Monday Motivation #58 | Extra! Extra! Homemaker's Journal is Here!

The Art of Home’s first print publication, Homemaker’s Journal, is making its debut in the world! Today is launch day and I am bursting to tell you all about this project and why I believe it is a valuable addition to your homemaking resource library, providing you with tons of motivation, screen free! 

Join me in today's episode and take a quick tour of the why, what and how of Homemaker's Journal. 

SHOW NOTES

Get your copy of Homemaker's Journal : www.homemakersjournal.com

What's in the first issue?

Celebrate This Season! Tips & Recipes for Spring & Summer Gatherings

From Stranger to Neighbor: Cultivating Community One Holiday at a Time

Sew Brave: Machine Basics for the Timid Beginner

Host with Heart, Not a Hefty Price Tag

A Nature Inspired Home: Carrying the Beauty of Nature Within Our Hearts & Home

Homemaker Culture Ideas for Spring & Summer

Revealing the Father's Heart: What Biblical Celebrations Teach Us About God

The Gift of Small Joys: Celebrating the Everyday at Home

Repeatable Birthday Joy: Simple Traditions, Big Memories

Enough is as Good as A Feast: A Mary Poppins Party Parable

Rooted Celebrations: Experiencing Holidays Deeply as a Christian

Birthday Nostalgia That Whispers of More to Come (original poem)

Angel Food Cake on a Monday: Celebrations & Grief

Small Holidays, Big Impact: Creative Traditions for Busy Families

HJ Companion: Celebration Bunting Sewing Pattern, Go-To Birthday Desserts, Homemaker Chronicles Monthly Record Sheets, Celebration Days Chart

Transcript

Allison 0:01

Happy Monday, homemakers. Welcome to Monday Motivation, brought to you by the Art of Home Podcast, where we are exploring how homemakers cultivate a place to belong. I'm your host, Alison Weeks. I'm a wife, a mom, a granny, and I've been practicing the Art of Home for over 30 years. Thank you so much for joining me for a little Monday motivation today. Every Monday, you can meet me here for homemaking tips, ideas, and encouragement in this short form episode. If you like what you hear today, be sure to check out our long form episodes that come out every Wednesday where we feature stories of homemakers just like you and deep dives into topics related to homemaking. I know I said we'd be wrapping up the spring cleaning series with floors, rugs, and carpets today, but I've put that on hold until next week because today, March 18th, 2026, is a banner day for the Art of Home. Our first print publication, Homemakers Journal, is making its debut in the world. Today is launch day, and I am bursting to tell you all about this project and why I believe it is a valuable addition to your homemaking resource library, providing you with tons of motivation. First, a little bit of why. Why create Homemakers Journal? Many of you know that for the first several years of the Art of Home, I put out a weekly newsletter filled with not just podcast news and updates, but extra resources, articles, beautiful classical artwork, and much more. I so enjoyed putting these together, but the pace of weekly newsletter production on top of weekly podcast production was just not sustainable for me. Also, I felt like these lovely digital mini publications were just languishing in cyberspace once they went out to subscribers. There really wasn't a good way for new listeners to get access to the past newsletters. That felt like a real waste to me, especially for all of the editions that featured guest homemaker writers. I toyed with the idea of sending out a monthly paper newsletter in the mail, but that also was too fast of a turnaround for each edition, and I just don't have the time to print, address, and personally mail hundreds of newsletters each month. I probably could have found a newsletter service to distribute it for me, but that cost money. And if I was going to go that route, I really wanted to create a more substantial resource and keepsake rather than a three or four-page newsletter. Thus, the idea for the magazine was born. Not only would this give me the chance to fuel my love of curating visual content, it would provide you with an analog version of the art of home. I describe Homemaker's Journal as everything you love about the Art of Home that you can hold in your hands. This publication is intended to be an alternative to algorithm-driven sources. Not that social media is the devil, there is some good stuff out there. But I wanted to give you a place to go when you need a little boost of inspiration, motivation, encouragement, or instruction instead of always having to turn to social media where the risk of being sucked into a time warp is a real and present danger. I know this because I do it too. The other reason I wanted to create this journal is to give another platform for homemaker voices. The beauty and the success of the Art of Home podcast lies in the multitude of voices represented here. This is not the Allison show. This podcast exists to elevate the homemakers' individual, unique stories so that all who hear them will be inspired and encouraged in their own homemaking, understanding how valuable and powerful their work in the home can be. My goal with Homemaker's Journal is the same. We need more, not less, homemaker voices in the world. I will talk more about how you can add your voice in a few minutes. So, what is Homemaker's Journal? Well, it's sort of a magazine, but that's not the best word for it. It's made of uncoded paper, so you can write in it. It is the size of a basic school notebook and it has a sturdy, soft cover, so you can toss it in the diaper bag or your purse to read an article while you wait at the doctor's office, or set it next to you in the kitchen as you try out one of its recipes and make your own notes in the margin. It has full color illustrations, photos, and tons of public domain fine art by masters such as Cassat, Monet, Klee, Van Gogh, and many artists you've likely never heard of before. In the magazine, there is an art index so you can learn the titles and creators of each piece of art featured. I've also gathered all of the images into a Google file for you to access and print at home for your own use because these are public domain images. The first issue has 53 pages of ad-free content, including contributions from 13 very talented homemaker writers. You'll find recipes, poetry, and downloadable extras throughout. In every issue of Homemaker's Journal, we will include the following regular sections Homemaker Welcome, covering hospitality, community, and Titus II, Homemaker Skills, Cooking, Cleaning, Sewing, Gardening, and Other Arts. Homemaker Culture covers creativity, literature, music, art, crafts, and devotionals. And then Homemaker's Journal Companion, or HJ Companion for short, is an appendix of additional recipes and project instructions with patterns. The HJ Companion section also includes Homemaker Chronicles, which are four months worth of two-page monthly record sheets with prompts to help you keep track of your homemaking progress, memories, and goals. So for this issue, there are spreads for May, June, July, and August, asking questions such as, what skills did you learn or improve upon this month? What were your favorite meals from this month? What are the highs and the lows? What went well this month? What could you improve on? And then a place to record what you've been reading or favorite quotes, and even more than that. Now, what is special about this first issue? Well, in honor of the Art of Home's fifth birthday this year, our inaugural issue, Spring and Summer 2026, also features articles on all things celebrations. From celebrating the everyday to hosting summer gatherings to navigating holidays and birthdays in the company of grief. There is something here for everyone. Take a look at this episode's show notes for a full list of the articles in the spring and summer issue. How do you get your copy of Homemakers Journal, you may ask? The journal is available in print or digital exclusively on the Art of Home website. Go to homemakersjournal.com or the Artof Home Podcast.com slash shop. Those links will be in the show notes. I have kept the cost as low as I possibly can, and I personally believe you are getting great value for money. The digital version is $10 and is available instantly as a downloadable printable PDF. I do recommend viewing the digital version on a tablet or a laptop or a desktop. It's really not formatted well for viewing on a phone. It's just the print, the font is too small. The print edition is $12 before shipping in tax, which generally runs $6 to $7. So expect to pay about $18 to $20 total for your print edition. I do have a bundle discount. If you buy the print edition, you can get the digital for $1.99 plus tax. A note about shipping. This is not Amazon. It's being printed and fulfilled by an independent print-on-demand publisher out of North Carolina. So it will take a little longer to get to you than Amazon. If you are international, good news. This printer offers local print and shipping in Canada, the UK, France, India, and Australia. So if you live in those countries, you will pay local shipping prices. For all other international listeners, currently I cannot offer shipping for the print version. I'm so sorry, but I'm working on that for future issues. So what is the future of Homemakers Journal? Plans for the second issue are already underway. It will be a fall holiday issue and will go on pre-sale September 1st, and God willing, will launch at the end of September, the beginning of October, just in time for all the fall things and all of the holiday prep. For now, I am planning to produce two issues per year: a spring and summer issue and a fall holiday issue. As for content, I have lots of ideas for expanding the current basic content. I want to include a Titus II advice page where I will ask for submissions from listeners to a specific question or topic and then I will print a selection of them. I hope to include short stories, maybe even a fictional series. I long to have original artwork or illustrations and photography from some of you all who want to contribute. And the more recipes and resources we can add, the better. But I want to hear from you. What would you like to see in future issues of Homemaker's Journal? Send me a text or an email with your ideas. I cannot wait to hear them. If you would like to be part of creating the next homemaker's journal, also send me a text or an email. I'm looking for writers, artists, photographers, and launch team members. Use the link in the episode description to text me or email me your name and what your email is and how you would like to contribute. So there you have it. Some of the why, the what, and the what's next of our brand new publication, Homemakers Journal. You can get your copy right now at homemakersjournal.com. It would also make a great little gift for your favorite homemaker or a brand new homemaker or a young woman who wants to start growing her homemaking skills. Thanks for going on this tour of Homemakers Journal with me today. I hope you love this publication as much as I have loved creating it for you. That's all for this Monday motivation. I will be back on Wednesday with a brand new long form episode and next Monday to wrap up our spring cleaning series. Until then, keep practicing your art of making the home.