Dry Erase Chore Chart DIY

Dry Erase Chore Chart DIY

As back to school quickly approaches, I am trying to get our home organized and to get the kids eager to help out!  We have done chore charts in the past and they were very successful.  (They just typically fall by the wayside when our days are irregular in the summertime.)  So our new chore chart looks like this:

Pretty simple.
I Just took an 8X10 frame I had ready in the gift closet, placed 4 pieces of different colored handmade paper inside.
Added each of the kid's names to their section of paper and a list of chores at the top.

  
Placed it all back in the frame and added the title in stickers.
Each time the kids complete a chore, they get a mark in their section: Dry erase marker so they can be erased and reset each week.

Our rewards for a job well done change frequently.
Right now, they will each earn a dime for each chore they complete.
(We are headed to Disney in a few weeks and want them to have some of their own spending money)

Other rewards might include:
1.  The child with the most points will get to choose a family activity
2. Each point earns a dollar for our rewards closet store
3. Most points gets to choose dessert for one night
4. Child with the most points will get to decide on dinner for one night, and help prepare it.

Now it sits front and center on the kitchen counter to remind us all to help out and keep track of those hard earned points!

Join our Community of Creativity and share your ideas!

Back to School Crafts

Back to School Crafts

I know I know! I do not want the summer to end either but is inevitable and back to school will be here before we blink our eyes!!  I was looking over my kids back to school list and was astounded by how much stuff I need for my three children to start 5th grade, 3rd grade, and Kindergarten!  I decided to take a step back and see what I could do to make this list a little less overwhelming.

First, I took the three lists and combined them into one comprehensive list to keep me better organized.  I was shocked to see it covered an entire side of notebook paper!
Next, I looked around the house to see what items I had already that could be used or reused instead of buying new items.  What items I could "craft" up a bit to make better than new for my kiddos! I found some scossors and plastic folders we will reuse as they are as good as new just as they are.  I found that the kids needed 14 composition books between them!! I was amazed!!  I knew we had some on my daughter's book case, 14 "used books"  so I decided to investigate!  Looking at the composition books we needed to buy for last year I found that ten of them only had 4-5 pages written on.  Seemed like such a waste so....

 

*Notebook Overhaul*

First I went through the books and decided that a couple of them had too much stuff written in the to save or reuse so I put them back on the shelf and was left with 10 that I could work with.  As you can see, they are all in very good shape but have writing on their cover blocks.  I decided to get crafty!

 
Tear out the pages that have writing on them.  Go to the back of the book and the corresponding back pages will need little encouragement to be removed.  (Do this one or two pages at a time.  If you do more than this, you risk tearing out the string that holds the book together :( I learned this the hard way.)

Next, use a printing program, I used Print Shop, to design labels for the front.  I sized them to fit over the existing front label.

Place over the old label and it's as good as new!!

The kids love the little owl, and we saved both money and the environment with this idea!!

*"Toad"ally Fun Toadstool Erasers!*

The kids back to school list includes erasers and we made these a while back and I thought they would be a perfect!  Check out our tutorial for these!

Here are some other ideas I found around the internet that I just might try before school starts too! (The pics and titles are links to the original tutorials!)

*Felt Pencil Case*

 

 *Recycled Juice Pouch Lunch Bags*

*School & Activities Binder* 

*Super Cute Paperclips*

I hope you have fun creating some super cute and personalized back to school supplies for your little ones!!

Twin Pop Matching Game

Twin Pop Matching Game

Still looking for some summer road trip keep the kids busy and happy in the car ideas and I came across a Popsicle memory game here.

My kiddos LOVE twin pops so I thought why not use those instead?  Instead of memory I decided to go with a matching game.  I cut the Twin Pops from cardstock and painted them with craft paint in different designs,
 
Used Elmer's glue to glue on sticks

Cut them apart

And gave them to the kids to play.
They had a lot o fun matching up the patterns.
They can play face up or face down.
They can also play like Go Fish or memory.

If you have a summer fun idea, join us and share!

Watercolors To Go!

Watercolors To Go! 

 It is summer vacation season and I was looking for some fun new things that could be taken along in a car to keep the little ones busy and happy.  My kids love to paint so when I came across the idea I found here I had to try it.  With a couple additions to make it my own and to make it so the kiddos could take it with them complete and ready to use, and here you are!

Started with 9X11 sheets of watercolor paper that I cut down to a variety of sizes.
I used the liquid watercolors that come in a tube to add the watercolors to the edge of each piece of paper.
Each paper got dots of watercolor along the left side.  I used smaller dots for the smaller paper and larger dots for the larger paper.
 
After all of the papers had their dots, I had to let them dry...my least favorite step of any project!

I reused a water bottle.  I made a label for the bottle and filled it about half way with water.  Put a plastic paintbrush right in the water and screwed the lid on nice and tight.  After the paints were dry, I punched holes in each one and tied them to the bottle with a ribbon.

How great are these?!?
I am thinking these would make great party favors for an art/rainbow themed party too!

Also, if you cut the paper into 4X6 rectangles you can have your kiddos paint pictures on the road and send them as postcards!

Here are some of the creations from our idea testers!

  
They definatley had fun with it and we will be taking these on the road with us this summer!

Join us and share your summer road trip craft ideas!

Jolly Lollies: A Sweet Summer Treat!

Jolly Lollies: A Sweet Summer Treat!

What a fun and easy way to make a sweet summer treat!
If you love Jolly Ranchers, what could be better than a lollipop you made yourself with all your favorite Jolly Rancher Flavors!?!
This is an idea that I came across in my endless internet browsing but lost it's origin.  This is where I would usually give credit where it is due, but I do not who to give the credit to....
Grab a bag of Jolly Ranchers, aluminum  foil, parchment paper and some sticks (I used trimmed bamboo skewers), and preheat the oven to 275.

Prepare your pan by lining it with aluminum foil, then parchment paper.

Place the Jolly Ranchers as shown below.  They should be touching and there should be enough space around each to place your stick quickly after removal from the oven.  Notice how they are staggered?  Set the timer for 5 minutes.

At this point, this is how they should look.  Continue to watch them melt,

Remove them from the oven when they are evenly melted into puddles like shown below.

QUICKLY, place the sticks and twist them slightly to cover them

Let them cool.  Them remove them from the tray.

 
Watch your little one's eyes light up when they see these great candy treats!!

My kiddos loved them, I hope your's do too!

You can make these and wrap them for party favors, classroom treats, office treats.  Make a candy bouquet......
Super Simple and Yummy, Yummy!

DIY Foam Bath Paint

DIY Foam Bath Paint

 Add a little food coloring to regular old shaving cream and Voila! You have Foam Bath Paint....My girls stayed in the tub playing for an hour!  Let me tell you how wrinkly their little piggies were!!  The best part is the shaving cream acts as a cleaning agent as well, so when the fun was done, I sprayed off the shower walls and it was cleaner than when they started!  Does it get ANY better than a fun bath time treat that actually cleans the shower?!?!  I do not think so! 

  

Inspired by a pin from here!

How Pinteresting...Our take on favorite Pins

How Pinteresting...Our take on favorite Pins

I have been a HUGE fan of Pinterest since I discovered it about a year ago.  What a great idea! It was another of those, "Why didn't I think of that?!?" moments.  A visual pinboard to take all of those great ideas you find on the vast space that is the internet and put them all in one place to be able to look back at in the form of images.  Not only that, but it links right to the original source and tutorials where applicable!  WOW! I love it and have used it for so many new ideas.  This week I am going to take a look at the things I have pinned and my creations as a result of those inspirations.

Rainbow Birthday Party

These are the original pins (with links to the original posts) that I placed on my board for inspiration in planning my daughter's first birthday party.

         

         

And here is how I interpreted them to make my daughter's 1st Birthday Extra special!

[caption id="attachment_1180" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Party Invitation[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1167" align="aligncenter" width="591"] Rainbow Birthday Picture: Taken by: Geoffrey Grau Photography[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1174" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Rainbow Craft Table: Rainbow Rice bottles

Party Craft[/caption]

 

 

[caption id="attachment_1173" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Rainbow Craft Table: Rainbow Noodle Necklaces and Color on Table Cover[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1175" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Rainbow Columns[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1170" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Rainbow Happy Birthday Penant Banner[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1169" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Rainbow Photo Guest Sign-In Board[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1168" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Rainbow Party Favors[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1171" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Rainbow Treats[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1172" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Rainbow Drink Table[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1176" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Rainbow Fruit Tray[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1178" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Store bought Cake[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1177" align="aligncenter" width="225"] Rainbow Cake in a Jar[/caption]

As you can see, often the ideas were altered to better fit the vision I had in my head for a first birthday party.  Pinterest was my drawing board.  I took the ideas I found there and combined some, used, some, and created my own ideas with those as a spring board.  Pinterest is an inspiration!
Check out other great party ideas I found by going to my Party Ideas Board.

Join Us in our Community of Creativity!