Jewelry Making: Retirement Business From A Fun Hobby

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You are on the lookout for a new retirement business, and you would prefer it to be connected to something you enjoy.

You enjoy arts and crafts and you like wearing jewelry or you know plenty of people who like wearing jewelry, so the thought occurred to you that jewelry making would be a fun retirement business to get involved with, and you'd have a plentiful supply of eager customers.

But after considering where your customers can be found, you will want to ask if you know enough about jewelry making?

The fun thing about jewelry making is that it can be as simple as or as decorative in design as you want it to be. Jewelry making can also be as easy or as challenging as you want it to be, depending on what kinds of jewelry you would like to make.

If you have grandchildren and are looking for a hobby that you can share with them, you will find that jewelry making can be something that you can do together. Avoid making jewelry pins because of the sharp pins. Rather, start simple and make bead necklaces or bracelets.

For a plentiful supply of materials go to a craft store and select what kinds of beads you like. The other things you will need are string material to put the bead on, and fasteners. Simply put the beads through the string material, and finish the project by putting on the fasteners.

Before you start, lay the beads out to get an idea of the design you plan to make.

As well as being a source of materials and helpful advice, your local craft store may even be willing to display (or sell) some of your finished products or your business card and website as inspiration for what can be achieved with the raw materials they sell.

Other Sources of Materials for Jewelry Making

endlesswatts / Pixabay for image credit

If you live near the ocean, a wonderfully unique kind of jewelry making you can try is necklaces or bracelets made out of seashells. For this project, gather several shells of any kind that you would like to use.

Thoroughly wash them in hot water, and, using a sufficiently sharp cutting tool of your choice, make jagged pieces. Next, poke holes in the center of each shell and pull the necessary string material through it. Lastly, add fasteners for a finished piece.

Of course, necklaces and bracelets are not the only things you can make. You can also make earring and rings, if you have the proper material. Material usually includes such things as hot glue, and decorations, of which stones (if polished and smoothed beforehand) can be used. (Back to your local craft store for advice!)

After honing your skills with inexpensive beads from craft shops you make like to branch out into semi-precious gem-stones, such as amethyst, topaz, peridot, citrine, aquamarine or green tourmaline. You can buy these inexpensively on eBay and Amazon.

Be as simple or as elaborate as you feel will suit your target market. Maybe make a small number of products in many different styles before concentrating on the products that sell best.

For more ideas on what to make, consult various jewelry making books, as they have directions. You can also search the internet for a variety of different websites on the topic. Remember, your piece of jewelry might not always turn out just the way that you wanted it to, but with the proper practice, you are sure to be able to make beautiful pieces of jewelry.

Selling Your Jewelry

You can display your work at local craft fairs once you products are of a satisfactory standard.

But to branch our farther – and for less personal involvement after the initial setup – consider having your own website.

Some will say – “Oh just have a Facebook shop”, but personally I wouldn't trust my business to social media alone – you never know if they will shut you down.

Obviously there are online stores such as Etsy, but these come with costs you might not want to incur for your fledgling business. Instead try this free e-commerce store where you can also blog about your business and, of course, you can still always post your blog and product links on Facebook too.