Items to sell to HS students?

[jingles96]

I'm researching the feasability of selling crochet items at a local store that markets spirit wear & items to the local high schools. The owner is open to working with me - she's given me school colors, initials and mascots. She wants me to work up some finished product and bring them in starting on consignment.

I'll be working up some ipod "socks", but I was wondering what other smallish items would be a good target for this audience. Cheerleaders are obviously a large percentage of this target market. Any ideas? I'd really appreciate it! :manyheart

[threeolivemartini]

beanies.. i know my niece loves a nice beanie as do most high schoolers.. and some little stocking caps and maybe some striped scarves if you are so inclined..

maybe even laptop cases.. i know lots of high school kids have those now..

[jingles96]

beanies.. i know my niece loves a nice beanie as do most high schoolers.. and some little stocking caps and maybe some striped scarves if you are so inclined..

maybe even laptop cases.. i know lots of high school kids have those now..

Beanies are a great idea! The scarfs .... well, it's still in the mid-90's during the day here, so I'll wait on those for a couple of months.

I'll have to investigate laptop cases. Thanks for the great ideas Elizabeth! :hug

[aliciasjoy]

Are cell phones and ipods the same size? No, I don't have either one. If not, you could make cell phone pouches.
Maybe flower pins, for purses or hats? Well, I sure feel old and unhip.
Or when it gets colder, wrist warmers, or even just wrist bands. I *know* I've seen the youngsters wearing them!

[Obsessed]

Cheerleaders usually decorate their pony tails with school colors. Maybe take fun fur and make some scrunchies in school colors. Hold two colors together so it looks more flashy. Also, you could make barettes with fun fur.

You can take some pens and decorate them, again with fun fur. Take a small plastic plyable wire. Crochet around it like a scrunchie. Bend it into a U and adhere it to the top of a pen. Wrap the wire around the pen and glue down some ribbon and wrap the pen (not all the way down so you can still put the cap on.

Make little pouches for lunch money. (like a change purse) Most highschoolers don't carry wallets.

along with the ipod sock, make cell phone holders.

scarves, hats, gloves, socks, wrist warmers, ear-warmers (not earmuffs-almost like a thick headband)

I hope this helps.

[threeolivemartini]

well, it's still in the mid-90's during the day here,


but fall is quickly approaching.. and i am sure they will have FOOTBALL on their minds soon enough ..

so scarves would be perfect for that !!

[natalie058]

I think some fulled flower pins in school colors would be tres chic... I know I'd buy some. :blush

[Burgandy]

Jingles,
You are in a place where football IS a religion so why not run with it. How about little footballs? YOu could do them in the school colors and put initials on them. Also cheerleaders seem to go for scrunchies.

[jingles96]

Or when it gets colder, wrist warmers, or even just wrist bands. I *know* I've seen the youngsters wearing them!

Wrist bands are a good idea. I like it. I'll have to play around with this idea. Thanks!


How about little footballs? YOu could do them in the school colors and put initials on them.

Great idea! Thanks!


I think some fulled flower pins in school colors would be tres chic... I know I'd buy some.

I didn't thinks flower pins would be so hot. But I'll put together a few and we'll see how they fly. :)

Finally - obsessed and Burgandy - I don't know why I didn't think of scrunchies. That is a perfect cheerleader item!

Thanks for all the great ideas! I'm off to my meager yarn stash to see what I can use up before going out and buying some yarn.

Thanks so much! :D

[jenuine226]

How about some of those fun fur flip flops everyone's been making? :hook

And when the weather gets cooler, maybe those cut-off mittens where you can take the top off and reattach with velcro? (Did that even make any sense? :lol )

[CraftyShannon]

I was going to suggest scrunchies. I think the hats would be a good idea. I saw a site recently that had patterns for sports related hats. I think they were for a charity site, but if I can find them again, I'll post the link and you could see if you could adapt something like that in your own design.

For school stuff, I'd suggest making things in school colors as suggested, but also trying to incorporate the sports in there somehow. I remember at least when I was in school, the cheerleaders wanted people to know which sport(s) they cheered for and had a football or basketball on things too.

I think any kind of case would be good. Even just a simple pouch for girls to carry their makeup in and then maybe using a cute football or basketball button for the closure. Maybe even make some mini purses. I also like the idea of the mittens or gloves. It may be a too warm for them now, but if you are catering to cheerleaders, remember it gets colder at night, and football is played outside. At least when I was in high school, there were limited on what cheerleaders and band members were allowed to wear outside of their uniforms, but if they need to keep warm, they are allowed to wear school colors. Then again, like someone said, you're in a place where football is popular, so you shouldn't *just* think of cheerleaders. Regular students who go to the games or moms will also buy this stuff.

Basically, I think anything bright, cute, and cheap would sell well.

[CraftyShannon]

Oh, I looked and found the site with the sports hats I mentioned: http://www.headhuggers.org/patterns/cpatt10.htm

[mc_crochets]

When you go to thinking of fans and moms, you could even get into doing staduim blankets.....thick throws...shawls...ect. moms will go out in the worst weather to watch their children ;) that would also be a great way to build up a custom order business!

[Raggedyann1987]

Scrunchies for the cheerleaders are a good thing. I also made them for the girl's softball team for my daughter's school. The ponchos in school colors go well too for the girls... The beenie hats are a good item for boys or girls.....you know the ones that come either right above the ears or just over the very tops of them.

That is just some things I can think of off the top of my head. Hope they help.

Helena (TN)

[jingles96]

I started composing a lengthy reply to the new messages earlier, but my laptop overheated and shut off. :angry

Anyway, thank you so much for all the ideas! And thank you CraftyShannon for the sports hats link. What a great idea!

I went to the Woolie Ewe (http://www.woolieewe.com/default.asp)here in Plano yesterday (such a cool store!!), and picked up nine skeins of yarn (eight from the clearance rack at 50% off!) in local school colors. I'm going to start off with a sampling of ipod socks, beanies, scrunchies, and flower/football pins. If those are received well, I'll make more! And I'll add to the list with scarfs, wrist warmers/bands, and possibly some blankets (thanks RaggedyAnn!). I think I would do a sample blanket and then the rest of those on commission.

You all are such a great encouragement and inspiration! I love it. And I love this board! :manyheart Thanks!

Oh, I looked and found the site with the sports hats I mentioned: http://www.headhuggers.org/patterns/cpatt10.htm

[Burgandy]

Jingles when you are done don't forget, we love pics! Post lots of pics!! :D

[emeraldmoon]

scrunchies, beanies, scarfs(the thin ones are popular right now, even in the hot weather), fingerless gloves, small purse,watchbands.

[NurseFrawg]

I wanted to add my :2c . You may want to think about mascots. If you can make some sort of little stuffed toy that resembles the school mascot. I wasn't into the "traditional" high school sports so I really can't help you there. Good luck in your dventure into the world of high school...
Elizabeth

[jura2908]

if you do thread work you could make chokers. do a dc band with chained ends. you could use of of the school colors for the thread then other for ribbon to weave through it. the chained ends could be the ties. or just do the dc band and the ribbon could tie st the back of the neck. eventually i hope to do a few of these up for my 13 year old.
nadine

[LolitaChase]

I'd say cell phone holders in school colors would be nice. If you knit, the tradition type of two color scarf (think harry potter movies 1&2) would be great to sell if youre in a cold area. beanies are huge sellers, and they're quck to make. teenagers love them, i'd know I'm a teenager.

[jingles96]

Thank you for even more suggestions! I've made up some scrunchies, an ipod sock, and three beanies so far. I'll be whipping more of them up in the next couple of days and then I'll bring them in to the store to see what the response is like.

I tried going to Target for some flip flops I saw there - all kinds of colors and cheap - but it seems in the last week they've put them on clearance and none of the colors I need are there. I'm going to try Hobby Lobby later.

Thanks for the encouragement and ideas! I'll post photos when I have a batch ready to go to the store. :)

[AidanM]

It occurs to me that you could even make these things out of the scraps you have after making the regular ones and market them as "scrap" items. The bohemian touch is very in with some people my age. (HS Senior)

[CraftyShannon]

Do you have a Michael's nearby? The last time I visited mine, they had flip flops in the clearance bin, and I think they were half off. I don't know if I would do too many flip flops this time of year with the warm weather season wrapping up. Some people wear sandals year round, but stores usually don't like to carry what they consider off season iteams. You might want to ask the store owner if she would take them before investing a lot of time and money in them right now.

[jingles96]

Do you have a Michael's nearby? The last time I visited mine, they had flip flops in the clearance bin, and I think they were half off. I don't know if I would do too many flip flops this time of year with the warm weather season wrapping up. Some people wear sandals year round, but stores usually don't like to carry what they consider off season iteams. You might want to ask the store owner if she would take them before investing a lot of time and money in them right now.

I was just going to make up one or two to show as a product idea. Good idea about looking in Michaels. I need to go in there to get some Homespun anyway AND I have a 40% off coupon that's burning a hole. ;)

[NexStitch]

messenger bags

[MissMaggie]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned AJ's wrist bag the pattern is in the free pattern secton.I think it would be a hit with teenagers. How about pencil cases or lunch bags (crochet me has a pattern). Good luck!