Idiophonebox

Etsy Featured Seller: Kin Ship Press

Where would you like to be in ten years?
Working for ourselves. No soul crushing day jobs, please. (Hopefully a lot sooner than in ten years!) Owning a house on some land in the mountains would be swell too —with family and friends nearby. Dan wants a little salt and pepper in his beard. Hillary wants evenings on the porch swing, with giggles and cackles in the air.

Etsy recently changed their default search results to be returned according to “relevancy” instead of showing the most recent items listed. I’m for it. A search for “tshirt necklace” currently puts me on the first page.

I needed to change one of my etsy listings to this necklace because I made my FIRST sales this weekend. I wore one of my necklaces out on Saturday and sold some to a couple of women who had asked me about it when I saw them again on Sunday. I sold one 18” strand and one 34” strand. The 34” is my favorite and the one I was wearing all weekend. The white yarn got pretty filthy from sunscreen and me sweating profusely, so it’s time for a washing machine test to see how it holds up.

Rainbow Tie Dye - 50 yds - $8

This listing by Eclectic Notions made me stop and think about how I am monetarily valuing my time.

The supplies I use for my necklaces come pretty cheap. I can get 8 shirts of various sizes for roughly $5 at The Garment District. Each shirt yields at least two necklaces. Add in what I pay for beads ($.50-$1.00 per necklace) and the materials cost is under $2 per item. The most valuable component is time. It takes me 1-2 hours to turn a tshirt into yarn and 1 hour to construct a necklace. I’ve discovered my yarnification process is slightly more involved than fellow shirt harvesters, but I like my end result better. Instead of a strand looking like two tubes (see the picture), I roll the stretched fabric into one tube.

With necklaces priced at $10-$15, I’m paying myself around $4/hour. Granted, while I’m making jewelry I’m usually watching a movie on my couch and I enjoy doing both. None of this takes into account time I spend designing, branding, creating packaging details, listing items, applying to craft fairs, or numerous other things. I don’t think the Sharks would invest in my business.

Upcycled Knitting Needle bracelets

I use a french knitter, not knitting needles, to make my necklaces, but I think these would be great to wear with my craft fair “selling outfit.” Initially I wanted to make something I thought would appeal to a lot of people. Thinking about what I would wear led me to make what I’m currently calling “Long String of TeePearls.” It’s a little more understated than the chunkier “Hot Dog” and Original designs, and more my style.

I came across Elva Fields awhile ago when I was collecting brooches for a project, and these necklaces have been on my mind ever since. I went to several bead shops this week shopping for toggles and realized that Elva Fields’ $300+ necklaces are so expensive because the beads are outrageously expensive. I put a lot of time into my necklaces but I can keep the cost low since the materials are, for the most part recycled. I like having these bright, bold colors as inspiration while still making something affordable.

Yes to all of that.

From the introduction to The Handmade Marketplace by Kari Chapin

60s 4/5 Sgt Pepper’s little Navy Wool COAT from midstatevintage on etsy (SOLD)

I’ve been bookmarking product photo ideas and this style keeps grabbing my attention. I like the side by side photos of the item alone and worn to get an idea of the scale and true colors. I think having a bunch of cute kids wearing my necklaces would also boost sales but I’m hoping to wrangle a few people into posing, regardless of age, so I won’t need to.