Selling Creativity Helps the Craft Industry Grow

CHICAGO (TheStreet) - Kids aren't the only ones who like to play around with arts and crafts. These days, every major holiday--Easter, for example--provides an excuse for creative-minded folks to pull out the glue guns and fabric markers and get to work creating homemade, one-of-a-kind decorations. And all those family projects add up to big business.

The Craft & Hobby Association, a trade group with 3,500 members (many of them small businesses), has found that half of U.S. households create at least one craft project each year. Which means that the seemingly humble craft and hobby industry pulls in about $30 billion annually.

ILoveToCreate.com showcases crafts that the family can do together, like this cake pop stand.

What's especially impressive is that overall spending in the sector has remained fairly steady over the past five years, despite the nationwide slump in consumer spending. Even in a tough retail climate, Michael's, the largest arts-and-crafts chain, expanded from 963 stores in 2007 to 1,064 in 2011.

"Some sectors, like scrapbooking, were negatively impacted when consumer spending dried up," says Victor Domine of the Craft & Hobby Association. "But other sectors, like sewing machine sales, have seen increases, which means there will be a dovetail effect of increased craft sewing, fashion sewing, and home décor sewing projects over the next five years."

There's no question that the Internet has fueled the vogue for handcrafted design. Sites such as Etsy and Pinterest allow creative types to post pictures of pieces they've made or been inspired by, while popular Mommy bloggers share family-friendly craft activities. Such sites are the modern-day equivalent of the quilting bee, a place to socialize and get advice from experts.

The craft industry has also benefitted from the overall trend toward more frugal living. Spending $20 on a fabric-painting kit or jewelry-making supplies is a relatively affordable way to keep the kids busy, just as sewing new curtains or decorative pillows is less expensive than paying for a complete home makeover.