I know it may seem a little late to be posting goals for the new year, but these have been swirling in my head since the end of January and I think they are finally ready to be listed and documented. Not to mention by publishing them I can hold myself accountable and keep myself on track for the year.

Finally get my Tax/ Incorporation in order. Aka, am I a sole proprietor or LLC? I meet with my uncle who does taxes for a living to figure this out next week. :)
Commit to at least one show/fair/market per month. Obviously I missed the first three months this year but so far I'm on track to start in April with the Merchant's Landing Show April 12 & 13.

May - Downtown Toledo Farmer's Market? This is when I premiered my soap savers with Lori last year. I've been thinking about hosting my own booth once a month at the Market but haven't made any progress on this yet. I'm also considering the Perrysburg Farmer's Market.
June, July, August, Sept - Art Walks
Oct ?
Nov - Make It Indie
Dec - ? I know a lot of people have Christmas craft shows; I just need to find one that feels like a good fit. Feel free to post suggestions in the comments below.

Post to this blog once a week. If more is happening that's worth posting about, I'll be sure to post it as well, though it may be less wordy. Who is ok with just a picture post once in a while?
Get my wares into a physical brick & mortar store. More to come on this once things are settled. I'm currently talking with two different shops and it just makes me super excited for new possibilities!

I've also started reading this great book that has some nice exercises (I'm not usually a fan of "exercises" in a book) that really spoke to me after I met my goal of doing 1-3 physical shows in 2013. I felt so empowered and excited I couldn't wait to make more goals for this year & feel an even bigger empowerment at the end of this year. Thus my mind has really started opening to the possibilities because of this book & it has really inspired some energy in me for this year's success.

So far my favorite passage is on goals & goal setting (thus inspiring this organized post instead of just a note to self on a scrap piece of paper):

Goals are really amazing things. They give you focus and set your course. [...] Goals support Intentions. By actively working on these goals, the end result will be accomplished. You can use your intentions to make sure you keep your business on track. [...] Your goals should be your friends; they should excite you, and you should look forward to working toward them. Goals are not chores.

Exercise: Make a list of all the goals you've had since you decided to be a creative business owner. Now circle all the goals that you've already accomplished.

Quote from Jolie Guillebeau: "Take small steps consistently. Do something every single day to make a little progress toward your goal."

Grow Your Handmade Business - Kari Chapin

Anyone read anything inspiring lately?

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I've never been that excited for Christmas the last couple of years because it's always snuck up on me and I was always too busy to really get prepared for the holiday. I didn't have time to decorate or go shopping for all my loved ones & made me irritated for holiday season (which I hated, and made me even more upset). And then working in retail where Christmas comes before Halloween, I *really* hated the holiday season.

So imagine my surprise when I find myself starting to think about what I want to bake for Christmas Eve dinner at my grandfather's house. Or how I want to decorate the mantel (because we have a house now!). Maybe it's a combination of our first Christmas married, and our first Christmas in our new house & my not working in retail anymore. I even find myself thinking about Christmas decorating and it's not even Thanksgiving yet! Yikes! I used to hate when people would do that before Thanksgiving and now I'm one of them! haha.

So in the spirit of preparing & getting excited for the holidays this year, I thought it'd be fun to dream a little about what a homemade Christmas would look like in our new home this year.

This year I want to focus on making some Garlands...

The paper garlands would be fun projects to do when babysitting.

lots of Ornaments...
(both made by my husband and I if we can organize an afternoon to do some crafting :) and I'm sure the kids I babysit would love to make some ornaments with me)

Painted ornaments (Local Craftstores have these ornaments kits)

Can you believe these are crocheted?
Where do I find a pattern to do this. These make awesome Christmas gifts, too.

Ornaments made from origami.
Now I have another reason to hang out with my dad.

I don't know how I could replicate these, but I just
LOVE the colors! If I went with tradition ornaments, this is what I'd get.

Wreaths...

This would go well with that silver tree skirt (below).

My favorite, traditional & simple wreath.

Stockings...
(I've been wanting to knit our own but with all the gifts I still have to make, I doubt I'll have enough time to get them completed for this Christmas. Maybe next year)