use Fourthwall?

There are no monthly fees, no upfront costs, and no contracts to use Fourthwall. You set your prices and choose your own margins. Here is how our pricing and splits work when you sell:

  • Products from our product catalog. All products in our product catalog have a publicly listed flat fee, which gets deducted from the selling price you set. There are no extra percentages/margins. You keep 100% of profits.
  • Products you ship yourself. No fee (0% fee)
  • Digital products. 3% flat fee
  • Subscription memberships. 5% flat fee

Additionally, all US-based credit card transactions have an added 2.9% + $0.30 payment processing fee (same as Shopify). Fees vary for PayPal and other providers. Learn more.

How much money do I make on sales from the Fourthwall catalog?

Product costs are listed directly in our product catalog.

If a t-shirt is listed in our catalog at a $10 cost, we will automatically deduct that amount from your profits whenever you make a sale. You can sell products for any price you want.

For example, if you sell the shirt for $22, you'll make $12 in profit on each unit sold. If you sell it for $50, then you'll make $40 in profit on each unit sold.

Does Fourthwall ship worldwide?

Yes! Fourthwall works with manufacturing & fulfillment partners around the globe in the US, UK, EU, Canada, Mexico, Australia, and Japan.

Shipping rates are dynamically determined by the size of package and destination. We work with most major carriers and pass through the true cost of shipping. That means that you can offer low-cost, fast shipping to your fans. Most items have a delivery window of 5-8 days.

Be sure to browse our product catalog to find products that are fulfilled out of your target regions to provide the fastest & cheapest shipping for your community.

Does Fourthwall handle sales tax?

Fourthwall operates as the "Merchant of Record", which means that we're responsible for handling all sales taxes. This includes nexus registration, collecting sales tax, and remitting this to US states & other countries.

That way you can focus on designing products and promoting your shop, not taxes.

Can I connect a custom domain to Fourthwall?

Yes. You can connect a custom domain or subdomain on Fourthwall. Learn More.

Does Fourthwall offer artwork & design support?

If you need help finding an artist or designer, check out our design community.

This is a vetted network of exceptional designers that can help you make great quality designs for your audience. We also recommend tools like Canva or Kittl.

Does Fourthwall provide customer support for my orders?

Yes. For any product from our product catalog, we'll handle all customer support for you.

From answering general order questions to making address changes, our team is there to ensure that your buyers are treated with the same level of care that you would personally give them. We have a 12-hour or less average reply time, including nights and weekends.

For any items that you source on your own and ship from home, however, you'll need to do customer support.

Can you show me examples of storefronts on Fourthwall?

Yes! Over 200,000 sellers use Fourthwall to power their storefronts. This includes creators, podcasters, artists, musicians, startups, non-profits, and more.

Get inspired and browse all examples sites.

What integrations does Fourthwall have?

Fourthwall supports many free integrations, including:

  • YouTube Product Shelf (Merch Shelf)
  • TikTok Shop
  • Facebook and Instagram Shopping
  • Twitch Product Gifting
  • StreamElements and Streamlabs stream alerts
  • Zapier
  • Klaviyo
  • Mailchimp
  • And many, many more

See all apps & integrations.

Are there any requirements to join Fourthwall?

There are no requirements to join Fourthwall! Sign up now.