A year ago I started a new business of making miniatures and displays for the Wee Forest Folk Collectible that I sell. I have been making them for myself for the last 10 years, so decided to try and make a little money off it. A little money is accurate because you don't get paid much for your time. The key is to be able to make a dozen or more at the same time to try and make it worth your time. I list these on ebay and my website and take them to a few Wee Forest Folk events. I may try Etsy if I get the time to set that up. They aren't making me money to live off of, but as I make a nice stockpile of inventory it is a little extra income each month.
Making miniatures is not hard, it just requires looking at things a bit differently. A cone bead in the jewelry department makes an excellent spyglass for the WFF pirate pieces. A tiny wooden bowl can be painted black, add a few nails to the bottom, some red glitter glue inside with some black sand, top it off with a screen and you have a mouse sized barbecue. Cardboard egg cartons can be torn into pieces and glued together to make a cave. The downside to looking at the possibilities an item possesses is that you end up saving a lot of junk! LOL. It's a good thing miniatures are small or the supplies alone would take over my house.