Category: Crafts

I came across this an article earlier on in the year in the Independent. I found it interesting because it rang true of my own experiences. Home-Making and Crafts are very much in the public eye, both on TV programmes and in the social media. Whilst I am a great fan of promoting these, it does become slightly different when this is a way to make a living. I set up a craft- based design business in 2003, which I finally closed in 2022. (Although my Esty shop is technically still open) Now, I don’t regret my business one bit. I didn’t make much money and in truth as long as I didn’t lose great amounts of money, that was just fine.

 Originally, I quit my full-time job, however my very supportive boss let me return to work part-time so I could pay my bills whilst my new venture got going. In truth, I continued to have paid employment whilst running my own business ,which meant I worked pretty much all the time. Although, I did love what I was doing and nothing compares to producing an object by hand. But this wasn’t the “career dream” I had when I started up.

Now it seems that more and more folk in the UK are being convinced to ‘become their own boss’ and use their personal interests and hobbies to make money as a side hustle or a main event. Which sounds like a wonderful idea and it’s certainly a seductive ideology. I would never discourage anyone to have their own business, but do consider that you have to earn enough money to live and there’s is a huge difference when a creative outlet and activities are not purely for pleasure. When hobbies become side -hustles everything becomes about the bottom line and about turning a profit. The idea that something beautiful only has value once it’s been sold can really makes you question your worth as a maker.

With Facebook marketplace, TikTok, Instagram and Etsy, to name a few there are many avenues to sell and promote your goods and personal brand. It’s easy and affordable to produce a slick website. Perhaps some people truly do relish this side -hustle lifestyle. Yet, in an ever-expanding market of new style entrepreneur hobbyists, I can’t help wondering what’s happened to actual hobbies. It does seem like the side hustle culture has killed them off. Are hobbies truly a thing of the past? On a recent Pinterest search for crafts, there were more pins about selling than making crafts.

 I don’t make very much now, even though it would be for my own pleasure, my mindset over the years has shifted to the costs, the time involved in making something and its saleability rather than just making for the enjoyment and achievement of making. I stopped gaining enjoyment from my making. Which if you thing about it is really quite sad.

“If we think of hobbies as activities we voluntarily undertake during our free time, hobbies can be seen as an important part of our identity.” Eloise Skinner -author and psychotherapist

I personally do a job I love, but I am very fortunate in this as many people don’t. For these people the time spent outside work partaking in hobbies can be an important part of reminding them who they are what makes them feel truly fulfilled. Hobbies can allow us to step outside our everyday routines and engage in something providing a different experience as well as being fun. There is a joy in making things for the people you love or even just for yourself.

 In achieving a work-life balance this is vital. Particularly at a time when work is increasingly digitally driven and challenging. We are working longer hours and harder than ever and leisure time at a premium.

One of the benefits of a hobby is its flexibility, the chance to try something different this may work or not, that doesn’t matter, it’s the doing as much as the end results. I remember been told as a design student the best results come from play. When you begin to look at the hobby as delivering a certain outcome, you become less immersed in the experience and more focused on output. Instead, of simply enjoying the activity in itself, you might become detached, in the same way as doing an essential if boring work task. The pressure of the business can kill the love of making stone cold and you can even begin to resent what had previously been a passion. So, proceed with caution, if you are considering this path.

The challenges of running a successful at-home business are not for the weak-hearted. The internet and social media culture are full of success stories of get-rich-quick businesses that make it seem like everyone with a skill could be raking it in. But for as many success stories there are far more failures.

Online platforms like Etsy make it easier than ever to make money from hobbies. But how many people are actually turning a profit? I have an Esty shop, which resulting in sales but it’s a hugely competitive market as so many people are trying to sell their wares at the same time.

One of the biggest challenges I found when making things was the high costs in producing something, I have always tried to use good quality, natural raw materials, which doesn’t come cheap (and costs continue to increase) and there can be many hours involved in producing something, which has to be factored into the price, although I found that often there was little respect for this kind of labour and the skill involved.

So, should you make money from your hobbies? Well, that’s up to you! But once you try to make money, then this becomes work not a hobby, so you may well then have to find a new hobby!