Living in Harmony with the Planet
Back-to-Basics Workshops

Cost for workshops include take-home samples. Please bring 2 recycled jars to each workshop.

Workshops are conducted in a relaxed informative setting with emphasis on sharing, making & creating!


Natural Skin Care

  • Easy skin-care techniques and products using 5 basic ingredients for astringents, masks, scrubs, cleansers and moisturisers.
  • Simple homemade cosmetics/skin creams
  • Make-at-home herbal skin products (from the garden)
  • Hand-care and hand-creams
  • Making lip salves and creams


Making Personal Care Products

  • Making simple and safe homemade deodorants (sprays and powders) from the  kitchen and garden
  • Teeth-cleaning and mouthwash products – natural and simple alternatives
  • Natural Hair Care – including homemade shampoos, conditioners, dry shampoos and herbal hair-care, home-made & natural hair dyes and rinses
  • Foot-care and products


Green Cleaning (Cleaning for the Planet)

  • Six basic ingredients for ALL household cleaning: bicarbonate of soda, vinegar, pure soap, lemons & cloudy ammonia & eucalyptus oil
  • Responsible, safe and environmentally sound cheap cleaning techniques
  • Recipes & Formulas for a range of home-made cleaning products
  • Beeswax polishes (home-made)
  • Caring for Natural Woods & Fibres


Old-Time Kitchen Skills

  • Making butter and yoghurt
  • Food preservation techniques: Turning garden produce and plants into: jams, cordials, preserves, etc.
  • Home-made (and tasty) food alternatives to commercial products.
  • Coping with shortages by finding substitutes


Recycling for the Planet

  • Why recycle – outlining the benefits
  • Innovative & creative ways to turn discarded items into useful items
  • Money-saving by recycling
  • Do-It-Yourself Recycling
  • Waste Not! Want Not! the benefit and usefulness of recycling


Green Fingers

  • Simple backyard or container vegetable growing
  • Making fullest use of what’s in your garden – i.e. herbs, eucalyptus, etc for cooking, cleaning, herbal products, deodorising, healing, insect repellents
  • Composting for the beginner
  • Creating an environmentally aware garden
  • Recycling and reusing in the garden


Soap-Making & Recycling Soap

  • Basic soap-making recipes (like Grandma used to make) with variations
  • Recycling soap – turning soap scraps into other types of soap products
  • Making liquid soaps (including hand soaps)
  • Homemade detergent alternatives
  • Making and using soap-savers


Chemical-free Household Products

  • Making environmentally safe household sprays & products including alternatives to aerosol sprays
  • Skin and personal care products from the garden
  • Safe and organic sprays & repellents
  • Soap substitutes – alternatives to soap
  • Chemical-free cleaning
  • Homemade perfumes and scents using herbs & plants


Surviving the Hard Times

  • Money-saving shopping hints and tips 
  • Healthy food ideas on a budget
  • Homemade alternatives versus commercial products for saving money
  • Recycling to save money – and the planet
  • Psychological strategies for coping with money shortages


Practical Candle-Making/Simple Paper-Making

  • Easy and cheap method for making candles from simple plain white candles – using recycled containers for moulds.  Includes coloured candles, scented candles, layered candles, candles of various shapes and sizes.
  • Paper-making using recycled paper – newspaper, photocopy paper, etc. Covers scented paper, paper of different textures and additives, etc.
  • Envelope-making – recycling paper to make interesting envelopes


Practical Gifts to Make

  • Using cheap, easy-to-find ingredients and materials and/or recycled materials.
  • Includes: Personal gifts (Lavender bath vinegar, Deodorant food powder, English Rose Wash-balls, Rose Hand Wash & more), Scented Gifts (Fragrant Bath salts, Scented bags-citrus, spice, floral). Kitchen Gifts (Gourmet Oil, Gourmet Spice Blends). 
  • NB: Not all topics may be covered – depends on progress of the group.

Venues: Workshops are held at varoious venues around Australia. Email Pam for dates and venues in your area.

Speaker Available for Meetings, Seminars and Groups on The Self-Sufficiency Shoppe:

  • its philosophy and ideals.
  • Gives brief overview of workshop topics & outlines some simple home-based techniques for the betterment of both the individual & the environment.


Email Pam at theshoppe@chariot.net.au for more information

Workshops Presenters Wanted
At present I run a series of Back-to-Basics workshops educating people on how easy it is the do the right thing for the planet.  I anticipate that in the future other people will also be able to run similar workshops for The Self-Sufficiency Shoppe.  If this interests you please tell me and I will make a point of keeping you informed.

For information on becoming a workshop presenter click here.

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