10 Great Tips for Your Jewelry-Making Workshop

This article was written by Jenny Holmer from IRLA. Jenny is a Swedish-born and German-based jewelry designer with vast experience in teaching jewelry-making classes.

1. Offer your first workshop to a group of friends. It will lower the pressure and help you prepare for future classes with audience of people you have never met before.  You will quite likely notice that there are more things to think about next time. What is more, it will give you a better feeling about the number of participants you feel comfortable with.
2. Ask them to do some thinking in advance. Most participants find it hard to decide on the type of jewelry they want to make if you first confront them with the question at the workshop. I always recommend that they think about it in advance: Is it a bracelet that they would like to make, a necklace, or a jewelry set? What should the style and the colors be like? Bring ready pieces from your own jewelry, along with some books for inspiration.
3. Keep the introduction short. My experience shows that the participants are not that receptive to detailed explanations before they start working. Show them only a few basics and elaborate on the tips and tricks during the jewelry-making process.
4. Optimize the tracking of used materials.  Make it easy for everyone to keep track of the materials they have used. It takes too long time to do it yourself, so you might prefer to trust your participants.
5. Use price groups instead of tagging each and every type of beads separately. It makes it easier to adjust or change the prices between workshops, and you can even use different currencies if needed.
6. Make it easy and practical for yourself. I put the beads on a table in the center and give everyone a small box, where they gather the beads they consider using. At the end of the workshop, they calculate the material costs themselves and put back the unused beads.
7. Give each participant a little present. A small gift bag or a nice box to put their handmade piece of jewelry is much appreciated.
8. Offer the possibility to pay via bank transfer.
9. Give the host/hostess a gift or a price reduction based on the number of participants.
10. Take pictures of the workshop’s best creations and note down the total material costs. It is good to show some real examples and prices on your website.

Links:

• Jenny’s website - IRLA Design
• Facebook