How many people in the USA are active in making handmade products?

[WB3]

According to a 2011 Craft & Hobby Association report, more than half of U.S. households take part in at least one crafting activity, whether it’s canning, sewing baby booties from scraps of felt, hewing cutting boards from slabs of maple, or fashioning coffee mugs from clay. Americans spend more than $29 billion a year on crafting—a figure that has remained pretty stable in spite of the wobbly economy.

“People are creating personalized things rather than going out and spending money on the same items,” says Keri Cunningham, the association’s director of marketing. “When life is crazy, it’s good to take time to slow down and relax a little.”

Crafts became a pastime rather than a necessity in the U.S. after the industrial revolution, when most people no longer needed to make everything they used in their daily lives. The movement, called studio craft, crystallized after the manufacturing boom that powered World War II. GIs returning from the front lines began tinkering in their free time, and colleges started offering courses in ceramics, glass, and metal art. Then, in the 1960s, “hippie” culture embraced crafts like macramé, pottery making, and weaving. Interest waned with the rise of big-box stores, but it has surged again in recent years as people have sought to slow down the pace of modern life.

[PBGuru]

I need to research how big this market is. My feeling is that 10% of the adult population are either active or interested in making and selling their handmade products.

AmericanHands.org will be a non-profit association of American Artisans and will assist with design, development, marketing, sales and distribution of handmade products.

This could open up work at home options for many at-home mom's and dad's as well as veterans, handicapped workers and people who prefer the work-at-home lifestyle.