A Guide To Launching A Small, Handmade Product Business

 Perhaps you have always had a passion for crafting or making handmade items? Or maybe you have only recently discovered your love of making handmade products? Either way, there’s a lot to think about when it comes to launching a business of your own - making homemade products takes a lot of time, effort and hard work, as does selling them. 

The good news is that if you can get your approach right, you can easily make launching a handmade product-based business a little easier. The truth is that it’s just a case of knowing how you need to approach the situation, that’s all. It can be overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. There are lots of simple steps you can take to make launching a small, handmade business easier and less stressful. 

House Maintenance And Loving Your Home: A Simple Definition

 

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Maintaining your home and giving it some love is a form of valuing yourself. By respecting your home, you create a place of solace and a haven of change.

You make a start on beautifying your home by following some of these simple but effective ideas - from doing a winter garden tidy to annual house maintenance, that can make all of the difference.

House Maintenance Checklist

Maintaining your home means doing all the little things that make your house a place that you can live the life of your dreams. Keeping on top of your house maintenance will not only save you time and money.

Your home is your castle and the most significant investment you will ever make, so taking care of your assets is essential.

Breaking your jobs into seasonal projects can help you not feel too overwhelmed and focus on getting all your tasks completed quickly and efficiently.

So, let’s take a look at how this could look at your seasonal maintenance plan:

Autumn/Fall

This is the time of year to get your home winter ready, before the bad weather sets in and keeps you cosy in front of the fire.

Bleed your radiators and make sure your heating is working effectively.

Once the leaves have finished falling from the trees, clear your gutters again, to prevent any damp issues.

Review your home insurance and make any changes.

Insulate any external pipes and taps inside and out, to prevent them from bursting during the winter.

Make sure external security lights are working well.

Winter

Keep up to date with your home maintenance during the winter.

Check fences are stable and secure to prevent any damage during storms. 

Trim trees and shrubs and cover any delicate plants to protect them from harsh frosts.

Tie-down, any garden furniture and outdoor items, to prevent any damage in storms and snow.

Spring

Check your roof for any seasonal wear and tear, and remove any moss and plant life. Check chimney stacks are stable and repoint any loose mortar.

Take some time for gutter cleaning to keep these clear and free of leaves and moss, which can help make sure water does not seep into your walls and cause any damage.

Summer

As the weather improves in the summer months, you could give your garden furniture clean and polish.

Jet wash decking and patios, make sure that surfaces are not left slippery.

Wash summer bedding, like duvets and pillows you can airdry in the sun.

Check your boiler is serviced well maintained, as you’ll have your heating off.

Check seals around your bathroom and do some deep cleaning of your bathroom.

Do a deep clean of all your rooms and open windows and doors, getting a good air circulation around your home.

Here is a shortlist of monthly jobs to help your work through the year lighter:

• Check your boiler pressure and heating.

• Remove fluff from tumble driers.

• Test smoke alarms and replace batteries.

Finally, repair as you go along.

Affordable Planner Option: Office Depot Stellar Notebook Planner with Slash Pockets

 

I've tried a lot of different systems for life and work planning, including Passion Planner, bullet journaling, Panda Planner, the Ashley Shelly planner, DayTimer pages, DayRunner pages with a briefcase-sized carrier system they came in, and more. No, I have not tried Erin Condren. 

I've tried a lot of different systems for homeschool planning, too, including A Simple Plan, The Well-Planned Day, and a cheap homeschooling lesson plan book.

Ultimately, I've ended up with the simplest and cheapest of systems since my ADHD causes me to rebel against any system I try to set up anyway. Turns out the simpler the better when it comes to planners for me. I use a spiral notebook for keeping track of homeschooling and a fancy spiral notebook for keeping track of my life (errands, chores, appointments like dentist, doctor, appliance repair, etc.). Here are some photos:

What I love about this simple Office Depot Stellar Notebook Planner are these things:

(1) It's affordable.

(2) It has slash pockets! These are pockets that are cut at the diagonal in a divider page so things are held in better. This is where backup goes, such as bills that need immediate attention, invitations for things that are coming up, etc.

(3) It's light and portable.

(4) It's customizable! Usually I'll write times of the day down the left page of the spiral and to do items on the right side, as well as any notes (like what vitamins I took). I could probably also use this as a homeschool tracker if we had a light day.

Here are photos of a very bare day. The first photo is of a rough schedule on the left of the spiral. The second photo is of to-do items and an attempt at keeping track of both homeschooling and business daily items.

I'd love to hear about your favorite planner and how you keep yourself consistent in using it!

What Are You Saving Money For?

 

Photo by Jonathan Borba from Pexels

It's hard to believe we have been in our new house just over three years. 

When we moved in, the windows and doors were in pretty good shape (missing a few screens here and there on the top floor), but now it's time to start saving in earnest for new windows on the top floor only. The bottom level of our ranch-style house was already finished and done up to the nines. The top is stuck in 1992, which is fine if you don't mind hot air leaking out in the winter and cool air leaking out in the summer. I'm all about a lower electric bill (also dreaming of solar panels someday!).

I've heard that since the 2020 pandemic began, places like Home Depot and Lowe's have been bombarded with business. People are staying home, seeing all that's wrong with their home, and ready to roll on their home improvement projects!

So I'm saving money for new windows and travel, as well as dental work (always) and braces for two more of my kids. What are you saving money for?

Check out this post if you are wondering how I'm going to make or save money. Also, you can check out my blog, The Published Parent, to find out how I make money from home!

Here are some more money posts!

Want to Make More Money?

How to Save Money on Groceries

How Big Families Can Save Big Money

How to Teach Teens About Smart Money Moves

How to Get the Most From Your Household Budget

Simple Ways to Save Money on Baby Gear

Gift Guide: Universal Yums Subscription Box

 

Universal Yums makes a fantastic gift!

Do you worry that your grandchildren are not learning enough about the world in school? Is it hard to find a snack that's interesting and fun? Are you unable to board an airplane flight to anywhere in the world? Are you concerned because your kids seem to be sitting around the house staring at the ceiling tiles, bored out of their minds? 

Universal Yums can solve all of those problems! (and, yes, if you click on the link, we each get a special deal) 

Back in May 2020, I bit the bullet, plunked down 39 bucks, and got a massive box of snacks from United Kingdom (June 2020 Universal Yums box) for my family to sample. Here are some photos of the snacks we received. (FYI: you can pause anytime you like and restart your subscription box, change the size, etc.)

I apologize for some of the sideways photos!

Interesting!

LOVED these!

The Yum Scoreboard helps you keep track of your favorite snacks!

I'm going to order the Germany box for my dad and mom when it comes around because they lived there for a while (it's where I was born, in fact) and might think that's a pretty cool gift to get in the mail. Also, if there's ever a Kuwait, Dubai, or Middle East gift box, we gotta have it since my husband travels there quite a bit for work and it would be fun for the kids to sample some snacks from that region of the world.

What country or region would you like to try snacks from?