Teen Craft Ideas

Suitable Crafts for Teenagers

Many successful artisans got their start in their teen or preteen years. My own son taught himself jewelry making and wire-sculpting as a teen.

He made a living at it for ten years before moving on to a new career. He said he finally got tired of living from hand to mouth; but he doesn't regret the time he was able to devote to his art. In addition to the art itself, he learned valuable business and life lessons that continue to serve him well.

Perhaps some day, he'll pick up jewelry making again, at least as a hobby.

Even if a career doesn't develop from teen craft projects, crafts are a great learning experience, fill idle time and result in something tangible to be enjoyed and appreciated by oneself or by others. Some teens even earn their own spending money making and selling crafts.

Here are links to some teen craft ideas.

Beading Party Fun

If you don't know how to bead, find a friend who does and is willing to teach. Then gather a bunch of your friends for a bracelet beading party. Beading is a great teen craft. It costs little and you can let your creativity run free.

Easy Earrings

Whether you want to earn some extra cash or just want (inexpensive!) earrings to match all your outfits, learn how to make your own earrings.

If you're interested in selling jewelry to friends, check out Teenage Jewelry for ideas on how to design jewelry for the teen market.

Leather Tooling

Many kids get their first taste of leather tooling in Cub or Girl Scouts; but that was "kid stuff". Check out some of the neat things you can make from leather. Very few tools and materials are required to start.

Polymer Clay Crafts

Is there anyone who doesn't love to "play" with clay? Polymer clay has a distinct advantage over the modeling clay you used in grade school. It can be cured at low heat in your kitchen oven.

There's practically no limit to what you can make with polymer clay. From beads, to scale models to fanciful figurines, polymer clay is good teen fun.

Wire-Sculpting

Wire sculpting is a relatively easy craft, requiring only bending tools and no harsh chemicals to make real gold and silver jewelry.

Computer Graphics

What teen doesn't enjoy spending hours on the computer? With computer graphics, you can make your own greeting cards, newsletters, flyers or brochures for school events, or enhance and manipulate photos that will delight your friends and family. Computer graphics is definitely a teen craft for today's generation.

Sewing

Easy Sewing Project - Gift Bags

For the teen who wants to learn to sew, gift bags are the perfect starter project.

Intermediate Sewing Project - Fabric Basket

These lovely fabric baskets are lined with plastic and can go in the washing machine. Make them in fabric to coordinate with your bedroom or bathroom décor and use them to gather toiletries, cosmetics or jewelry. In the kitchen and dining room, they make really pretty bread baskets.

Advanced Sewing Project - Tote Bag in Custom-decorated Pouch

This is a tote bag that folds up into a little zippered pouch. You can customize the pouch with your name, your team or school's name or a favorite saying. The tricky part is sewing in the zipper. If you have already worked with zippers, this is a good project for you. If you haven't, perhaps you'd like to learn!

As you can see, our teen craft ideas are really not age specific. Depending on you manual dexterity and level of patience, they are appropriate for all ages.