It’s A Blogoversary Celebration!

Happy Blogoversary! Cookies & Clogs was launched one year ago on May 7, 2010. I can’t believe it’s been a whole year since I started blogging!

I hope you’ll celebrate with me and win something while you’re at it! After all, where would I be without my wonderful readers?! I will be posting a giveaway every day for the next two weeks so I stay tuned and be sure to tell your friends all about it.

Thank you to all those that have stuck with me and welcome to those just stopping in for the first time!

On to the giveaways!

Looking back . . .

For the past six years I have been a stay-at-home mom, homeschooling my only daughter. Living on one income was only possible if we kept our life simple and watched our spending. That meant finding deals, specials, and sales wherever and whenever possible. I began my blog as a way to share the deals I found with friends. I also thought it would be great if I could somehow earn even $5 a month to contribute to the family but if not, oh well.

In the beginning I spent WAY too much time on my blog. Though I had made my own amateur website back in the day, this was so different. Would use Wordpress, Blogger, or Typepad? What plug-ins should I use? How do I figure out and edit php and css? I did a lot of experimenting with logo design and layout. Every time something wrong, my family went hungry as I worked nonstop to figure out what went wrong.

Then I discovered the entire community of ‘mom bloggers’. I was overwhelmed. Unbeknown to me, a thriving group of mothers were intertwined by their common interests and sharing of knowledge across the globe. With literally thousands of new blogs popping up each day it was, and still is, hard to stand out as unique.

Social Media was another mystery to me but vital to the know in such an online world. I learned what a hashtag was and how to survive a twitter party. I made a fan page and found out how to syndicate posts to both my Facebook and Twitter accounts. Now checking in has become a habit and my Hootsuite is always open.

Cookies & Clogs began as a deal blog but that was before I really understood what a true ‘deal’ blog was. I had neither the time nor dedication to post every deal to every store that popped up every second. I needed to be online all the time so I wouldn’t miss anything. No, I’ll let the big girls with their coupon strategies and network of informants handle that. If there’s something I absolutely think is fabulous and I will personally use it, I will post it so others can benefit. As one of my friends stated, “If I need to know about it, it will be on TerriAnn’s blog.”

Then came product reviews. At first I would accept whatever companies were willing to offer me. I would spend hours on a review for a $2 toy only to be told ‘thanks’ and was then put on a press list to post their updates for free. I basically put in a 60 hour work week for some pens. Not a good use of time. Now I only accept or do reviews of select items. My reviews are always honest with both pros and cons. If I really don’t like a product though, I don’t write about it. Who wants me complaining and bashing everything?

So what will you find here? The best deals, honest reviews on things your family are actually interested in, and ideas of where to go and what to do – all with a Cookies & Clogs flair! Thanks for reading!