As children, we were always looking for creative ways to make money. One of my brothers collected golf balls from the bottom of a pond and sold them back to the golfers. Another sold candy in school from a hollow book. I ran casino and carnival-style games for my brothers who had money to spend from their paper routes. One summer we collected driftwood, sea shells and other natural items, gluing them together to make artistic items that we sold for a couple dollars each.

Making Old Clothes Into New

Some entrepreneurs are making old clothes into new ones. They start with used shirts and pants that are in good condition, and add ribbons, beads and other decorations. They also dye them or splatter them with bleach to create patterns. The results are sold as artistic creations at craft shows and flea markets,.

Making Walking Sticks

I have done this one myself. I made several types of walking sticks, using trees cut near where I lived. Some had gems inset on top, others had designs wood-burned into them, and most were wrapped with strips of leather for a handgrip. The leather was cut from used leather jackets I bought for a few dollars each at thrift stores. I sold a couple hundred of these one summer, at prices ranging from a few dollars up to over twenty dollars each.

Other people have targeted the high-end of this market, with walking sticks that start at $40 or more each. These typically have more detailed carvings on them. They sell best at art and craft shows.

Sell The Moon

Yes, there actually is a company that sells plots of land on the moon. As I recall, they get about $29 for a small lot. As to whether the titles will hold up in the future... who knows. In any case, customers get a deed they can display on their wall, and a map showing the precise location of their lot. The company has reportedly sold millions of dollars worth of these lots so far.

Some More Creative Ways To Make Money

- Create a mobile "pet photo" business in the back of a van and start charging people for photos of their pets in their home or yard or against the backdrops in your mobile studio.

- Provide "foreclosure tours" for real estate investors, taking them to all the latest foreclosed homes in town that the banks are selling.

- Start a mobile recording studio, and travel from town to town charging people to produce a CD of their singing, which they can buy for a novelty or to send out to agents.

- Build and sell outdoor enclosures for indoor cats (we built our own 8-by-8-by-8 foot one for $110 in materials), which are sometimes called a cattery or catiary.

- Write an article on creative ways to make money and use it to promote a website where you make money off the advertising.