Welcome, Moms & Homemakers!

​Cottagecore is an empowering, take-back-the-reigns lifestyle. Ignore any scoffers claiming Cottagecore is a form of superficial escapism, which will fade into oblivion with the end of Covid 19. Sure, staring at a screen of pretty gardens is escaping real life. But, actually living a Cottagecore lifestyle is about creating a different life - Real, but different.
 
A Cottagecore life starts each day with “once upon a time.” You are the author of a story in an idyllic, handmade setting. Can you control the entire story arc and all of the plot twists? Of course not. However, if you add the principles of Family-Sanctuary Cottagecore living to traditional Cottagecore, the impact of the negative plot twists will be minimized.
 
The Key: Remember that every story that starts with “once upon a time” and ends with a “happily ever after” has a protagonist, who has been thrown into a hot mess of a situation, and must evolve.  Put simply, a Family-Sanctuary-Cottagecore protagonist has evolved to possess great-great grandma's skill set and has also adopted her daily routines. 

If you want to believe that you have limitless potential to create a wholesome home environment, which helps your family to weather the storms of life, you’ve come to the right place. If that thought is a little daunting, you are still in the right place. If you burn every loaf of bread you bake and watch helplessly as your plants turn brown and crumbly, get comfy and keep reading. We believe in you. Cottagecore, as an ethos, is deep down inside of us all aching to emerge. We know that you are meant to succeed.

Our Cottagecore Formula 8 Rules for a Happier Family aren’t the stuff of NY Times or Huffington Post lifestyle articles, but they are what you need to put the “Sanctuary” into Family-Sanctuary Cottagecore living.

​1. Cottagecore is as imperfect as you are! It’s miss-matched, a little worn out, and sometimes, a little burned. It’s also the perfect environment to give yourself a little grace while you improve upon your homemaking skills.
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As a general rule, it’s a great idea to post photos of your burned bread and brown plants to positive, supportive social media forums. It will confirm to the world that you are a genuine human and will probably get you some much needed advice about baking and caring for your plant babies.  

2. You read that right: Cottagecore harnesses rather than shuns social media. Screen time is strategically used to create a community around you of great-great grandma-skilled individuals. It also is a place to spread your enthusiasm for Cottagecore bliss. 

3.  If you think that we are relabeling homesteading or prepping as "Family-Santuary-Cottagecore", think again. Family-Santuary-Cottagecore moms and homemakers know and apply some of great-great grandma's knowledge that even the very skilled, modern homesteaders don't know or apply. (You read that right, too.) Great-great grandma understood the use of psychobiotics to treat/prevent anxiety and depression, which is, today, a "new" and "emerging" science and not necessarily part of a modern homesteader's skill set. 

Great-great grandma cared for her family's microbiome in ways that modern science is just beginning to grasp.  In a nut shell, much of your family's ability to handle life's stresses depends upon how you have overseen the microbiome in each one of them. If microbiome awareness is part of today's homesteading, it is not a really loud part of it. 

Because great-great grandma knew her Bible, she understood that the heart quite literally can think - and she understood that fostering the thoughts of the heart is necessary to an individual's emotional resilience. She didn't know the science behind the thoughts of the heart, but she knew what she knew.

​(Researchers John and Beatrice Lacey) found that the heart…seemed to have its own logic…The heart was behaving as though it had a mind of its own…the heart appeared to be sending meaningful messages to the brain that the brain not only understood, but also obeyed.  

–Science of the Heart,
The HeartMath Institute

Great-great grandma also knew and applied Biblical principles of hospitality and entertaining. She probably didn’t think it in terms of social gatherings' effect on the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) of her friends and family, but she knew what she knew. Now, show me a homesteader’s article on mothering the ANS. (We want to follow them.)

And finally, we dare you to find a homesteader's ebook that discusses the importance of being mindful of your children's mirror neurons. Mirror neuron awareness is critical to an idyllic once upon a time. 
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4. Speaking of mirror neurons, a mother is a child’s world and mirror. An idyllic “cottage” environment is second to the idyllic culture a mother creates in the home.

“Motherhood is near to divinity. It is the highest, holiest service to be assumed by mankind. It places her who honors its holy calling and service next to the angels.”

​—First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

5. Prayer is the cornerstone of the cottage. Great-great grandma prayed daily. She knew that God was the source of all her homemaking superpowers.  

You can accomplish the impossible. You can help shape the destiny of the entire human family! As you know and apply the teachings of the Lord in your lives and in your work, you can change the world.

-President Russell M. Nelson

6. Speaking of the “cottage” environment, it gratefully cuts “keeping up with the Joneses” and supply chain issues, out of most of life’s equations.  Thrifting, mending, repainting, and repurposing doesn’t involve the Jones family next door. Your worn and faded stuff is timeless. Who cares what Mrs. Jones bought when she was shopping that influencer’s blog?!?! She paid so much for it that now Mr. Jones doesn’t want to get a freeze dryer. The Jones family has issues you won’t face because you are obsessed with all of the thrifty stuff around you.

 7. Your thrifty stuff is good for your financial health. Nostalgia is good for your mental health. When mama is happy, the family is happy. Therefore, floral prints, chalk-painted furniture, and thrift store finds make your family happy (unless you're a hoarder).

8. To clarify our position on homesteaders, they are our heroes. They have a plan. They have a routine that works. Whatever the trouble, homesteaders can ride it out.
 
Family-Santuary Cottagecore has to envelop the routines of modern homesteaders or your fairy tale can never become a reality. Adopting a homesteading steady routine is what makes it real.
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Reuben Clark “May God … give you the vision of the true homemaker, that you will be able to save by this course...the world. And that is your destiny … to save the world.”

​-J. Reuben Clark