insight on small craft business rebuild
i’m going to write a lot because i’m anxious and thorough but will put a TLDR at the bottom lol. delete if not ok to post here! i’ve posted in a couple others so if you see more than once just trying to get the right input
i’ve been running a small craft business since the holiday season of 2023. i mostly sell small crochet and vinyl/cricut items at low price points with a few higher priced items! i have an etsy shop, take custom orders online, and do craft shows every once in awhile. june 2025 i had a super successful event (profitable!) even though it was a torrential storm at the show i still did well. i had more young girls (think older elementary-early high school) buying my items than my target audience which was 20 something girls & moms buying for their 20 something’s lol.
my best selling items were crochet scrunchies & accessories, some summer tops, book sleeves and acrylic bookmarks. during the holidays beanies & scarves do really well plus custom pet ornaments. i also get custom orders for cardigans. i have some small low priced crochet patterns on my etsy as well as editable canva templates for events lol.
after my successful show last year, i found out i was pregnant with my daughter & the first trimester destroyed me i couldn’t get any customs out so i finished my queue and stopped taking orders. i couldn’t even crochet or craft for fun because i developed arthritis around 20wks. we welcomed our baby this april and now that she’s 3m, im really missing the business and creating. i’d like to get back into things but needing some guidance. i’ve never had great social media presence but when i can dedicate the time to it i enjoy it. i have not posted since last july lol basically got pregnant and ghosted the business.
looking back at my business - it lacks direction. i love crafting and will honestly make anything someone asks because it’ll make me some extra money. but i have grown to hate custom orders, and big item market prepping is exhausting! i like writing crochet patterns and plan to continue that path, but i do realllly miss the markets. i want to get back into them but before i do that i feel like i need to realign on product offerings and what would actually sell. i know i wont clear out inventory at every market, but a lot of what ive made in the past are things i would want, but not necessarily what others would want.
as a new mom i’d love to try to tap into the baby space and i know it’s impossible to resist cute baby items. also knowing that younger girls were drawn to my items i want to keep fostering that area. i also love digital design like stickers & vinyl, silly baby onesies, and small accessories. but i feel like my brain has a bigger appetite than maybe one business should be? i just love to be creative and want to share that but dont want to bite off more than i can chew in a way that would be off putting or confusing to consumers.
given all of this - what kind of products do you see at craft fairs that you actually are interested in buying? is it only the small impulse things that really get you, or are the bigger more expensive items still a draw? and if a shop offered multiple different items like what i mentioned would you be turned off by it or still open to buying as long as the quality and uniqueness were there? sorry this is a lot but my postpartum brain is a mess. i feel like i need my business back to feel like myself again.
TLDR: wanting to start back up my small business after pregnancy & maternity leave but having a product and identity crisis. looking for insight on what people actually want to buy at craft shows. focus is crochet & vinyl based products but skilled with digital design. hoping to appeal to the baby crowd & preteen/tween girls since that’s where my success has been. thank you <3