Turn your favourite hobby or craft into a profitable part-time business.

If you can create something that's out of the ordinary, you could soon find yourself in demand for supplying unusual or customised Birthday, Christmas and Wedding gifts.

As always, the secret to success is to carry out research first to determine what kind of market exists for your product or services.

Ask around, talk to friends, relatives and potential customers. Look at who's in the market already, who will your competitors be, can you be better, cheaper, faster, friendlier than them or can you fill a niche market?

Think about how you are going to sell your products - will they sell best through friends and relatives? Can you get a local retailer to stock them on a sale or return or percentage basis? Could you sell them at markets or car boot sales? Classified ads? Online auctions?

or a combination of everything....

Creative and Crafts related ideas to make money from home

Appliqué Art Supplies Baby Clothes Batik Calligraphy Candles Card Making Caricatures Cartoons Ceramics Clothes Design Cosmetic Making Craft Supplier Crocheting Design Dolls Clothing Dolls Furniture Dolls House Drawing Dressmaking

Embroidery Flower Arranging Furniture Making Furniture Restoring Garden Ornaments Gilding Glass Painting Hat Making Handbag Making Interior Design Jewelry Joinery Knitting Leatherwork Macrame Model Engineering Model Making Mosaics Mount Cutting Painting

Patchwork Pet Clothes Photography Picture Framing Pottery Rug Making Scent Making Screen Printing Sculpting Sewing Soap Making Soft Furnishings Soft Toys Tailoring Taxidermy Tie Dyeing Wood Turning Woodwork More ideas

If you can't think of something to make, the above list can help inspire you with an idea that you can make some money with.

If you need to brush up on your skills or learn some new ones don't forget that there are often affordable or even free classes in all kinds of arts and crafts as well as lots of online support and advice.

Some of the ideas to earn money are 'traditional' skills that have always been in demand such as Sewing and Dress making.

If you are skilled at this then you can easily start to offer your services to a wider audience by leafletting, putting cards in shops and word of mouth.

If you're flexible and efficient and able to turn out work fast in an emergency, then you'll find that your customers willl be more than happy to recommend you to their friends and family.

Don't forget to call and talk to any local clothes shops and dry cleaners to see if they will consider using your services, recommending you or allowing you to display cards or leaflets.

You could also consider designing and making clothes and hats, handbags and other accessories and selling them at markets or on Ebay.

While you might not make a fortune, it can be an interesting way to make some extra money and carry out your hobby at the same time.

Talk to local shops about carrying your work and selling it on commission or set up a website to sell your wares online.

How can I sell my products?

Almost all of the 'crafty' ideas lend themselves to selling at local markets and online. The more 'niche' or exclusive that your product is, then the better it will generally sell online. People are much more likely to take the added perceived risk of buying online if the product is unusual or hard to source especially if you have taken the trouble to set up a secure online shop ( there are lots of simple solutions to doing this - you'll be surprised how easy it is).

If you want to sell locally, then there a number of options:

Car Boot Sales.
Weekly Markets.
Craft Markets and fairs.
Renting a stall at an event. (Search for events in your area or which you think you could sell at and contact the organisers).
Talk to local shops and galleries about buying your stuff or selling it on commission.
Tell everyone you meet.
Classified ads in your local magazine, free newspaper.
Leaflets and cards in local shops, newsagents etc.
Distribute leaflets.

How much will I earn?

How long is a piece of string! But seriously, with any part-time craft-based income, you're unlikely to make a fortune unless you are uncommonly lucky or very, very good. Your income will depend on a number of factors such as the quality of your work and the demand for it.

Despite the recession, lots of people are still willing to pay higher prices for object d'art and collectible or 'designer' items, so there is an opportunity to put a good mark up on many craft items. Your income could be a good hourly rate or you could regard it as a way to practice your hobby at minimal cost.

Working at home producing craft-related items is more likely to produce a steady useful extra income rather than help you to get rich quick but, it can be a very interesting and satisfying way to earn a 2nd income.