It is that time of the year again, the time where everyone is predicting what will be
the hottest time of the year, and YOU all love my annual trend rundowns so this one is bigger
and better than ever, trends from all the experts compiled into a one ultimate guide of those trends
that will be the biggest sellers of the year?As always I will break this down by categories and
overall feels, you can navigate from the chapters below as this is going to be a BIG one ?And you
are going to want to know how to use these trends, so you want to stay to the end for
some ideas how you can incorporate these trends into your shop??Lets start with the overall feel
of the year - the zeitgeist of 2023?2023 is going to be bold, bright, in your face, fresh, retro and
hopeful. Etsy finally spotted the major trend I have been talking about for the past couple of
years, I called it the 'rule of opposites' but Etsy got fancy and decided to call it Duality,
this is the thing where we have been spotting there is no middle ground in the trends, Where
we have been having the sleek lines of minimalist at the same time up popped the clutter and natural
materials of cottagecore ?Actually even although Etsy finally spotted the trend it seems to be less
this year, colours are all the way bold with pantene colour of the year as viva magenta
and Etsy having indego and honeycomb, neons, dayglow, and even UV colours are everywhere,
yes to be fair with wednesday addams black and all things gothic are just starting to trend hard
again and taking the dark academia with it to a more Edgar Allen poe
feel?For me the overarching theme of the year is standing out and going against the establishment.
This makes sense as we are at the cusp of the world changing, people want to feel something,
be hopeful and not only are they working from home but more and more are realising they dont have to
work for the 'man' but are breaking out with their own crafty business or side hustle?But this also
comes with the real fear for money, so DIY, make do and mend, perfectly imperfect, handmade gifting
and not changing your whole decor or wardrobe but pops of colour and items added to refresh what you
already have ??Now lets look into those trends that are dropping away ??Many sellers including
my mum have noted a massive decline in Christmas cards in 2022, and eRank shows that although as
expected there is a spike in searches at the end of the year it is significantly smaller
than last year. People are not sending out the hundreds of cards that they used to do years ago,
they still are looking for quality handmade cards for loved ones (the search for handmade
Christmas cards was almost as good in 2022 as in 2021) and people are searching for digital
handmade cards and digital christmas templates for their shops and social media ??Nails are
getting shorter! Over the past few months there has been a steady decline in searches for press
on nails on Etsy and Pinterest is predicting short hair and nails. Nope, I am not cutting my hair!!
??For the bathroom pampering long soaks in the bath are making way for fast energising showers,
infact any beauty products that save time while being a statement are popular, so
many of my friends are loving on eyeshadows with multichrome type pigments where one shadow blends
out to multiple colours rather than spending hours blending ??Open plan living. ?For the longest time
the trend has been large open places in our homes, but for the past few years with people stuck in
their homes more they are looking for a change, especially people working from home want a clear
divide between their working and relaxing space, for those who cant just knock up a quick wall to
follow a trend, things like room dividers and even different textures and colour palettes are being
used to define different areas ???And finally the charcuterie board and fussy tableware is declining
in fashion, dont get me wrong with nearly 50k views in November for charcuterie boards they
still are massively popular, but declining??Oh and before we move on, especially on Etsy we are
seeing massive trends in people searching for the word handmade. They are getting more than
fed up of mass produced items even on Etsy and are specifically adding the word handmade to all sorts
of searches ?This has to be great news to any handmade seller and artist ??Now for the trends.
?Lets start with what is always trending at the start of a year. New Year New You ?Yes of course
it is always finances, self care and budgeting but this year there are some fun up and coming
trends ??The up and coming fitness trend hitting the mainstream is priamal workouts, have you seen
the people crawling about your gym like a bear or a lizard? You might be joining them soon! This is
part callisthenics and a whole load of enjoying moving. With this new trend even if you cant think
of training courses does it not inspire you for some fun new planner exercise designs or fitness
merch? ??And once you have done those workouts we are still loving self care with inspiring scents
and especially snuggly robes. I didnt even realise this fitted into the rule of opposites - but when
you think of it crawling around in the dirt and working out with trees and rocks the pure white
snuggly robes?Activewear is still everyday wear - which I am so glad to hear! ??A new way to pamper
yourself or others is what pinterest is calling the 4th trimester, basically looking after new
parents. Think any kits that can be put together to pamper or help people coping with a newborn,
I know the trendy people are talking about spa items but from visiting my friends with
newborns I am going to say food! I have never seen a human demolish that amount of chocolate before
the baby started crying ??And for budgeting and financial planning the next big trend is
gamification. This is the fun process of breaking up your planning into steps (like anyone creating
planners already will be) but focusing on making those steps include rewards when you get there,
this came from how game developers create games with the rewards of beating big bad guys to unlock
the next cool level or gain some special packs and these rewards give a little dopamine boost
that pushes you on to your next goal. ?Also consider planners are part of your decor,
wall planners that look great and you can enjoy ticking off or adding pins, stickers or magnets,
I just thought the real trend is childhood for grown ups isnt it? Doing big important
adult tasks and getting to put a sticker on the chart, crawling around like animals,
and wait till I come to the colours and clothes ? I want to quickly mention a new to me category
this year and that is digital ?Of course all the colour and styles that are trending for the
year can be very important for those digital creators, especially think of those bright
colours and the colours of the year from Etsy and Pantone - viva magenta, indigo and honeycomb,
either pops of these colours or even a fun pallet with them all together ?But also think when you
are pulling these all together especially for social media templates that so many people are now
using their devices in dark mode so dont forget to show how your templates will look against a
dark background and even consider designing some for dark mode (where available for that platform)
The bright colours look amazing with black?Also as we are seeing physical cards for Christmas
and Birthdays are getting less and less, consider card templates for people to send or tag ??Lets
look at those tentpole events, recurring trends that happen every year ?For Valentines I am still
seeing adorable gnomes everywhere, valentines gnomes came out of nowhere last year in January,
it might be worth a risk again, and pinterest is predicting dates at the museum and aquarium
and cocktails for special couples days ?Mothers day is always huge with almost of
Etsy customers surveyed in a super secret erank survey said they would at least consider buying
from Etsy for mothers day. In the US Mothers day is the 14th May, which sounds like ages away,
but top tip is in the UK mothers day is the 19th March - so if you shipped to the UK then it is
possible to get some sales before your competitors have even thought about it - this could boost you
up in search engines ?And following on of course is Easter?For these spring occasions
the trends are going to be traditional things like flowers, photography and spa days but
with a personalised element and little pops of unexpected bright colours ?And if you are
doing an Easter meal or a mothers day breakfast then tablewears are simple and elegant with much
less clutter than in past years What are the colours of the year?
The word to describe the colours is euphoric, taking that idea of dopamine dressing to all
colour things, bright pops of colours that make you feel great ?These are BRIGHT colours,
still the 90s pallette but with a bit of Y2K ?Galaxies are back but with neon and
glowing elements. Anything iridescent is great too. There seems to be nothing subtle about
this years colours, of course with a black background to make all those brights shout.
Think playful and childhood as well, bright neon graphic prints and simple shapes in these
colours are everywhere ?Of course the colours of the year viva magenta, indigo and honeycomb
all can fit in with these bright pallettes but the do even look great with greens and neutrals
One of the biggest categories is always Decor and this year is no exception with
the law of opposites in full effect there are so many different styles that will still be
in trend ?The cottagecore type feel (even if its not always called that any more) includes
mushrooms still being everywhere, and just now people are looking for a cozy home with lots of
soft furnishings - fringes might not be popular in hair but they are certainly popping up everywhere
in decor, and the perfectly imperfect trend is great news for crafters, people are very
much looking for things that look like they have been made by hand and not reproduced,
and of course things being repaired - wabi sabi was a trend I mentioned in my first ever trend
report and the style of making repairs part of the design is still going strong, people are looking
to repair and upcycle so consider tutorials and materials to help people make do and mend ?The
crustationcore never seemed to get off the ground and now it looks like it is moving to deserts with
more earthy tones and even to volcanos with lava and fiery reds ?And boho 70s style wood and jungle
themes are predicted to be popular - so lots of nature ?But as well as the alternative of the
clean lines of minamalist and mid century modern we are also seeing space age metallic furniture
And as mentioned before clear divides between working, studying and living
spaces might mean different styles in different areas of a open plan room with room dividers
?For childrens decor non gendered and gender neutral colours are popular, so branch out from
pastel blues and pinks and have fun with purples, greens and of course brights and for pets people
are really looking for one of stylish classy furniture and clothes for their pets ??Predictions
for motifs of the year are cherries, citrus fruit - and cabbages! Likely not all at once ??Lets
Look at the top predicted crafts for the year People are still going to be looking at starting
a crafty business or side hustle so anything that can help people with that,
supplies, tutorials or kits could be really popular, remember whatever supplies you have
in your country may be exotic and hard to find for other international crafters ?
Resin is still managing to grow in popularity as it is such a versatile medium and people seem to
be finding new ways to use it every day Sewing is increasing popularity,
not just in decoration like embroidery and cross stitch but in repairing and upcycling - fixing
those clothes with visible decorative stitches ?And everyone is still in love with knitting
and crochet and macrame, snuggly jumpers, cute crochet animals and wall hangings, but people are
also wanting to learn crafts like latch hook and needle punching - and think different uses like
table mats or mixed media wall hangings including macrame elements ??Although cards are declining in
popularity people are still looking for special cards and more labour intensive creation methods
like quilling and origami and also calligraphy are remaining popular ??For Jewellery this year more
is more, big bright and stacked and layered in necklaces, bangles, earrings and rings.
Boho has been a popular keyword on Etsy for years and terms like boho bracelet and boho
earrings spiked on eRank in November 2022 at more than double the searches of 2021??The clothing
category really shows the duality of the years styles the most ?We will start with the dark,
Gothic styles were already trending as an opposite to all the colours but with the amazing success of
the show wednesday all things dark and gothic are gaining popularity, added to that the Dark
Academia trend has been strong for a while and is now moving to more blacks and edgar
allen poe type school style. Expect chunky boots and floaty dresses - and come Halloween expect
many more costumes themed on the addamses In all colour pallettes and genders ruffles
and tulle very feminine clothing is popular, including lace and ruffles and Edwardian styles,
layers and petticoats as dresses - and as a contrast also gender neutral suits with bold
patterns and oversized shapeless silhouettes ??A fun term from pinterest is romcom core - dressing
like stars from your fave romcom, I have no idea And childhood (if you were a child of the 80s or
90s) as trends are graphic prints in the bright colours, massive bows and puffy sleeves. The rave
culture is back so crack out your glow sticks Another trend is outdorsy hiking
clothing - gorpcore - good ole rasins and peanuts, as we are still loving
being outside and taking to the hills And our final category is scents. Again
there is a duality to this ?Fresh and clean - and think of the story behind the scent,
people dont want to just know its clean linen smell but a spring washday in Tuscany
?Orange, lemon, clove and cedarwood remind people that things are clean and hygenic?But
also creeping in with the 90s subcultures and the trend for all things Addams is patchouli and
incense - but give it a subtle fresh twist So how to use trends?
Most people selling their arts and crafts do not want to jump from trend to trend. The
exception are high volume shops and digital sellers, but even then you want to look at
what fits into your themes. If your target customer has for years been into minimalist
then you dont want to be jumping into all the clutter of cottagecore just because it is also
popular. There is room for all styles and if you have found your tribe then stay true to them
But you can use trends to be inspired, perhaps there is room to add a few brighter colours to
your latest ranges, or change up some brown steampunk styles for a little more black
And even more important is to think how are you going to be photographing for your social media.
Pops of the colour of the year or the other items you are photographing your items with, for example
a mid centuary modern bookshelf to display your items or a strip of on trend wallpaper behind
your photographs show potential customers how your items can fit in with their homes
But most important I feel is the fact that so many people are looking for
handmade items so showcasing everything personal about your creation process,
what is special about you the seller, are your kits sustainable, do you craft in an amazing
location, what inspires you? Customers want to know you made something just for them ?