How to Make Money Teaching Craft Workshops

Are you looking for a crafty side hustle with good money-making potential? Teaching craft workshops could be the answer! Let me show you how.  

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I’ve heard from so many people that the only way to make money with your art is to sell it on Etsy or participate in craft shows. This could not be further from the truth!

Another awesome way to make money with your creative projects is to teach other people how to make them. It seems counter-intuitive, perhaps—if you teach someone how to make something, they won’t need to buy it from you. This can be true, and if you create something particularly unique or lucrative for you, I wouldn’t encourage you to run workshops teaching people how to make the exact same product!

But you can teach skills, and that’s what craft workshops are all about. Encouraging skill building, creative thinking, and creation—all while providing a social activity that people can do together as a group.

Okay, so what exactly is a craft workshop?

It’s exactly what it sounds like. You plan a craft project, gather the materials, and teach attendees how to make the project. You make money—both to cover costs and make a profit—by selling tickets to attendees.  

What does it cost to host craft workshops?

Several factors will go into the cost of hosting a craft workshop. In particular, you’ll need to consider the following costs:

• Location/venue
• Material costs
• Advertising costs
• Any service fees for processing ticket purchases

Ideally, you’ll want to find a venue that you can use for free, and keep your material and advertising costs as low as possible. (More on this later.) You should make sure to keep your total costs per participant lower than half of what you’re charging for a ticket to attend.

Keep in mind that many of your costs aren’t up-front costs; in many cases, you can purchase things as you have people register and pay for the class.

How much can I charge for my workshops?

As mentioned above, you’ll want to ensure you’re keeping your costs per participant less than half of what you’re charging for tickets to attend. If your cost per person is $20 for example, you should be charging at least $40.

The pricing of your tickets will vary a little, according to where you live and where you’re hosting the workshop. However, $40-$50 is a great place to start. You can increase that if you’re providing any food or drinks. Remember that if you’re offering any sort of alcoholic drink (like running a wine and craft event), you may need to get separate licenses which will vary depending on where you are.

What sort of craft workshops should I teach?

When planning a craft for your workshop, there are a few things you should keep in mind. You’ll want to look for crafts that:

• Are beginner-friendly with no huge learning curve
• Are quick to come together and can be completed in roughly an hour to an hour and a half
• Are made with materials that aren’t too expensive
• Are made with materials that aren’t overly messy or odorous
• Don’t require a lot of specialized equipment

Another thing to consider is making sure the project you choose has flexibility. If you’re showing someone how to make a terrarium, give them lots of filler options to choose from so participants can make terrariums that are unique to them. If you’re doing a stamping workshop, make sure to provide a variety of colors of ink and stamps so that everyone leaves with a different-looking piece of art.

I’ve compiled a list of ten great craft workshop project ideas. Click the button below to be taken to the post.

What sort of craft workshops should I teach?

Approximately one hour, to an hour and a half. Less than that and people won’t feel they’re getting their money’s worth. More than that and you run the risk of participants losing interest or getting overwhelmed.

When planning how much time you’ll need at the venue, take into account how much set-up time you’ll need. Everything should be set up by the time the participants arrive.  Also, take into account how much clean-up time you’ll need after. If you’re doing a one-hour class, two hours at your venue may be enough. However, I’d personally book a three-hour time slot at a venue, just to make sure I have plenty of time to get everything taken care of.

Where can I get the materials for my workshop projects?

You can get the materials anywhere you get your crafting supplies! Michaels, Jo-Ann Fabrics, Hobby Lobby, Walmart, and Amazon to name a few places. The goal is to get these materials at the lowest cost you can—while not compromising quality. If someone pays $50 to attend a craft workshop, they expect to have quality products to work with.

Shop around, always use coupons, and wherever possible, buy in bulk. If you get a package of 50 of something, but are only teaching 40 people, you have 10 of whatever you bought left for your next class.

If you’re looking for tips on how to save money while buying craft supplies, I have a post for that! Click the button below to check it out.

Where can I host craft workshops?

Finding a location is one of the most important, and sometimes most complicated, parts of hosting craft workshops.

For free options, you might want to consider making arrangements with a local bar, pub, brewery, or winery to host classes there on evenings when they’re generally slow. It’s a win-win arrangement; you can get a free space to run your class while they get an influx of customers on a night they struggle to get people in. Encourage your participants to go get a drink or some food to enjoy while they craft with you!

However, there are lots of low-cost options available to you if you can’t find a free venue. Community centers are a great place to start. There are often rooms for rent that are under $30 an hour. You only need the space for 2-3 hours (depending on how much set-up time you need) as your craft classes should generally only run for 1 to 1.5 hours.

When figuring out the venue cost per person, take the total cost of the venue and divide it by the number of attendees. If your venue is $90 for 3 hours, and you have 30 participants, it’s $3 per person.

How do I advertise my workshops?

Social media is one of the best places to advertise your workshops unless you live in an area with active community event bulletin boards. Create an “event” on Facebook with all the details, make sure to include a link where participants can buy tickets, and then run paid ads.

How much should I spend on ads?

Factor it into your per-person cost. If you hope to sell 30 tickets to your event, I’d start with $30 in ads—that way your advertising cost works out to $1 per person. You could also increase it to $1.50 or $2.00 per person.

Once you’ve run a few classes, you’ve created an email list, and have positive word of mouth, you will likely be able to lower your advertising cost.

How and where can I sell tickets?

There are lots of places online where you can set up events and process ticket payments. Here are two examples:

Specifically for ticket sales: TicketSpice

TicketSpice charges $0.99 per ticket plus 2.9% + 30¢ in card processing fees. Therefore if your event ticket costs $40, you will pay TicketSpice $2.45 to process the ticket purchase.

A more general payment processer: Square

Square is not specifically a ticket service, but you can create “digital” files that you can sell. You’d create a ticket on something like Canva, upload it as a digital file, and when a customer purchases they are sent that ticket PDF. Square charges 2.9% + 30¢ for an online transaction. This means that on a $40 ticket, you’ll pay Square $1.46.

Personally, Square is my go-to for just about everything. And if you get their Square reader, you can easily process day-of transactions or ticket purchases when you’re out and about doing other things.

What else should I know?

Make sure you have a way to contact guests about future events! Set up a mailing list through something like Mailchimp and give them the opportunity to sign up. If they loved the workshop, they’ll want to know about future events! Once you have run a few events and have a sizeable mailing list, you won’t have to invest as much in advertising.

To encourage more attendees, you can also offer promotions. Encourage attendees to sign up a friend and they both get 10% off their registration, for example. Or offer a group rate like 4 tickets for the price of 3!

Will you try hosting a craft workshop?

There are so many ways you can make money with your love of art and crafting. This is one awesome way of doing so that doesn’t tie you down to one particular craft or art style. Plus you get to share the joy of crafting with others who might be reluctant to tackle projects on their own but will happily do so as part of a group.

If you’re thinking about hosting craft workshops, let me know in the comments!

Looking for more DIY inspiration? Check out my archive of free patterns and tutorials!

Happy making!