HOW TO PUT TOGETHER DIY CRAFT KITS

My best tips for creating DIY craft kits and how to package them for shipping

Craft kits are all the rage right now. I know when I started selling DIY craft kits for adults it took a little bit of trial and error for me to get them just right. I wasn’t sure what I should include, what I should leave out, how I should package the craft kits for shipping, and how I should write the instructions.

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If you found this post helpful be sure to check out my post on HOW TO SHIP MASON JARS WITHOUT BREAKING.

Over time I have not just figured out how to package them and what to include in them I have MASTERED it! And I want to share with you what I’ve learned so you can spread some crafty love and ship DIY craft kits too.

There really is no better time than now to send DIY craft kits to loved ones.

It gives people something to do, something to keep their mind off of the craziness of the world, and something to bring them joy!

If you are thinking about gifting someone a DIY craft kit, or maybe you want to start selling them I am here to share with you what I’ve learned over the years. My small business specializes in DIY CRAFT KITS. I can’t even begin to tell you how many I have sold even just this year. It seems like I’ve been making craft kits in my sleep these last few months lol!

But seriously, I have learned so much since the first DIY craft kit I boxed up and shipped out. Now, I have perfected my craft kits, gotten tons of amazing feedback from my customers and can’t wait to share so here I go…

Ps… We just moved and I have yet to find where to put all the things so things are a bit untidy lol! I almost didn’t post pictures/take a video of me showing what I put in my DIY craft kits but then I said to myself ‘Megan! Girl, this is real life, show the mess’ so here I am showing my mess of a crafting space.

1.KEEP IT SIMPLE

The very first thing is to decide what kind of craft you will putting together. Try to keep this simple. Something that seems easy, and may look easy too, but that is actually complex with a ton of steps might leave your recipient feeling frustrated. People love things they can accomplish relatively easily so keep it simple:)!

2. INSTRUCTIONS

Every good craft kit will come with written AND picture instructions. Something that my customers have raved to me about is that my instructions are clear and easy to follow.

My biggest tip for writing DIY craft kit instructions is to write them out like you were writing the instructions for a 6th grader to follow. That is in no way an insult either. If a middle schooler can understand what you are writing then an adult can too.

I know for myself, I don’t like instructions that are super politically correct anyway. I write my craft kit printables just how I would say them if my customer were standing in front of me. I also include pictures and a link where they can find my tutorial online.

3. WHAT TO INCLUDE

Here’s where I struggled a little in the beginning with my DIY craft kits. I wasn’t sure what I should include and what I should leave out.

Do I include every little thing? Brushes? Paints? Sandpaper? All the things? Really this is up to you. For me, I have some craft kits that include everything my customers need and other craft kits that just include the bases (the wood, canvas or any other type of base). I have a good mix of both in my shop and truthfully get the most orders for my hand cut craft blanks that don’t include any supplies.

Here are the absolute musts that you need to include in your DIY craft kits

• CRAFT BASE- this is a must. Examples of the base are: wood, stretch canvas, rocks, basically what your recipient will be crafting on.

• INSTRUCTIONS

Optional items to send in your DIY craft kits

• paint

• brushes

• sandpaper

• glue

• top coat finishes

• tape

• tools

• stencils

• etc.

You will need to decide how easy you want your craft kit to be for your recipient. Since I am in the business of selling DIY craft kits I do offer a variety of kits that range from blanks only to full on everything is included craft kits.

4. PACKAGING

If you aren’t shipping your craft kit then all you’ll need to do is put everything in a pretty bag with some tissue paper. But if you plan to ship your DIY craft kit to someone then you’ll need to do a little more work than that. Here’s how I package my craft kits up for shipping:

-I place all of my base pieces in a clear bag or wrap them in paper if they are too big to fit in the bags I carry.

-Then I place all the other materials in a separate bag and I leave a little air inside the bag, but not too much, so that the bag acts as it’s own cushion. That way the supplies don’t get smashed up during transit.

After everything is in a bag I place them inside a shipping box. I ship all of my packages via USPS and if I’m shipping anything over a pound it gets shipped USPS priority mail. I order all of my boxes in bulk online from the USPS website and have them delivered right to my door. It’s a wonderful thing to take advantage of!

Here are the plastic bags I use. I have never ordered from Ebay before but this was the closest thing I could find to what I use. They are cotton candy bags. Fun fact, my husband and I used to own a cotton candy machine and we would go set up at different locations, flea markets, auctions and things to make ends meet. Boy am I glad those days are behind us! We had thousands of these bags leftover after we hung up the towel on that and my husband had the genius idea to use them for packaging orders!

{So cute my 5th daughter, the furry one, made an appearance this snapshot!}

Most of the time I don’t have any extra space in the shipping box but if I do I will add either bags of air, thin packaging paper, or bubble wrap.

A little tip…if you order a LOT from online businesses like I do you likely have a TON of packaging materials. You can reuse those! I save all of the packaging materials that come in my packages so that I can reuse them for my online orders. There is no need to throw away perfectly good items when you can easily reuse them for their intended purpose:)!

Let me know if you have any questions about putting together a DIY CRAFT KIT in the comments below.