A 17-year-old teenager is making more than $19,000 a month in her personalized sticker business thanks to a craft kit her mom gave her for Christmas.
Kaylan McDonald was given a $191.37 Cricut Joy, a digital drawing, cutting and printing machine, by his mother, Karen Newsham, 49, for Christmas two years ago.
He started printing transfer prints on glassware and acrylic, shared them on Facebook, and started receiving commissions for personalized items.
In early 2024, he was working three hours a day after graduating from college and selling about 200 personalized products a month featuring home-based money transfers.
He quit school to invest in a giant industrial printer and has sold $94,410.31 worth of goods on his TikTok shop and other platforms since July.
McDonald's bestseller this Christmas is the personalized angel wing bauble, last year it was the snow globe tumbler.
The young man, who works 16 hours a day, six days a week, is on track to make $12,7581.50 worth of sales by the end of the financial year.
Mr McDonald, from Lancaster, Lancashire, said: “This is 100 per cent the best Christmas present I've ever received. It's a gift that keeps on giving.”
“I never imagined it would get this far.
“If you had told me last year that something like this would happen, I would have just laughed.
“It started by accident.
“In June, I thought, 'I'll just give it a try,' but things have gotten crazy.
“I'm so busy right now that I hardly get any rest.
“The last few months have gone by so quickly, it feels like it was only two seconds.
“I just invest everything into the business, but it’s great to be able to update my phone or iPad whenever I want or need to.”
Ms Newsham, who works in the hospitality industry, said:
“I was worried and wanted him to continue his education, but he was very unhappy and spent hours traveling in the cold when he wanted to work.
“By June he had a really clear idea of what he wanted to do, so we thought it was worth taking some advice and letting him try it.
“He's always had an entrepreneurial spirit. He's good at sales, dealing with customers and knowing what's trending.
“He's a very hard worker and certainly taught me a lot.”
Caelan said she had a tough time at school and struggled with her mental health, but found solace in arts and crafts.
He purchased a Cricut machine from Hobbycraft for Christmas 2022.
You can design your item, print it, cut it into vinyl, and apply it to a variety of items.
He started posting designs for sale (stickers for flower pots and glasses) on Facebook in July 2023.
By October, he had enough money to buy a better printer and started selling on his TikTok shop in November 2023.
He purchased an additional $5,103.26 UV printer in January 2024 to create larger designs.
McDonald's dropped out of college in June due to a significant increase in sales in 2024.
In November 2024, he invested another $38,274.45 in two more 2-meter wide giant printers, one of which can now print on clothes.
As of early 2024, he was selling about 200 transfers a month and was working three hours a day after college.
Over the past few months, he has worked up to 16 hours a day and sold about 2,500 items a month.
McDonald's sells personal transfers for $1.53, $4.47, and $127.58.
He also sells blank items like glass cans that people can decorate themselves, as well as items that McDonald's has already decorated with his transfer.
“Everything just snowballed,” he said.
“People kept asking for things, and it just kept snowballing.
“That’s crazy.
“I try to take one day off every week, and even on those days I reply to messages and create new designs.
“It's a lot of work, but it's really fun.
“School wasn't the right environment for me.
“I was bullied and the school was going through a lot of changes, and at any given time 90% of the teachers were teaching assistants.
“I didn't pass math, English, science or history, but I'm very successful in business.
“If a school isn't right for you, there are always other options. Don't judge your ability by test results.”
