Start a Work at Home Jewelry Business
by Eileen Bergen
Jewelry making is an ideal way to start earning a little extra money from home.
You don't need to spend a lot to get going. Initially your circle of friends
will be your customers. Your friends will tell their friends, who will tell
their friends, and so on and so on.
Though you may start with a kit or two for the learning experience, you can't
rely on kits if you want to make money selling your work. People will pay more
for one-of-a-kind pieces. Plus, the mark-up on kits is quite high because
another artist has done the design work for you. In other words, you can both
charge more and keep your costs lower if you design your work yourself. This is
how to maximize your profit.
A good place to start is by flipping through magazines and catalogues. Clip
jewelry photos that appeal to you, along with price information if available.
Get a notebook and fill it with the pictures.
You're not going to copy them. This is just to give you ideas and get your
creative juices flowing. The pictures will also come in handy when you can't
quite figure out how to do something you have in mind - kind of like your own
illustrated how-to book.
There are two easy to learn jewelry making methods to consider: beading and wire
sculpting, also know as wire wrapping. Beading requires little skill other than
a good sense of design and the materials are inexpensive.
Wire sculpting or wire wrapping is not that much harder to learn, but since you
are dealing with gold, silver and genuine gemstones, the materials cost a bit
more. But the markup is much higher.
Tools and Materials
Here's a list of tools you will need to start:
1. Jewelers' wire cutters - If you can only afford one pair, get memory wire
shears. These are designed to make clean cuts on tough memory wire, so can also
be used for softer wires.
2. Chain-nose pliers (sometimes called needle-nose pliers) - Very versatile for
picking up and grasping small items, bending eye pins, closing jumps rings, even
closing crimp beads.
3. Round-nose pliers - Used for creating loops on beaded head and eye pins. Can
also be used for winding your own jump rings and as the second pliers you'll
need for closing jump rings.
4. Optional pliers - Wire-looping pliers which have several graduated
circumferences to allow you to form perfectly uniform jump rings and loops (in
place of the round-nose pliers mentioned above). Crimping pliers which have
little notches to allow you to both flatten a crimp bead and then bend it to
form a rounded finished look (instead of the flat crimp you get using the chain-
nose pliers).
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