In our current culture, side hustles are seen as a way to monetize your hobbies. I’ve always wondered if I had a side hustle in me. I do love to make things, but I’ve always been kind of indifferent about the whole prospect of entering capitalism on such a direct level. Also, my “makes” changed over the years. For awhile, I’d be drawing and painting, then switch to clay crafts.
A few months ago, though, I started making felt flowers. I can’t even remember why I started—was it Pinterest perhaps? I just decided one day that it might be fun to try, and next thing I know, I was getting boxes of felt and glue sticks on the regular. My first attempts were amazing to me at the time, but now seem laughable. I think I’ve even thrown some of them away.
The felt that I’d ordered was a pack of multi-colored pink 8.5 by 11 inch sheets, thin but firm. I didn’t realize yet that felt also came in thicker more flexible varieties that would make more supple and pretty flowers. I also had pretty poor control of the glue gun, often ending up with glue blobs in the most in opportune places and burning my fingers trying to wipe it off. I’d soon learn more about felt—and even more about glue gins. Did you know that you can get low-temperature glue guns? Oh my word, what a revelation (and a fingertip saver!).
I thought I was getting pretty good at things, and that my failures (hello weird pointy random flower) were good learning experiences. And at this point, I was amassing a small army of flowers, wondering what I’d do with all these creations.
It was around this time that I started to think that some of these were cute enough to be appealing to other people—maybe as something like pins or hair accessories? As you know, Amazon will always provide a quick fix, and so my first pins were made. I even found someone at work who liked them enough to wear them. He claimed that they would be perfect for covering up stains on his favorite shirt.
Around this time, I started wondering if maybe I could sell these pins. I began to feel like making the flowers was so fun & relaxing that I could actually see myself enjoying the side hustle, as it would be mostly a relaxing hobby. My sister also supported me in this, saying she could be the business brains behind the creator.
I’ve kept making flowers since then, even creating more than pins—things like flowering tree sculptures, photo frames, wreaths and embroidery hoop wall hangings.
As the idea of an actual business starts to become more real, I’ve also been messing around with trying to make myself a logo. Maybe you’ve noticed the rotating header images on the site here. All just random ideas I’ve been testing. Now though, I think I’m on to something. I posted a new header logo that I really like. It has flowers, retro colors, and a simple font. I’m going to try it out for a bit to see if it feels right.
I’ve even started doing research on ways to get into e-commerce as easily as possible… Etsy vs. Instagram based stores vs. a private platform here on my website. Things are honestly pretty exciting right now. My sister swears that my flower creations are cute enough to sell, and some of my work friends agree. What do you think? Would you buy or gift a felt floral item like some of the ones posted above?