Chore Cards-Free Download

With a 3rd baby on the way and my kids growing up I have been trying to get them to help around the house more often. At 4 and 3 years old I have discovered there are basic chores around the house that they can help with. At first I gave them money, pennies for their piggy banks. But then I came across these fantastic chore cards on Etsy. I figured I could make some of my own because I am pretty good at Photoshop. I like the cards because of the punches. They can punch the cards themselves after they do a chore and take pride in filling up their card. When they have reached 10 punches they get to pick a prize from the treasure chest (yes we have a treasure chest like at the dentist filled with fake tattoos, stickers, and little dollar store finds).

Some of the chores the kids like to do are:
-scrubbing the toilet (with supervision)
-cleaning the windows or mirrors (with supervision)
-putting their clothes away in the drawers after I have washed and folded them
-picking up their toys
-unloading the dish washer
-helping set the table
-putting their books away
-working in their workbooks for 30 min (alphabet, numbers, etc)
-feeding the fish


We don't do all these chores every day but as I am working in the house they like to help out and I hope these chore cards will encourage them to help more often.

Want to download some for yourself? Here is the free download.

Graduation Caps Tutorial

This week we celebrated my son's graduation from Joy School. For those of you that don't know what Joy School is, it is a church sponsored home-school pre-school. I decided to put him in it this year before he goes to a 3 day week pre-school next year. He really showed improvements this year by attending Joy School. He is my first born and a bit of a mama's boy. Shy and likes to stay next to me all the time. When I first started dropping him off at the other kid's houses he would cry and beg me to stay. By the end he was so excited to go every week that he would ask when Joy School was and run to the doors of the other homes. He was really sad when I told him it was over, more because I think he is worried he won't get to see his friends anymore, but I assured him that we could still have play dates and see them plenty.

We celebrated the graduates with a party and presentation. The kids sang a few songs, received a report card, and a diploma for their work the past year. I made each of the students a graduation hat in their favorite color. The hats are really simple to make.

Start with a 12x12 square of tag paper.

Cut the paper to 9.5 x 9.5 inches keeping the strips you cut off.

Those strips will be the base of the hat.

Then I used embroidery thread to make tassels for the top of the hats. I measured exactly the center of each hat, making a hole, then slipped the end of the tassel through the hat top.

Now take your strips and tape them together to make a round circle. Tape the circle to the bottom of the cap top. You can also add some skinny elastic if you want to secure around the kids chin's.

The kids all wore their hats. I even made an extra one for my daughter so she wouldn't feel left out.

I am so proud of my boy and how independent he has become.

Mod Podge Covered Composition Notebook

I attended so many great workshops and heard so many awesome speakers at SNAP last week.  I knew I would be taking a lot of notes so I made a pretty notepad with our logo.  I remember last year at Creative Estates wondering who people were.  I wanted to make sure if you happened to bump into me or were sitting across from me at a table during a session, our logo would be one of the first things people noticed.

Supplies:
-composition notebook
-Mod Podge and brush
-scrapbook paper
-washi tape (not pictured)

Start by coating the cover of your notebook in Mod Podge.  Do your best to get a nice even layer so you don't have bubbles when you add the paper.  

Trim your paper to roughly the same dimensions of your notebook.  I say roughly because getting it perfect really isn't worth the stress.  Trimming the paper later is easy.  You can see in my picture I have a little gap between the edge of my paper and the black tape down the middle of the notebook.  Not to worry, the washi tape will cover any mistakes.

Apply a smooth layer of Mod Podge over your paper. 

If you want to add an image to the book, do this next step.  It would be fun to add a picture to make a great gift.  This project might show back up for teacher appreciation week or Grandparent's Day!  Use Mod Podge to completely cover your image on the notebook.  Most of the air bubbles will go away when the Mod Podge dries but try to avoid too many bumps.

I used washi tape to cover the little slice of notebook peeking out from under the paper.  If you trimmed your paper perfectly, you can probably skip this step.  I think the tape made the notebook prettier.  I love the contrast of the two patterns together.

For the matching portfolio, I simply printed our logo onto a full shipping label sheet and then trimmed it to fit.  Super easy!

I made a notebook and portfolio set for myself and my SNAP roommate, Rebecca from Freckles Crafts.

My notebook had an extra conference tool hiding inside; I used Mod Podge to have the conference schedule on the inside cover.  This was incredibly helpful and a great tool for everyone sitting around me wondering where we were supposed to be going next.  I will definitely do this for any conference I attend in the future!

 

The Ticket Journal

A couple of years ago I stumbled upon a box of ticket stubs.  My husband had kept every single sporting event ticket stub he ever attended.  He is a major sports fan so his box was full of ticket stubs.  Full.  I wanted to make something for him to save all his ticket stubs in one place.  I came up a very simple idea that he absolutely loved.  His ticket journal was so much fun to make and I smile each time I see my husband add another ticket to his book.   

I started with a basic journal I picked up from Michael's.  You could easily make your own with a three ring notebook and card stock instead if you don't want to purchase something.  I embellished each page of the journal with sports related paper and stickers.  I made sure each page had a variety of sports so each page would be versatile.  I didn't want any one page to appear designated for a particular type of sporting event.

Once I had the entire book filled with fun pages, I started adding each ticket with sticky photo corners.  The tickets remained undamaged and removable.

I had fun looking at all the old tickets knowing they were from some of my husband's favorite memories.

I used clear sheet protectors for each page because I didn't want any tickets to end up damaged or lost. 

We currently have a small box holding the ticket stubs to events my daughter has attended with us.  I'm looking forward to adding her first ticket journal to my handmade Christmas gift list!

My husband's book was designed specifically for sports related events but there are so many options to make the book appropriate for other ticket stubs.  A theatre or music related book would make a fun gift!

I'm posting this link here.

 

Kids Craft - Monster Shoes

I had something different planned for this morning's post but when I saw my daughter having so much fun pretending to be a monster last night, I knew I had to share the easy monster shoes we recently made. 

The idea came from Disney's Family Fun magazine.  It is probably a craft more suitable for older kids to make themselves but my two year old daughter and her BFF had fun helping me put their shoes together.  We started with four empty tissue boxes. 

I let the girls pick out colored paper and then I cut out pieces to cover each side of the boxes entirely.  Each shoe had eight paper pieces (two rectangles for the sides, two squares for the ends, and four thin strips for the top).  I also cut three triangles for each shoe to embellish the front.  This was a perfect activity to work on identifying squares and rectangles.  I had the girls take turns handing me the appropriate shape for the side of the box I was covering.  I asked them the name and the color of the shape as I was using the glue gun to attach the paper.  By the time we were done I had two little square and rectangle pros! 

My daughter and her BFF had monster races for several hours after we finished our little project.

Our shoes were kept simple but I'm sure my daughter will want to embellish them with glitter and rhinestones later this week.  These would be so much fun to make at a monster themed birthday party!!

I'm linking this post here.

 

WOWZER WEDNESDAY - handmade cards

I very rarely purchase a card in the store. Occasionally if I'm out and realize I completely forgot someones birthday and need to rush to the post office that very second, I'll stop somewhere and pick up a quick card. But even then, I usually pick the cards that look crafty (not just some commercial looking card with a lame joke). Today I'll share some of my quick card tips and tricks for our Wowzer Wednesday post.

You can practically use anything to make a card: embellishments, ribbon, stickers, stamps, felt, paint, thread, fabric, etc. Most of the cards I make are done at the end of my gift projects. I am extremely organized and typically plan every element of things I can control but when it comes to making gifts, I unfortunately always push it to the very last minute. I'm usually up well after midnight finishing something that needs to be gifted the next morning. As a result, most of my cards are done as quickly as possible. I said most; some of them come with extra special planning and time put into making them. I browsed through my card folder on my desktop to show you a selection of quick and easy cards I've made.

I rarely throw away scraps of pretty paper. I have a big selection of paper ranging in sizes (some as small as 1" x 1" squares). Sometimes I just use a little scrap paper with stamps to make a cute card.

Cute stickers eliminate the need for digging through my stash of scrap paper.

Alphabet stickers are an easy way to add a message.

You can further embellish your cards with ribbon.

I use my Cricut a lot to cut out pieces for cards.




Sometimes I handstitch cards but other times I use my sewing machine to sew paper directly to the card.

Felt and lace are pretty on cards.

My daughter loves making cards too. We had so much fun making these Grandparents Day cards! This great idea came from The Splendidly Imperfect Miss M.

Sometimes I use Scrapblog to edit photos and make cute 4" x 6" cards that I print at Wal-mart and then embellish.

If I'm using a picture that I want the recipient to be able to remove from the card and keep, I always use photo corners to attach the picture.

Sometimes I use a quick trick to add a message. Would you ever know this "Happy Valentines Day" was printed on a clear label and stuck in the card?

It's an easy way to make a lot of cards at one time.

Making handmade cards isn't supposed to be expensive. All you really need is some cardstock, an envelope (you could try making your own), and your creativity. If you're trying to save time like me and purchase envelopes instead of buying them, be aware of your options. Most card envelopes from crafting stores are expensive! A package of 20 envelopes (shown below) could easily cost you over $5.

I just buy invitation envelopes (the ones shown were purchased at Target)...50 envelopes for less than $3!

Lastly, it's supposed to be fun. If you don't have time or supplies on hand, go buy a card and save yourself some stress. You can always make one next time!