In the current day, side hustles have become something of a necessity. Not only do they provide some extra cash but they also provide a fun activity outside of work. You can also add most creative side hustles to your CV which is great for career development. Personally, trying side hustles also improved my mental health by giving me a goal to work towards alongside university.

However, having a side hustle which you genuinely enjoy will help you keep at it long enough to see results. For me, this meant cosy and creative side hustles which best matched my personality and lifestyle. Here I’ll share some of these creative ideas and how you can get started on them yourself!

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What are Creative Side Hustles?

Side Hustles are low cost activities to help earn some extra cash alongside your studies or day job. Creative side hustles, by comparison, are ones which pull on your creative skills or talents to earn a little extra money, but this can be done in a variety of ways. This guide will give you just a few ideas on things you could do to start earning a little bit extra.

Selling Dried Flower Confetti

If you are passionate about gardening and flowers then this may be one of the perfect creative side hustles to try. You can create quite a few batches of flower confetti with just a few plants. For example, a mature lavender bush could provide a huge amount of lavender in a single harvest and regrow the stems in just a few months. So, you could harvest and dry a variety of flowers to sell as flower confetti for weddings or other occasions.

Making the flower confetti

I’ve already made a guide to drying flowers in my Lavender Sachet Craft Guide. Both the methods described will work for most flowers.

When starting your business, you may wish to use the hanging method first, since it requires no start-up costs, allowing you to garner good reviews before fully investing into the business.

There are several flowers you can dry using these methods which may be planted in your garden already. Some examples include: jasmine, rose, baby’s breath (gypsophila), and hydrangeas.

However, for hydrangeas, it is best to harvest and dry them slightly different from the other flowers due to their size and colouring. Try and harvest them before their colour has fully developed as extra colours will bloom once they start to dry.

Once this is done, place the flowers in sachet bags and sell them on online stores such as Etsy. Another good thing is that dried flowers don’t expire unless reintroduced to moisture. This means you can keep them on your shop for a while after making them. However, they do lose their fragrance around 6 months after drying.

If you end up drying too many flowers and can’t sell them all, there are other uses. For example, the previously mentioned Lavender Scent Sachet Guide can show you how to use the flowers to help your home smell nice.

This side hustle might be less profitable as the market is saturated. However, you may be able to create a niche in the types of flowers you use. Despite the potential money, this will also help develop useful skills in managing an online business.

Becoming a Pet sitter

This is the perfect creative side hustle for someone who prefers cosy nights in and loves animals. Pet sitting is already in demand, and is still rising. Many people hire pet sitters for a night out to avoid their pets feeling lonely and to make sure they’re fed.

So, if you have experience taking care of animals then maybe you should try this out! An easy way to get into this is through checking out your local areas Facebook groups for pet sitting requests. You can also put out your own posts advertising your service. However, always be sure to check the authenticity of all requests for safety.

One thing with this side hustle is that it is time consuming. You could be asked to pet sit for a full day or evening, which can be boring if pet only requires company and feeding. Luckily, most clients will let you bring things with you to keep you occupied. This means you can get on with other creative activities in the down times.

Be sure to pay attention to and care for the animal you’re looking after. Owners notice if their pets aren’t being properly cared for and you won’t get good reviews. Also, you should want to hang out with the animals! There’s no point in taking these jobs if you don’t enjoy it, after all these are meant to be side hustles which suit you.

Furniture Thrifting

This is less often seen but if you have the skills and tools needed, you can make a decent amount of money from this.

For this, you could take furniture from charity shops which is more beaten down and redo the varnishing to make it look new. Then, you can sell it online for a profit.

This side hustle does require a bit more expertise, but not so much that the skills are unlearnable. There are lots of ways to improve a piece without experience, like changing handles or using wood paint and stencils.

For a more creative spin on this side hustle, you could add designs and colours to the furniture rather than simply repairing it. This may be more lucrative, as the piece becomes unique and thus may be worth more. This is also potentially more fun for you as changing the design allows for more creative freedom and control.

However, this also comes with a layer of risk, as the more of your personal style you incorporate into the furniture, the smaller the audience wanting to buy your furniture becomes. That being said, selling online increases your audience, so it’s more likely to find someone who likes your style and is willing to pay good money for it.

Wanting to get started? Here’s a Beginners Guide to Flipping Furniture from ‘Mama Needs A Project’ to help you get started.

Selling your Photos Online

Whilst this is quite a common side hustle, people don’t appreciate just how easy and cosy it can be. Think of it this way, you get to do the things you love, and sell photos of it! The brilliance of stick photos is that the more specific the photo is, the more useful it will be to the right person. So you can simply photograph the specific activities you do and upload them onto a site like Shutterstock to start passively selling.

Another great thing about this particular side hustle is that it doesn’t have any starting fees. You don’t need a professional camera since most phone cameras can produce high enough quality for most peoples needs. So, just take your phone with you to all the cool places you go and things you do and start snapping away!

Become a Proof-reader

Love to read? Perfect! Proof reading lets you do what you enjoy, expand your reading tastes, and earn a little extra money. You’ll also probably have an advantage in this since being a reader often gives you an eye for writing styles and an ability to read quickly.

A proof-readers job can vary depending on the piece. An article may simple require grammar checks, spelling checks and source checking whilst a full-length novel may need a strong comprehension of the book world’s mechanics and a deeper understanding on writing style.

Luckily, you won’t be likely to be reading a full-length novel as part of part-time, creative side hustles. Instead, you can use sites like Fiverr to offer your services as a freelancer. These are likely to be smaller, independent pieces like short stories for literary magazines or website articles (like this one!). This is good, it’ll open your reading tastes to different types of writing genres and styles which you might enjoy.

How much to charge?

For charging rates, you are best to start cheap to start getting clients in. Search around your reading level and preferred genres to find industry standard rate for your experience (presumably a beginner). Don’t be disheartened if this seems low, you can increase your rates once you gain experience as a reliable proof-reader. Experienced proof reading can become a full time career, or remain a side hustle depending on your goals.

Creative Side Hustles- Final Notes

Whilst I’ve offered a few specific ideas in this article, you should just take my word that these will be the best options for all creatives. Instead, use these as stepping stones to finding what works for you. You could start an online crafts business, offer a service, try to monetise your skills. Either way the most important aspect of finding creative side hustles is doing something you truly want to do, that way if it doesn’t work out you’ve still learnt something new and had fun doing it.

I hope you try some of these cosy and creative side hustles even just to try something new. It is always fun to try new experiences and a little extra money with it makes everything that much sweeter. If you try some of these, let me know how they go!