Crafting Side Business

Recently Andrea decided to start making crafts to sell online and at fairs. This is something that we've discussed before, but it wasn't until recently that she decided to move forward with the plan. I'm very supportive of the idea, and am actually a bit excited. It will be good to see her rewarded for her creativity and the hard work that she puts into her projects.

She has been making things for our own personal use for years. Several years ago she decided to start giving homemade gifts to family members at Christmas, which provided a nice outlet for her desire to craft and sew. While making gifts for this year she decided that maybe she should seriously consider marketing her creations.

The plan is to begin working on making items during her free time this winter in anticipation of selling at a craft fair next fall. In the meantime, however, she plans to set up an Etsy store so she can begin building her online presence and get an idea of which of her items are attractive to buyers. At this point she doesn't have a timeline in mind, but I'll be sure to post an update once her Etsy store is up and running.

We don't expect this to be a big money-making venture. Hopefully, though, it will generate enough income to provide her with a bit of extra spending money, while still being able to buy the supplies she'll need to keep a well stocked inventory of items. I plan to add a category to our 2013 budget specifically for buying the supplies that she needs to get this project up and going. I am confident that whatever we invest will be well worth the expense.