More and more Americans are getting crafty

LAS VEGAS — Just how big is the craft industry?

Consider a few statistics:

• Last year 75 percent of all American households had at least one person who had ever crafted, and 58 percent had someone who had participated in crafts during the past year.

• Those crafting consumers spent a record $30.6 billion on their projects.

Those figures represent a $3.2 billion increase over 2002 and an average 3.8 percent per year growth since 2002, according to Larry Anderson, vice president of analytics for Ipsos-Insight, a marketing research company that has just completed a comprehensive survey of the crafting community. Results of the survey were released at the Craft & Hobby Association convention held in Las Vegas last week.

"Not many other industries stack up to that," said Sandy Ghezzi, CHA's vice president for marketing, member services and education. "It's an enormous figure and represents growth in many areas."

Many credit scrapbooking with driving the booming numbers. And there's no doubt that it has seen tremendous growth in the past few years. But, surprisingly, it is not the No. 1 craft, said Anderson. In terms of participation, cross-stitch/embroidery and crocheting both still outrank it, with participation by 30 percent and 25 percent of crafting households respectively. Scrapbooking comes in third, with a 24 percent participation rate.

But, added Anderson, scrapbooking is among the fastest-growing crafts, so it could easily take over the top spot. "Everyone wonders if it has peaked, but we don't see it hitting any type of top yet."

The survey divided crafters into four super categories. General crafts, which includes scrapbooking and paper crafts, as well as such things as beading, cake decorating, jewelry-making, candle-making, doll-making, leather crafts, macrame and others, account for a 40-percent slice of the pie. Needle and sewing crafts come in at 25 percent; painting and finishing crafts at 24 percent; and floral crafts at 11 percent.

General crafters spend an average of $26 per project or an average of $272 per year. Needle and sewing crafters spend an average of $23 per project ($202 per year); painters and finishers spend, on average, $34 per project ($215 per year); and floral enthusiasts an average of $29 per project ($157 per year).

But within those categories, there is a lot of crossover as well as a lot of individuality. If you craft, you can see how you compare to the averages, said Anderson.