Jewelry Making Birthday Parties

A jewelry making birthday party for girls age 5 and up is guaranteed to be a big hit.

Most girls are thrilled with the opportunity to make jewelry, and parents appreciate that you're providing both the party favors (the jewelry the girls make to take home) and the party activity (the jewelry-making session).

It's important to gear the jewelry project to the age of the party guests.

Keep projects short and simple for younger children. They get frustrated if it's too difficult, and often are so excited (and sugared-up) at a party that they have a short attention span.

Older girls appreciate a more creative project that allows them to customize their piece and do their own designing.

I stumbled across this profitable home beading party niche a few years ago when I was asked if I could do a jewelry make-and-take craft at a 9-year-old girl's birthday party.

The girl's mom and I decided on gemstone bead bracelets because necklaces would be too expensive, and not everyone has pierced ears for earrings.

So I came to the birthday party with my bead boxes, bead boards for everyone, a tape measure, accuflex beading wire, little sterling silver toggle clasps, velvet pouches for everyone, and a couple of example bracelets.

I couldn't believe what a huge hit it was! The girls absolutely devoured the project and were thrilled to have real pearls and gemstones on their bracelets.

Now I get calls regularly asking me to come do a bracelet birthday bead party for another girl, and every time I do one, more parties get scheduled from it because the girls enjoy it so much.

Jewelry making birthday parties are very easy to do, and they can also earn you a nice profit.

When I do bracelet birthday parties, I charge $15 per girl for parties of 9 or fewer girls, and $14 per girl for parties of 10 or more.

In many localities I'm sure you could charge much more than that. You could also have a minimum fee so you don't lose money at a party that only a couple of guests attend.

I include a small velvet pouch for each girl to store her bracelet in.

For a large group of girls, I have the party mom give me a list of the girls' names and favorite colors, and I put together bead kits ahead of time. For small groups, I bring bead boxes that are organized by bead color so they can choose their own beads.

As you might guess, pink and purple are DEFINITELY the most popular beads every time! Blue/turquoise beads are the next most popular color, followed by light green.

My birthday party beads all cost me $6 or less per 16" strand, and since the girls use only a fraction of that amount of beads, my average net profit is around $12 per girl. (After my other expenses of sterling silver clasps, crimp beads, beading wire, and velvet pouches.)

It usually takes me about an hour to get things ready to go to the birthday beading party, drive there, and set up; about another hour to do the bracelet activity with the girls; and another hour to put everything away, chat, eat a piece of birthday cake, give out bracelet birthday party flyers and business cards, and then drive home.

So for 3 hours total, I usually net anywhere from $70 to $200 and have a lot of fun making jewelry with the girls.

Before I go to a bracelet birthday party, I cut beading wire into 10" pieces and attach each of these pieces to one end of a toggle clasp with a crimp bead, to create a sort of starter bracelet.

Note: 10 inches is way more than most of the girls need, but some older girls do have very large wrists, and I don't want to make anyone feel bad because her size is bigger than anyone else's.

So I give everyone a strand that's the same long length, and there are no hurt feelings. Any excess beading wire gets cut off when we attach the other end of the clasp.

I always bring about 30% extra of these starter bracelets in case there are last minute guests - and also because sometimes other family members want to join the fun and bead a bracelet too!

In fact, at one party the birthday girl's dad made a bracelet for Grandma who wasn't able to attend.

Other things you might do before the party, depending on your planned project:

• Put together kits for the girls to use.
• Gather the velvet pouches (or whatever you use for packaging); any jewelry tools you'll need; bead boards; and any other supplies and put them in a box that's convenient to carry into the party house.
• Make an example piece of the jewelry to show the girls what they'll be making. Also, as you make this sample, be on the lookout for any steps in the project that the girls may need extra help with.

Birthday party activities are a very hot market niche, I've discovered, and I recommend trying it out if it sounds at all interesting to you.

For successful jewelry birthday parties, the keys are to:

• enjoy kids,
• have a sense of fun,
• bring a lot of pink and purple beads (along with other colors), and
• wear comfortable clothes because you'll be sitting on the floor.

While I'm helping the girls make their bracelets at the party, I always tell them they're jewelry designers today, and that they're using real pearls and gems (which they are). I also mention that someday they will pass this bracelet down to their own daughter or granddaughter as a family heirloom.

That helps them feel the significance of the project and makes it more fun.

The girls always want to know how I got into making jewelry.

So I tell them about how doing something I love turned me into an entrepreneur, that I build my own websites, and that I invent my own job for myself every day by following opportunities that come up and thinking creatively about things.

I can tell they're inspired by that, and I'm glad to plant seeds for future entrepreneurs!

To reach this kids' beading party niche, I recommend making a nice flyer (see above), with a few enticing photos of your parties' jewelry projects, a photo of a representative selection of beads/jewelry supplies, a brief party description, and your contact info.

Include a flyer for each birthday party guest to take home (most of the girls who are guests at one of my birthday beading parties want to have their own parties).

Also inquire at your local elementary schools (public and private schools) about including one of your flyers in students' weekly take-home folders. Many schools are happy to do this if you provide the flyer copies.

See more about home jewelry parties.

Other likely places to distribute jewelry making birthday party flyers (with permission) include ballet / dance / gymnastics studios where girls take lessons; soccer / softball games; local bead stores; craft stores; and pottery painting stores.

When the girls have finished making their jewelry, have the party parents take a digital photo of all the girls together, modeling the pieces they just made. For bracelet parties, they usually have the girls stand in a circle with their newly braceleted arms extended to the middle of the circle, hands touching.

Then the birthday girl can print this photo on the thank-you notes she sends to her guests after the party, as a nice memento of the creative fun they had together!