With the economy growing worse every day, it’s increasingly common to hear about people not only working a regular full-time job (if they’re lucky enough to still have one) but also looking for home-based businesses they can run in their spare time.

Well, here’s an idea: why not throw a boutique party? You know, like the Avon parties of old, only featuring apparel and accessories instead? It’s surprisingly simple to do, assuming you’ve got a bit of money to invest up front.

1. Plan the date Simply come up with a list of friends who’d likely be interested in attending and pick the date of your party. If your list consists mostly of mommies, go for weekends so they actually have the time to get away from the kids. Then be sure to encourage your invitees to invite their own friends to attend, too.

2. Select your wares: As we all now, the ultimate rule in shopping is to never, ever pay retail. That goes for a boutique party, too. Here’s where providers of wholesale apparel come in: their fashionable merchandise comes in reasonably-priced bundles of 6 containing an assortment of sizes (usually 2 small, 2 medium, and 2 large) for as low as $30.00. That’s $5 out of your pocket for each blouse, but since you’re throwing the party to make money you’d obviously want to mark the price up a bit.

3. Accessorize: Want to expand your appeal? Offer an assortment of wholesale jewelry, too. With attractive, layered-look beaded necklaces going for $12 for a pack of twelve, that’s just a buck a pop out of your pocket which means you can mark them up as much or as little as you like.

4. Lay out a nice spread: Don’t just offer piles of shirts; display them attractively — perhaps paired with accessories — just like you really are running a boutique. Yes, that means you’ll want to have a bathroom or two set aside for those who want to try things on. But don’t limit your spread to stuff for sale, either; these are guests, after all. Put on some music, offer a nice variety of appetizers and beverages, and encourage people to linger and mingle since that will increase the likelihood they’ll buy something.

5. Treat it like a side-business: If you’re smart about it, your opportunity to make money doesn’t stop when the sale is made. Print yourself some business cards and encourage everyone to take a few. Draw up a nifty tag with your phone number and attach it to each item. Do the same with paper shopping bags. You’ll get your name out and, if you’re lucky, you’ll be invited to throw other boutique parties at someone else’s house where they can do the cooking and cleaning while you just rake in the cash.