Start a 'cottage industry'... official MoneySavingExpert.com discussion

victoriaplum1

I remember making macrame plant pot hangers too, long crochet type things with beads....probably not in fashion now but maybe could be retro! And my mum used to make dap bags for school pe out of spare material and or pillowcases, kind of like a bigger version of a pegbag drawstring at top....you could make even bigger ones for laundry bags too.

victoriaplum1

chatnoir wrote: »

Hi all,

Hope this is the right place.
Last year I customized an old chest of draws for my Niece, i found I really enjoyed and they actually looked pretty good:j.

Does anyone know if I would be able to buy ready made furniture and customize it to sell? Not sure what the law is on selling someone else's products.

Any advice anyone could offer would be great

Thanks:T

I have been doing a course for a few yeara where we overhaul furniture etc....I did this with a chest of drawers that had a broken drawer, just replaced with a shelf and baskets and repainted the chest, did a wood effect on top was really effective. Why don't you pick up pieces at bootsales and charity shops, probably much cheaper to buy 2nd hand furniture to customise than brand new

victoriaplum1

nykmedia wrote: »

Can you give me an idea of what type of thing you would want to papier mache? I'm a bit 'confuddled' by that one, but cling film might work. :rotfl:

If you want to use a nice metal plate or glass bowl etc as a mould you can cling film over it first and then stick the papier mache over that...easier to peel off when dried then...we did that on a course - my mum used a big toy trug (one of those big flexible containers with handles onthe sides) and made her own pot for real Christmas tree ...was really good!

angelfacecuti75

I was thinking of setting up a small business just to fit around my work, my child and everything else (!) i sell a lot on ebay but made 'hampers' at xmas for my family and friends which they liked a lot, similar ones are around £20 in catalogues etc. Basically I was thinking of starting off by doing a 'breakfast' set, which basically involves filling a basket full of 'breakfast' goodies, in morrisons they sell small jars of jam for 27p, and sometimes you can get posh teabags in morrisons (the ones that are in packets) which I have used (and nicked from morrisons cafe - without any shame, when i am paying for another cup of tea, or samples) and maybe a cheap nice looking mug. Put a bit of tissue paper on the bottom, cover in cheap cellophane and ribbons if u got any - what does everyone think people? I have a few toiletries as well which i could use to make posh ones ? does anyone have any experience - its only to make a few quid thats all?
emmax

craftymum_2

Hello I’m new to this, this is my first post!
but thought it might be useful to everyone, there's lots of people mentioning esty the American website, but thought you should know about a new UK website, which is due to launch any day now and I’ve signed up for it.
eegee is a social enterprise website purely to promote and sell UK creative talent and supporting UK creative people the platform to sell their own handmade items, whatever they are to the public.

As a UK website, it aims to boost UK economy, promoting UK enterprise and talent, and promotion shopping locally and in an environmentally friendly way.
So if you want to start up, however small scale it might be work checking it out, I’m a full time mum just wanting to work flexibly around my children and hopefully bring a few much needed extra pennies!

p.s as a social enterprise the site has not got lots of money for promotion so any help on how to get the web site notice by crafts people and shoppers alike would be much appreciated!

gingerandrubarb

Frugaldom wrote: »

I'm Starting a cottage industry too
My (and a few others) 2007 money challenge was, or still is, to live off £4,000 for a full year and use everything else to pay off debts and start saving. This doesn't include rent or council tax, of course. Using every MSE piece of advice I could, I have managed quite well - see signature for progress. Not only did I pay off all outstanding debts, my income is now up by £25 a month from tax free interest alone

I have a new challenge for 2008; I guess you could call it a cottage industry with a difference LOL I'm going to attempt to make money from nothing! I'd like to make an extra £3,000 to fill an ISA and anything above this, I'll check MSE to find out the best place to save it or invest it.

My first order of 'nothing' has already arrived so I can start preparing for my new entrepreneurial enterprise. It's a load of off-cuts from a wood yard that would, otherwise, have been burned. All sizes, thick and thin, some fairly large at almost half a metre long! I've thought of allsorts to do with these! I've asked friends & family to save me any old packaging materials so I'm prepared when the sales start flooding in.

I also have a pile of old books that could have ended up as pulp in the landfill! They're for charity fundraising from a local secondhand book shop, but every penny helps, even if I have to be a little inventive to shift heavy old Readers Digest volumes.

Can anyone remember the days of unwinding jumpers to make pom-poms with those card circles? Or chopping up old jewellery to redisign your own? Collecting buttons and beads from friends and neighbours, offcuts of material and broken toys in the hope you collected enough of the same to make a complete item? Those were the days! Oh! Oh! Oh! I've just thought of something I can do with my freebie offcuts of card from the framer!
Back soon but please let me know what you think of my wacky ideas, plus add your own. I love reading about 'alternative' methods of earning. I'd like to know more about what to do with old carrier bags and milk cartons as I already have enough plastic petfood scoops to last me a lifetime

I love this idea, and currently do something similiar, i make jewellery out of cardboard and bowls and frames etc out of used magazines (not papier mache) I also make papier mache ornaments like little gift angels or pigs etc, .
The milk cartons, theirs a company that sell these but they have simply added light fittings into them and they look ace, I'm sure if you googled milk carton light it would come up and i'm sure freecyclers can give you old lights, or even contact argos head quarters etc, Theirs also plenty places on the net that you can get free bulbs from xx

smk77

craftymum wrote: »

Hello I’m new to this, this is my first post!
but thought it might be useful to everyone, there's lots of people mentioning esty the American website, but thought you should know about a new UK website, which is due to launch any day now and I’ve signed up for it.
xxxx is a social enterprise website purely to promote and sell UK creative talent and supporting UK creative people the platform to sell their own handmade items, whatever they are to the public.

As a UK website, it aims to boost UK economy, promoting UK enterprise and talent, and promotion shopping locally and in an environmentally friendly way.
So if you want to start up, however small scale it might be work checking it out, I’m a full time mum just wanting to work flexibly around my children and hopefully bring a few much needed extra pennies!

p.s as a social enterprise the site has not got lots of money for promotion so any help on how to get the web site notice by crafts people and shoppers alike would be much appreciated!

1st post....nice sales pitch.

Fiona84_2

Hi i need to earn a bit extra cash, how do i go about starting to make my own jewellery? Do i need a license? where is a good place to get my produce? any help would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks

Fiona

Fiona84_2

Hi i need to earn a bit extra cash, how do i go about starting to make my own jewellery? Do i need a license? where is a good place to get my produce? any help would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks

Fiona

wigglebeena

You need public liability insurance, in case someone decides to stab themselves in the eye with an earring you made. (There are stupid and litigious people out there.) If you're going to sell overseas then make absolutely sure you're covered for that. I went with Ian Wallace then read the terms afterwards and doubted I was covered for overseas sales, though some say you're okay if you put 'sold under UK laws' in your listings. Anyone know for sure?

Etsy is cheaper than Ebay to sell on but jewellery is allegedly a saturated market, and if you list and don't sell it's still not cheap. You can list for free on Ebid.net (if you're careful), but the traffic's not great - you would need to do a lot of marketing and networking to get people to your 'storefront'. You can list a few items, I think twelve, for free on Artfire.