Arlin Rivera, a student here at Montclair has recently begun selling keychains that she makes. “I started making keychains for my own backpack and for my friends but people liked them and started asking me about them.” After noticing that many people wanted her keychains and noting that she had a lot of supplies she decided to begin selling them. She thought that this would be a good use of her free time as she is able to make a profit from what she enjoyed doing.

She currently makes keychains and bigger stuffed animals upon request. Arlin also shares that her prices “depend on the size of what I’m making.” Different size plushies take up different amounts of yarn and stuffing. Bigger items will cost more and smaller items will cost less. Additionally, larger items may take longer to produce making them more expensive.

A small keychain is $5, a medium-sized plushie is $10, and a large plushie is $20. ” If someone wants to buy from me they tell me what they want me to make, the size, and color, and taking that into consideration I give them a price,” she says. Her orders are customizable so prices may fluctuate depending on what the buyer prefers.  Making different items may take her different amounts of time, another factor in this is if she is already good at making each item. If people order more of a certain item then she will have more practice making that item and so it may take her less time. “Smaller items usually take me anywhere between 1-2 hours while larger ones typically take me 5-6,” she says. For the amount of time that it takes her to make items her prices are very low but she says that she enjoys making them and it is a better use of her time than just doing nothing.