21 DIY Things to Make and Sell from Home

Clothing and shoes are easy things to make and sell. For starters, you don’t need to be a seamstress in order to make clothing. With print-on-demand services like Printify and Printful, you choose the apparel items you want to sell, upload your custom designs or slogans, and then add them to your online shop.

If you’d prefer to make clothing like shirts, sweaters, and dresses by hand, you can. There are various online places to sell handmade goods. You can also go with a hybrid of the two, taking already-made clothing and then adding patches or embellishments to them.

Accessories are another popular category of crafts that sell well. Similar to apparel, you can make these products by hand, use printing services, or enhance existing items.

When deciding which accessories to sell, there are a lot to choose from:

• Bags
• Purses
• Wallets
• Gloves
• Hats
• Belts
• Ties
• Suspenders
• Bandanas
• Tights
• Eyewear
• Lapel pins
• Patches

While you could try to make all kinds of accessories, you’ll find more success if you start with one or two categories. It’ll also be much easier to fulfill orders if you’re making the same kinds of things over and over again.

One of the nice things about breaking into the home decor niche is that there are so many directions to go with it. To start, however, you should choose one type of product to sell.

Here are a few ideas:

• Pillows
• Bedding
• Linens
• Lighting
• Furniture
• Storage
• Rugs
• Curtains
• Mugs and plateware

If sales pick up and you’re able to easily meet the demand, you can move onto other products or into other areas of the home, like the patio, bathroom, kids’ rooms, etc.

This is also a great category if you have the capacity to create products based on the season. For instance, you could make holiday wreaths around the fall and cozy blankets and throws for the winter.

If you run a small business of your own, printed merchandise is one of the easiest things to sell for a small business like yours. It’s also one of the top side hustles for musicians.

Branded apparel and accessories are always a good place to start. You can also sell things related to your brand identity, like mugs, bags, stickers, flags, smartphone cases, and so on.

Print-on-demand services like the ones mentioned above will help you easily fulfill these orders as demand for your merch grows. Another option is to build your business website with Shopify and then use their print and fulfillment services.

If you’re looking to sell something you made yourself without leaving your house, look into handmade jewelry. There are so many different kinds of jewelry products you can make at home and sell:

• Necklaces
• Bracelets
• Earrings
• Rings
• Pendants
• Charms
• Brooches
• Cufflinks
• Hair pins and clips
• Toe rings
• Anklets
• Piercings
• Enamel pins

The styles of jewelry and the materials you can use to make them are just as varied. For instance, you can use resin, leather, wire, silk thread, clay, metal, macrame, wood, and many other types of materials.

So not only can jewelry making be a profitable venture, you’ll likely enjoy the process as you develop a unique signature style and experiment with different ways to design your creations.

Gifts are perhaps one of the more fun things to sell as you can get really creative with what you make and who you make it for. You can make them in one of two ways: Ready-made or personalized. It all depends on how much time you want to devote to this creative side hustle.

Here are some common gift categories:

• Birthdays
• Anniversaries
• Baby showers
• Housewarming
• Christmas
• Mother’s Day
• Father’s Day
• Weddings

You could even create gifts for obscure or silly occasions, like over-the-hill gifts, divorce gifts, or gifts for pets.

Selling art may be the most popular side hustle for artists. The lines sometimes blur between fine art, crafts, and artisan products. But art deserves its own category within the list of things to make and sell because there are some products that can’t be described any other way.

Here are a few ideas for types of artwork you can make and sell as products:

• Pencil drawings
• Watercolor paintings
• Acrylic paintings
• Digital prints
• Posters
• Lithographs
• Sculptures
• Hand blown glass

One benefit to art products is that they’re also things kids can make and sell. If you’re a stay-at-home mom or you’re looking for profitable activities to enjoy with your children on the weekends, making and selling homemade art may be the answer.

There’s a lot of flexibility when it comes to selling your art. For instance, you can mass-produce ready-made works or you can custom-create art based on customer preferences. You can also sell artwork online as well as at in-person events.

Candles are at the top of the list of easy things to make for profit. Candle making has become so popular that there are now entire online companies and brick-and-mortar shops dedicated to the art of custom candle making.

While candles might not be the most unique things to sell, strong branding can help set you apart. Take a look at local markets first and see what kinds of candles are being sold.

Is there a need for specialty candles for the seasons? How about ones for pet owners looking to keep their homes smelling fresh? Or what about candles for men?

Another way to set yourself apart is to use different waxes and to create related products. For instance, you could focus on making soy candles. Another option is to make things like wax melts and car fresheners.

There are plenty of pet parents and animal lovers who are ready to spend their money on products that will bring joy to their little loved ones. For this reason, pet supplies and accessories can be incredibly profitable DIY things to create.

Here are some pet products you can make:

• Leashes and collars
• Clothing
• Bedding
• Blankets
• Houses
• Bird feeders
• Scratching posts
• Bowls
• Toys
• Storage containers
• Aquarium decorations
• ID tags

If you’re good with mixing concoctions, you could also venture into making grooming products like shampoos or balms. If you enjoy cooking, you could make dog or cat treats and food.

There’s a big need for handmade and custom wedding-related items. Soon-to-be brides and grooms may seek out any of the following items:

• Decorations
• Invitations
• Guestbooks
• Clothing
• Accessories
• Jewelry
• Gifts
• Party favors
• Cake toppers
• Centerpieces
• Pop-up photo booths and gear

Because of the nature of weddings, you’ll have the most success if you offer personalized products. Though these things may take more time to create, you can charge a higher price point for them. As a result, you won’t need to make as many sales to be profitable.

Handmade soap is one of those easy crafts to make and sell from home. In addition to making soaps that smell heavenly, you can also make them look pretty.

Similar to candle making, you’ll want to choose a unique niche to ensure your soaps stand out in a congested market. One way is to create a line of soaps that cater to a specific need, like eczema or sensitive skin.

Another option is to offer related products in all the scents that people have grown to love from your soaps. These products might include bath bombs, bath salts, and shower steamers.

If we’re talking about profitable crafts, skincare items have to be some of the top products you can make at home and sell. What’s nice about skincare products is that they’re relatively small, which means they can be easy to reproduce when orders come in.

Below are some excellent DIY skin products to sell:

• Face masks
• Body butter and lotion
• Shampoo bars
• Bubble bath
• Body scrubs
• Deodorant
• Toothpaste
• Sunscreen

This is another one of those areas where you’ll want to start out small and then branch out. The goal should be to find your signature product, develop your unique style or approach (like vegan items, babies’ skincare, or outdoorsy products), and then expand based on customer demand.

Handmade cosmetics are one small step away from the skincare category. However, your target market will be a little different. These products are first and foremost designed to make the user look good.

Beyond standard makeup products like foundation, mascaras, eyeshadows, and blushes, there are plenty of other products you can create to succeed in the cosmetics space. You could create makeup tools, like natural goat hair brushes and organic cotton makeup wipes. You could also develop a line of bags and storage units for cosmetics.

Something else you might be interested in is creating nail art supplies. From nail polish to press-on nails, there’s so much to create just within this one niche.

One of the best things to make and sell if you’re into aromatherapy is perfume. A perfume business can be incredibly rewarding if you’ve always been interested in scents. Unfortunately, though, it’s not among the cheap things to make and sell.

Here are some examples of fragrance products you can make:

• Colognes
• Roll-on perfumes
• Essential oils
• Carrier oils
• Hair care oils
• Beard oils
• Massage oils
• Aromatherapy inhalers
• Body sprays
• Room sprays

You can also make accessories for aromatherapy products. For instance, you could make diffusers for essential oils or weighted eye pillows that contain your signature scents.

For those of you looking for something fun to make and sell, look into the category of games and toys. And don’t be fooled—your products don’t have to just be for children.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Puzzles
• Board games
• Card games
• Educational games
• Dice
• Plushies
• Dolls
• Sports gear
• Stress balls
• Adult products

Toys, games, and dolls can be easy enough to make at home and sell. However, you have to be careful with this product category as there are strict regulations concerning how you make some products for children.

Artisan products are unique and one-of-a-kind creations that don’t neatly fit into the categories of art or crafts. They’re generally made by skilled tradespeople using organic materials like wood, stone, or clay. In this category, you’ll find plenty of DIY business ideas capable of turning high long-term profits.

The trick to selling homemade artisan items is finding goods that sell well that you can create from your material of choice. The table below shows some excellent options for things to make out of clay, wood, metal, and more.

Examples of Artisan Products You Can Make and Sell

If you’re a creator with a unique artisan skill, it would definitely be worth exploring these options. However, these products aren’t suitable for beginners. If you’re making things from home to sell, then you may also need workshop space.

There are numerous sites where your beautiful craftsmanship can make you good money, such as Etsy and Amazon Handmade. Local fairs and markets are other great places to sell unique creations like these.

There’s a wide assortment of paper products you can make from home, and these are certainly easy crafts to sell. The startup costs shouldn’t be too high either as you can buy a lot of the base paper items in bulk and for relatively cheap.

Here are some of the things you can make:

• Stationery
• Invitations
• Greeting cards
• Calendars
• Planners
• Notebooks
• Bookmarks
• Wrapping paper
• Coloring books

You can sell related productivity products as well if you want to target professional customers. Pens, mouse pads, and sticky notes, for instance, would be good items to add to your shop.

What’s nice about these types of products is you can package and sell them in different ways. For example, you can bulk print the items and sell them as they are—individually or in packages. You could also offer personalized paper products.

To create a subscription box, you first need to come up with a hook. What do you want to fill your boxes with, and is this something you can reasonably do from month to month?

Here are some curated box themes that seem to do well:

• Books
• Coffee and tea
• Foods and snacks
• Beauty products
• Wellness and self-care
• Stationery
• Mystery/surprise products

Another option is to create and sell one-off gift baskets. It won’t require an ongoing commitment, and you can make them on demand as customer requests come in.

One often-overlooked category of products you can make and sell from home is food and drinks. These items attract foodies and people on the lookout for minimalist gifts for special occasions.

Consider whipping up one of these tasty treats:

• Chocolates
• Candies
• Granola
• Dried fruits and nuts
• Granola
• Spice blends
• Sauces
• Jams
• Flavored olive oils
• Pickled items
• Baked goods
• Wine, beer, or liquors
• Meal kits
• Food baskets

One fun option is to start your own home bakery. But if you’re planning to sell edible items online, try to stick with ones that have a longer shelf life.

Additionally, bear in mind that some online marketplaces have guidelines when it comes to what types of foods you can sell. Selling in person or locally, on the other hand, will open up more opportunities for the types of edible creations you can sell.

Although the majority of DIY products on this list are tangible goods, you can also make and sell digital products. Digital downloads span multiple mediums, including paper-based printables (e.g., posters, planners, and educational materials), music, and ebooks.

What’s nice about digital downloads is that they’re an easy passive income source—you can make them once and then sit back and watch as orders come in and money fills your bank account. You really have to make sure these are high-value digital products for that to happen.

If you’re a working as a professional web designer, for instance, you might make products like website templates, custom fonts, and ebooks. For graphic designers, printables would be a better fit.

Whether you’re a professional photographer or you’re just starting up a photography side hustle as an amateur or enthusiast, there are lots of websites where you can sell your photos. Adobe Stock and Shutterstock are two of them. You can also develop film photos yourself at home and sell the prints at local markets, art fairs, or shops.

Like the case with other DIY product suggestions on this list, start by finding a unique in-demand niche. Take a look at stock photography sites and see what sorts of categories are most popular.

Below are examples of types of digital photography that are always in demand:

• Animals
• Architecture
• Backgrounds
• Business
• Family
• Nature
• People
• Plants
• Sports
• Travel

For physical prints, you could increase your earnings and add a personalized touch by selling your photos with handmade frames. You can also make and sell other items that feature your photography, such as postcards or posters.