If you are thinking of selling the crafts that you make, one of the most important decisions you can make will be how much to charge for your items. If you do not price your items correctly, you will either have no sales if an item is priced too high, or you will go out of business if items are priced too low for you to profit. While there are many formulas out there to figure pricing, they all rely on certain common elements.

First, know your market. If the items you make are priced higher than what people normally buy in your area, either you need to have a lower price, or sell in the market that will support your prices. Trying to sell high end jewelry pieces at a flea market won't work, but finding a specialty boutique or juried fine arts show will. Once you have decided who your target market is and what they are willing to pay, then you can start working your numbers.

Make a list of all your expenses related to creating your crafts. This includes materials, labor, overheads and profit. When calculating costs for materials, this includes everything from glue, thread, markers, etc. Don't forget to include the shipping costs for those materials if you have to order them through the mail. Calculate how much the material costs for each piece to produce, this gives you the raw item price.

Calculating labor is a bit more personal. How many items can you produce in one hour's time? How much do you want to be paid per hour? If, for example, you can produce five of your items in one hour and you want to earn $10 an hour, then your labor cost on each item would be $2. Obviously, this amount will vary depending on how many items you can produce in an hour and how much you want to be paid. Add this amount to your materials cost per item.

Overhead is tricky. While most crafters work at home, don't think that you do not have overhead costs. There is the space taken up in your house for your work, the pens, paper, phone, electricity, etc. that gets used during your business process is all counted towards overhead. The easiest way to do this is to keep good receipts and open a separate checking account for purchasing anything for your business. For utilities, take an average household bill (such as electric) and divide the total amount by the percentage of square footage your business takes up in the house. Once you have this total number, you can divide it into a daily or hourly number to make calculations easier. Add this figure to the labor and materials.

Profit is one of those things that people either tack onto the labor calculation or do separately. It depends on whether you have someone helping you make the items or not. Profit is really the number that you want above and beyond the cost of the item to make. So, if you want an extra one dollar of profit on each item above your labor, then add that amount to the cost of each item. If the cost of making your items puts your retail price lower than area averages, you can add profit on and raise the price, still keeping it in line with average pricing.

Once you add these four items together, this is the price you want to sell your item for. As you can see, the profit number is what you can adjust to keep your item price in line with your market.

What if your numbers make the item too expensive for your market? The first thing to look at is the cost for materials. This may mean finding new sources for your materials, or buying in bulk to bring the costs down. Don't forget to look at the internet for your supplies; you can often find great prices on materials that way. You could also lower your profit down, or possibly your labor - although these are last choices to make.

Take the time to work the numbers and you will be more likely to succeed in business selling your crafts.

Creative types may be curious to learn how to make lanyards. If you are able to follow simple directions you will be able to produce your very own lanyard for personal use or to give as a gift. Whether for yourself or a as a gift, lanyards are a great way to secure your keys, cell phone, badge, or whistle.

In learning how to make lanyards it is important to choose the right material. A popular lanyard making material is a thin, elastic, and flexible plastic lace. It is readily available at most craft stores and referred to as craftlace, lanyard, gimp, or boondoggle.

There are many different stitches that can be used to make or braid a lanyard. Many braiding techniques are complex and time consuming. One of the simpler braids is referred to as a crown (or round) knot. One must utilize patience and follow directions carefully in learning how to make lanyards. The basic crown knot is as follows:

To begin, take two strands of craftlace, fold them together (length will depend on the type of lanyard) and tie a knot at toward the top to hold them securely together. You now have four strings secured at the top.

Spread the four strings apart, separately, pointing in each cardinal direction of a compass. Hold the "west" string with one finger (close to the knot). At the same time, pull the "west" string over the "north" string.

Continuing on, cross the "north" string" over the "east" string. At this point the "north" string is covering both the "west" string and the "east" string. Now cross the "east" string over the "south" string. Finally, cross the "south" string over the "west" string.
At this point pull each end of the four string extremely tight to make the first knot. Continue crossing the strings in the same manner until the desired length is reached. The knots will produce a rounded lanyard.

A hobby refreshes and rejuvenates you like nothing else. Be it painting, cooking, gardening or stamp collection, your hobby can add great meaning to your life. While deciding on a hobby which you can actively pursue, many things are taken into consideration such as your skill set, your interests, availability of time and even resources available to you. It is said that most women have an artistic bend of mind and can do any activity with a lot of creativity and zeal. There are so many hobbies that a woman can actively pursue. Some of the interesting hobbies for women are as follows:

Embroidery

Embroidery is a great hobby to pursue. Using a thread and a needle, you can pursue this art of decorating a material with beautiful designs. Materials like metal strips, beads, quills, pearls and sequins are also used in embroidery. Many women love to indulge in hand embroidery to decorate wall hangings, saree borders, pillowcases, quilts and table mats etc. Hand embroidery is an art that almost any woman can easily learn.. Many books on needlework and embroidery are available in the markets that help you learn the basics of embroidery.

Cooking

Cooking can be a great hobby to pursue as it helps to relieve stress. Experimental cooking and trying new recipes can be quite a fun! Trying different ingredients and combining unusual things can be a totally different experience in cooking. There are so many books that are available in the market that can help women to learn the basics of cooking. Attending cooking classes can also be a great idea to enhance you skills in the kitchen and develop your hobby.

Jewellery Making

Jewellery is every woman's fascination. Jewellery making as a hobby is being pursued by more and more women because it also gives them a chance to make their hobby into a full time business. Beads, threads, sequins, artificial diamonds and other materials are being used to make unique jewellery pieces which are in demand. Women who want to start pursuing this hobby can learn the basics of jewellery making by attending professional classes and courses on jewellery designing.

Lantern and Candle Making

Indian handicrafts such as traditional lanterns and candles are beautifully made. This can be pursued as a hobby too because the process is quite simple and can be done at home as well. It is said that candle making is one hobby that gives you a therapeutic experience as it helps you to relax and explore your creativity side. All one needs to do is buy the supplies that are required for candle making such as moulds, wax, glitter etc and supplies needed for lantern making such a different coloured paper, sticks, glue etc. You can also join a crash course in the same to learn the basics.

Painting

Painting is an age old hobby that many women have enjoyed for many years in the past. This hobby may be old but it helps to unleash your creative side considering you can paint your mind. You can learn different forms of art and work with various mediums like water colors, oil painting, glass painting, acrylic painting, oil painting etc.

There are many such hobbies that women can pursue that helps them to relax, have fun and learn at the same time. However, it is important to choose a hobby and dedicate yourself to innovating and continuous learning in that field.