Welcome to the Mother Makings Blog – Part II

Part II – How Mother Makings Will Help You

So you just read Part I of Welcome to the Mother Makings Blog and you are thinking, “OK that is great, maybe even awesome, but how will it help me?”

I began my self-directed education in earnest when I had the privilege to stay-at-home with my two young sons though I have been practicing it since birth as we all have. First, let us define self-directed education.

What is Self-Directed Education?

According to the Alliance for Self-Directed Education it is:

“Education that derives from the self-chosen activities and life experiences of the person becoming educated, whether or not those activities were chosen deliberately for the purpose of education.”

They also define education as being: “The sum of everything a person learns that enables that person to live a satisfying and meaningful life.”

In other words, self-directed education is learning which YOU have chosen whether for educational purposes or not. As a stay-at-home-mom my biggest inspiration was and still is my family and our health. These are the reasons I chose to learn all of the things that I did. Of course, the pleasurable part of this learning that I began for Mother Makings is the way that I choose to manifest what I have learned.

Through self-directed education I have learned:

• To be a proficient made-from-scratch cook when I could barely cook before
• To handle my dyshidrotic eczema flare ups
• To handcraft nourishing skin care products from tallow and other organic ingredients
• To design and print my own labels and then package my products with them
• To start my own mompreneur business
• To start a blog
• To raise excellent children who know the value of doing-it-yourself (still a work-in-progress)
• To make lots of different crafts with my children (pipe-cleaner people, clay characters, paper crafts etc…)
• To play Vanilla Minecraft, to install modifications of the game as well as how to play multiplayer so that my boys and I can play together (Yes, this is educational!)

How Will Mother Makings Help You?

Self-directed education is the core inspiration of Mother Makings. Before I started this journey I had no idea how any of this stuff was done. Through self-directed learning, I was able to learn these things and my hope is that through my stories, recipes and tips about my journey that YOU too will be inspired to Do-It-Yourself and perhaps to become a Mompreneur of your own sustainable and eco-friendly business.

The Mother Makings Blog will consist of:

• Useful DIY Recipes
• Easy Nourishing Food Recipes
• Mompreneur Stories and Tips

DIY Recipes

Do-It-Yourself recipes are the most common way to practice self-directed education. They are how I learned to do everything  for Mother Makings. Some DIY recipes that I learned, tweaked or created are:

• Tallow Balm and Tallow Lip Balms
• Liquid Hand Soap
• Fruit and Veggie Wash
• Baby / Wet Wipes
• All-Purpose Cleaning Spray with essential oils – works for granite too!
• Padded Envelopes made from upcycled newspaper and old labels
• Envelopes

These are all things that many buy that we can make ourselves!

Easy Nourishing Food Recipes

As a full-time mother and wife my main job is to care for my children and husband, and to nourish them. I never learned to cook proficiently when I was young. It wasn’t until I was home with my two precocious, high-energy boys that I really had to ramp up my cooking skills.

As I was searching for the best recipes with which to feed my family, I discovered Nourishing Traditions, a cookbook by Sally Fallon and Dr. Mary Enig, which was based on the research of Dr. Weston A. Price. Most of the blogs I follow offer nourishing food recipes based on this research as well. If mothers and those who mother cannot first nourish ourselves and our families then we will not get very far. Good food is paramount  and I want to offer easy recipes that are achievable and nourishing even for mothers who work outside the home.

Mompreneur Stories and Tips for Creating a Sustainable Small Business

I love being a Mompreneur and I love sharing what I know even more.

Recently, a new associate was admiring how organized I was for a local tailgate market. I realized that though I may not feel like a “professional” or “expert” there are things that I do very well and can show others how to do so.

My superpower is my ability and drive to realize that I do not have to settle for what is offered. I look-it-up and do it for myself and I want to share this with you!

I plan to share:

• Tips on how to start a mompreneur business
• Stories about other mompreneurs from their own mouths
• Ideas on how to craft your business so that it is more eco-friendly, sustainable and connects communities
• Ideas for turning artisanal handcrafted products into a business
• Encouragement for mothers who want to provide for their families
• Resources for mompreneurs

Why Mompreneurs?

I am a Mother who is an Entrepreneur and Mother will always win if there is a serious contest between the two. As a mompreneur, I know that it is very hard to start a business with children underfoot but Mother Makings saved my life.

I have made mistakes in the crafting of my business but it is still here and growing. Just because I am speaking to mompreneurs does not mean that this is only for them. All people can mother and be an entrepreneur. The key is finding your own path. Some do not have the time or gumption to find it. I want to share a lot of ideas for you that I hope will help you to find your key.

Mother Makings will help YOU…

Mother Makings will help you through DIY recipes that empower you and help you to save money.

Mother Makings will help you by offering easy nourishing food recipes so that you can nourish yourself and your family.

Mother Makings will show you ways to become a Mompreneur by sharing stories, tips and resources

I am so excited to share the Mother Makings Blog with you! I hope you will join me!

Please feel free to say hello in the comments below and answer these questions:

• How did you find the Mother Makings Blog?
• Where are you in the world?
• What are you most interested in reading more about?