New Year, New Focus

photo credit creativity103

Happy New Year to you all!  I always get so excited for the new year, don’t you?  I see it as a wonderful opportunity to start anew.  I don’t always have great big resolutions like some may, but I still like the feeling of a fresh new year with endless possibilities.

I also see it as a good time to reflect on the past year.  I am so thrilled that I finally have found a good opportunity to create and share.  Two things that I love to do.  I love creating my soaps, lip balms and other new products that will be coming soon.  Do what you love and you never work a day in your life, right? So far so good :)

 I am so thrilled to be sharing my products and my lifestyle experiences with you all.   I don’t see myself as a schooled expert in any field, but actual know-how beats any book smart person in my world.  (book knowledge will always have a pertinent place however, I am just referring to those who only regurgitate knowledge that has been feed to them)  But I worry that our world is headed in a terrible direction.  People without any actual “hands on experience” in taking care of themselves and their families are going to be in dire straights.  But that is a whole other can of worms that I won’t delve into today J

So on a more positive note,  I would like to share with you my more focused direction of my blog.  For the past year I have posted tips, tutorials, family moments, and info on my products.  Mostly all in the healthy/green style of living.  Nothing too in depth, just a few tidbits here and there. 

I want my blog to be more about simple, back to basics living.  I have found if I get too many  ideas running around in my head I tend to shut down.  Ever happen to you? haha!  I am going to have a more laid out plan for the blog, for my whole online life really, to be able to streamline my thoughts and stay sane!

So here are my ideas I have been scratching down on bits of paper lately.

First off, I am going to go by a monthly schedule rather than weekly.  Here is a few things that you can expect to see each month.

• A 101 series.  By that I mean a series of tutorials for the month focusing on one big topic.  For example:  This month will be "Soap Making 101".  I will break down the process of making your own soap into a few blog posts all month long.  (It's already the 4th I should get that up soon huh?)
• Simple Foods Tutorials.  Homecooking at it's most simple.  You will be able to find tutorials on basics cooking that many of us were never taught growing up. Nothing fancy...no Bananas Foster here (although it is really good!)  For example:  Making your own bread, noodles, yogurt, granola bars, ect. 
• Sewing Tutorials.  I will have a 101 series on this as well.  But mostly you will find easy to follow sewing posts.  I will have a main focus of reusing to create new in this section.  Say maybe, turning an old pair of jeans into a purse.  I did that recently, so cute! 
• Simply Clean.  Info on my most studied category!  I will have all posts about natural products, mine and others, to show you and to tell you about my research.   Whether it be soaps and such for the bath or for sanitizing your kitchen counters, I hope to show you how just a few natural ingredients can do it all. 
• Frugal Living.  I love thrift stores, garage sales, or even finding new uses for things in my own home!  We live in a very fragile economy and a more "basics" type lifestyle could help anyone these days.  I am not so much of an expert on budgets, so you won't find much about cash flow here, but more of how to spend less and still have your needs filled. 
• Self Sufficient How To.  I don't claim to know it all about self sufficient living, but I think I have a few things up my sleeve that could help you all.  I would include topics that don't have a place in say the sewing or cooking sections.  Topics like:  canning and preserving foods, gardening, fruit trees, raising animals, butchering chickens/rabbits, cleaning fish ect.  I am learning more all the time so I should be able to have much to share!
• Farm Life.  Posts about my family and our everyday experiences of raising 4 kids and farm life. I realize that most people have never visited a real farm.  No, I'm not talking about a pumpkin patch at Halloween or Christmas tree farm.  A real Midwest farm complete with dirt, mud (which usually contains some kind of animal in it) and sweat.  No charming cute little farm house with a white picket fence, although I do think my house is nice and I would LOVE some white fence!  I like to post how we really live and share some work, fun times and otherwise with you all. 
• Etsy Items.  Last but not least.  I never wanted this blog to be only about promoting my etsy shop and the things I sell.  That is for my facebook page. But I want to share my sales and such on here too.  I also will be highlighting the ingredients in my products and the benefits to your health.  I can have more "in depth" posts here on a blog.  Also will be comparisons to commercial products, like soaps, shampoos, ect.  And what their ingredients are and how they affect you.  No biases, just facts gathered from research.

I have a new look for my product line so I will be changing my banner here to match.  I should have new category labels in my sidebar and at the top soon as well.  Hopefully all will result in a more organized and user friendly blog for you to read. 
So there we have it.  It's not set in stone however, I may tweak it here and there.  I would like to post once or twice a week with an in depth post on these subjects.   I hope you enjoy your time here and find something useful on my blog.  And don't be shy, join right in an give some comments or ask questions!  I always love to read what you are thinking :)

Wishing you all a happy and healthy NEW YEAR!

~Debbie