The most wonderful time of the year could be a wonderful time for your wallet as well.
If you're a pro at arts and crafts, the Christmas season opens up opportunities to showcase your talents and develop a lucrative holiday business.
"Christmas is one of the busiest times for me as a graphic designer," said Tonya Wright, an award-winning, Georgia-based creative consultant and owner of Wright Touch Designs. "Creatives who don't capitalize on this time of year are missing out on a lot of freelance projects that make money. I've been in this industry for more than 15 years, and people still appreciate original gifts. In December, I rake in around $1,500-plus from designing and selling digital holiday cards and promotional merchandising."
The following jobs can produce real money and crafty workers can use them to jump start creative careers during the holiday season:
Graphic design
Merging art and technology, seasoned graphic designers can take an idea and bring it to print or digital life for editorial, marketing and advertising projects.
- Holiday How-To: During the holidays, exercise this design skill by creating custom-made Christmas cards and letters that families and friends can use for e-blasts, social media posts and printed keepsakes.
Cake decorating
With steady hands to apply confetti, icing and, at times, out-the-box embellishments onto cakes, pies and pastries, cake decorators give personality to their sweet masterpieces.
- Holiday How-To: Before the holiday season begins, start baking breath-taking winter wonderland-themed desserts worth sharing on social media like Pinterest and Instagram. Not only will you attract followers, but you'll start collecting orders for your extravagant baked goods in time for Christmas and the new year.
Window painting
These artists know how to dress up a storefront by telling a visually engaging window story using paint.
- Holiday How-To: Visit local businesses to see if they have any cool holiday promos or campaigns going on. Then pitch them on how you can artfully illustrate their theme or project to woo Christmas shoppers and passersby.
Lifestyle photographing
Creatives in this category know how to capture ordinary people in natural settings to create memorable images.
- Holiday How-To: Build a relationship with venues and area companies in need of original, festive stock photography. Then contract with them annually to capture local images of scenic events and holiday shoppers.
Seasonal copywriting
If you're skilled at effectively stringing words together that make people want to ring in the new year, consider copywriting throughout the Christmas season.
- Holiday How-To:Collaborate with skilled graphic designers and illustrators to develop authentic, punchy postcards and party fliers that individuals and companies can use to promote events or thank partners, sponsors and colleagues.
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