Money makers for the holidays?

I thought I'd start a thread for people to post their ideas for possible airbrushed products we can make and sell for the holidays, both custom made or for general public purchases. With the economy being what it is, we have lots of potential customers for some easy to make and low cost gifts.

The following are thoughts I've had, but please add your ideas for potential products or services you think would fit the bill!

Wrapping/gift paper
Custom skateboard decks/boards
Airbrushed skate and cycling helmets
Bike packs/book bags
Pillowcases and or sheets
Refinishing/painting bicycle frames and wheels
Lunchboxes
Toolboxes
Coffee or tea mugs/cups
Christmas/holiday ornaments
Water and food bowls for pets
Pet sweaters or shirts
Sweaters or shirts for stuffed animals (teddybears, Moose, etc.).
T-shirts
Hoodies
Airbrushed trays or platters for searving food, etc.

[aiScribbler]

Good thread!

Over the years, one of my best money makers were small rugs. Go to a local carpet sales & ask to buy any samples or even remnants that are in a low plush. Some of the carpet sales guys will give them to you just to get rid of them. I think the highest I ever paid was 50 cents per, and I sold them for more than Tshirts. Lots of folks place these at the feet of a recliner, so... "Best grandpa/grandma/dad" works well. You'll be surprised at how easy they are to paint, and I've got some of these that are as old as my airbrush career.

Not sure if anyone has ever done this before, but I had an idea for a coming fund raiser at my wife's school. I use 14"x14" heavy Pellon material squares for each design in my display. I plan to cut them in 1/4 & airbrush a simple name design or phrase & they fit perfectly in a locker. You can get some little 3M Fasteners & sell a 'kit' for an added price for the student to secure their name card in their school locker. Lots of design ideas work... football, soccer, baseball, b-ball, choir, etc.

In addition to the items that FontGeek mentioned, I've also airbrushed mailboxes, family name signs, saw blades (paint a scenic design like mountains & cabins, then add a family name), coal shovels (I live in a coal producing state), Bike helmets, car tags, key chain tags and construction helmets.

There are so many surfaces which work well for airbrush, the only real concern is surface prep & final treatments, like clear coating.

Many of these great airbrushed items hold the appeal of being functional as well as decorative... sell that point. I hope everyone has a great start to the holiday season. Post your stuff!

Scrib

[fontgeek]

Great idea on the carpet/rug samples!
Plastic and ceramic flower pots
Personal coolers/ice chests with favorite sport, team, or club logos, animals and or slogans on them. You can do matching hats, shirts, etc.
Computer cases.
Cel phone and Ipod cases.

[Kicks]

Over the years, one of my best money makers were small rugs. Go to a local carpet sales & ask to buy any samples or even remnants that are in a low plush. Some of the carpet sales guys will give them to you just to get rid of them. I think the highest I ever paid was 50 cents per, and I sold them for more than Tshirts. Lots of folks place these at the feet of a recliner, so... "Best grandpa/grandma/dad" works well. You'll be surprised at how easy they are to paint, and I've got some of these that are as old as my airbrush career.

Seen someone doing the same thing at the flea market a couple of years ago, and that guy couldn't keep up with the demand. His wife or gitrfriend was taking orders and he was working his butt off.

[don johnson]

Thanks guys some great ideas
Come on folks jump on in here and add to the list or post some examples of items you think might sell well during the holiday's.

[ArtWorld]

I know you can take a lot of free items and turn them into a golden gift as well. Here are some more for the list of things that can be done.

1. A Rock. You can take a rock and turn it into a cherished trophy. Clean it, give it a shimering base coat, airbrush something great on it, and clear coat it to a shine. Once we painted a rock for $1,500 dollars for the army and installed it for $350. Though it was not a gift we have done several smaller rocks for gifts.

2. For people who love to make blankets. They have asked for a piece of material airbrushed to sew into the centers of the balankets.

3. Ornaments. Scuff them, clean them, airbrush and clear them. Be carefull not to drop them, or you have to do them again(I did). Font mentioned.

4. Instruments and cases can be done at a fair price.

5. Mailboxes

6. Car floor mats and seat covers.

7. Tons of gag gifts

8. Stockings

9. Footballs, basketballs, softballs, and baseballs.

[GregerLMacleod]

I'm not even sure how to aproach this topic. I don't have a retail storefront, or a sales tax lisence anymore. I haven't ever sold anything on line from my art and air brushing web pages. ie T-shirts, LEPrints, etc.
Greger

[aiScribbler]

Greger,

Depending on what you're intending to paint... why not check out a flea market?

My wife & I did a little of our own market research and were very put-off by the high lease agreement & long term commitments required by the mall (mauls) and big-box retailers. We just wanted a short term, holiday season location to supplement our shop. No one was airbrushing at a local flea market, and, over a few weekends, we noticed a large group walking through the market each weekend. We also noticed that impulse buying was just as big a player at the flea market as it was in the retail joints.

So, we spoke with the owner, worked out a monthly rental of a nice booth area. Then, with almost no set-up cost at all, we came in the next weekend to sell. Although we displayed Tshirts, and that was what we sold the most of, I also had fliers/brochures of my sign & custom graphic work, along with photo albums of past jobs. From this location, which cost me $35 a weekend, I drew attention to my shop & got custom graphic & pinstriping work, sign work & even some portraits... plus I painted my rear end off selling shirts. I also got to meet some very nice people in the process who were all around me plying their trade.

If you have a little more coin at the forefront, you can go the kiosk route in a mall. It's a trade-off... higher lease in the mall, but you can charge a nice price; -vs- lower rent in a flea market & potentially higher turnover without a sacrifice of price on the product. I never had to drop my price at the flea market, and it proved to be one of my best locations.

You can also check out any local festivals in your area. Most are looking for artists & vendors, but these are sometimes hard to get into since they tend to lock in vendors from previous years. If you can get your foot in the door, at a decent price, you can make some serious coin. Here's the downside to such a set-up -vs- the flea market route: you'll need some sort of trailer or secure booth from which to ply your trade, which might price you out of the game. Add to this that there are uncontrolled variables like weather, location of your booth and high fees, and you'll need a frontman to handle the orders & set-up so you can rock the paint.

Myself, I wouldn't hesitate to jump on a decent flea market opportunity if I were in the need.

Hope this gives you a little food for thought.
Scrib

[Neder/Brit]

One thing I haven,t seen on the lists is old LPs if I remember rightly Kimmo posted some once and they looked really cool. So if your like me and still have your music history still on Vinyl then now is the time to have a go.

[fontgeek]

Originally Posted by GregerLMacleod

I'm not even sure how to aproach this topic. I don't have a retail storefront, or a sales tax lisence anymore. I haven't ever sold anything on line from my art and air brushing web pages. ie T-shirts, LEPrints, etc.
Greger

You might be surprised at the possible markets in your area. Even taking a cheap ad in your local papers and such can bring you a lot of business. Marketing nice stuff at some good rates, and even doing a setup like a garage sale/yard sale/boot sale can do wonders, and as it was already stated there are lots of events like holiday bazaars, harvest festivals going on, and once you get your act together you'll find that people will spread the word on you and your offerings and capabilities. You will probably find that people will come up with their own ideas on what they want painted (the objects or items), they just need you to do the actual painting.

Neder, I still have probably 1000 or more albums on vinyl, but they are pieces of music or performances I value, so I wouldn't let anyone near them. But there are tons of old LPs at flea markets and sales that would be ripe for the picking!

More for the list;
Posters
Toilet/Loo seats and their covers
Windbreakers
Placemats and napkins
Model cars, trucks, bikes, etc.
Holiday seat cushions, or any theme or design for that matter.
Rocking horses or other animals or characters.
Trash cans/waste bins

[KDSilverBrush]

License plates, dollar store tennis shoes, book covers ( the stretch over the book kind) ring binders, or even the paper binders. You can buy the concrete scalloped trim blocks for gardens, paint them white, and airbrush the last name and the state symbol on them........

[fontgeek]

Good ideas KD, I hadn't thought of anything in that realm!

I was trying to think of things we could airbrush that would have a market, and that wouldn't cost an arm and a leg for us to produce.
My first thought beyond the usual T-shirts and such was for people to do refinishing/painting of bicycle frames and wheels. I figured that with the economy the way it is that more and more people would be getting out their trusty old two wheelers and that more and more parents would look at used bikes as a gift if they weren't too expensive. The rest of the stuff was off the cuff ideas. But I think there is a huge market for us out there.

[don johnson]

some great ideas here thanks guys and gals

come on folks join in and lets hear your ideas

[Neder/Brit]

Hey Font in my Enthusiasm ( yippee I have one that no one has posted ) LOL I worded my post a little bit wrong. I am certainly not trying to entice people to ruin their music history. I myself have a turntable set up in the Dungeon where my work station is and I can remember where and how every scratch came from all be it Dark Side of the Moon or Motor Head.

[fontgeek]

The binders and book covers are GREAT ideas!

Not a problem Neder, I've seen some great portraits of the musicians done on LP's.

I know what you mean about "knowing" your vinyl, I still have my original Beatles, Doors, Simon and Garfunkel albums (among others).

How about airbrushing some of those collapsable window shades for automobiles? The ones with the wire frame and the nylon cloth covers.

Auto/car seat covers.

Sketchbook covers for the budding or hopefull artists.

[Chief531]

I once saw a beautiful piece of artwork done on a storm door screen of all things. It was a lighthouse from the Great Lakes painted on it.

The customer would have to bring in his screen, of course.

[fontgeek]

Kids wagons
Thermal coffee mugs/cups
Foam soda/beer can insulators
Umbrellas

Take a look at your local discount stores like the 99 cents store, you may be surprised at all the things they sell. Many items are there because people didn't like the style or look, with a little bit of paint you've made a sale!

Now is the time when many thrift stores start pulling out their winter goods. I found some leather jackets, vests/wastecoats, and a variety of hats that would make great a canvas for work. You may find that you can do a deal with shops like this, doing a jacket for them to sell in trade for advertisement or dual marketing for you and your skills.

[fontgeek]

I found aprons for cooks, BBQ chefs, crafts persons, etc., at Walmart. These are 50/50 blends (cotton/polyester), with a couple of pockets up on the chest. They come in a few colors, Black, Red, White, Dark Olive Green, and maybe some other colors too.
These could be painted like you would a T-shirt, with flames, skulls, etc. and lettered with the buyers choice of names and text. They were only a few bucks a piece, so they would be prime deals for selling to your customers, and it's a "one size fit's all" so no issues with having the wrong size stuff.

[fontgeek]

How about doing custom paintjobs on those giant tins of popcorn?

The same for those industrial size containers of nuts, cookies/bisquits, or crackers. They could be painted to be cash jars or piggy banks, or for decorative versions of their original contents.
People just throw those things out as it is, but something done for a season, holiday, or personal interest or theme could bring in some money.

[aiScribbler]

Or...

How about putting a nice little scene on some of granny's fruitcake... sealing it under a high gloss clear? We're talkin' family heirloom to be passed along for generations yet to come!

;
Scrib

[fontgeek]

Scribbler, I take it you mean putting the scene on a tin or container for Granny's fruitcake? I don't know how the fruitcake itself would take the paint much less the glossy clearcoat. LOL

How about those big containers for pet food, doing scenes of our beloved pets that can be used over and over again. As an example, I have two cats (actually, I think they own me). Buy large contaners (20LBS) of kitty litter, and they come in a nice solid container that is air and water tight. I also end up going through a boatload of dry cat food, but it comes in coated paper bags that aren't air or water proof. So using the cleaned kitty litter container for holding and dispensing the catfood made perfect sense, but having it look a little more presentable (and less likely to be confused with new containers of kitty litter) made it much easier to deal with and show.

How about doing cookie or candy/sweets gift containers out of those big coffee cans?

[aiScribbler]

Originally Posted by fontgeek

Scribbler, I take it you mean putting the scene on a tin or container for Granny's fruitcake? I don't know how the fruitcake itself would take the paint much less the glossy clearcoat. LOL

You've obviously never seen my Granny's fruitcake.


Scrib

[fontgeek]

No Scribbler I haven't seen your Granny's fruitcake, and from the sounds of it that's a good thing! 8{)

[redneck]

Originally Posted by fontgeek

No Scribbler I haven't seen your Granny's fruitcake, and from the sounds of it that's a good thing! 8{)

is it true that fruitcake gets better the older they gets ??

[fontgeek]

Originally Posted by redneck

is it true that fruitcake gets better the older they gets ??

Maybe if your dream is to break your teeth!

Fresh well made fruitcake is a delicacy. Creating it is almost an artform in itself.

[fontgeek]

How about custom mouse pads?

[quickchange]

Did not see anyone mention Santa hats or stockings.. Simple quick name or a full scene.

Cue Stick bags (holders), guitar straps and bar trays.

Rug sets for the bathroom.

I love the garden edging stones idea. I may have to give that a go; here everyone is from somewhere else and they are all retired!