Chore Charts

They’re a necessary evil.  But, in my house, they make our days go a bit smoother.  Everyone knows what they need do before bedtime.

When my kids complain about their chores and call me mean, I just tell them, “I’m not mean!  I am teaching you life skills!  When you grow up and leave home you’ll thank me, because you will have had lots of practice doing {insert whatever they’re complaining about here}!”

For a long time, I used a chore chart like this:

When my boys finished their chores, they’d just wipe them off.  It works great!

Only….sometimes I forget to write their jobs down.  We also started an allowance system, where they get a nickel for every job they do without being asked.  That was getting hard to keep track of, especially since we were ERASING the chores as they were completed.

What to do?

Thanks to KidPointz I’ve got that one all figured out!  They have about a million different behavior/chore/exercise/homework/etc… charts to choose from. 

I chose four different designs from their behavior charts and filled them in with our chores.  (I only made four since Monkey is only two and doesn’t have chores.  Yet…) 

I laminated them so that they can mark their chores off with a dry erase marker.  Each chore is worth 5 points.  Five points=one nickel.  At the end of the week, they get the money they earned throughout the week.

You’ll also notice that these chore charts don’t have names on them.  I’ve numbered them 1-4, and each week we rotate charts.  This way, my kids get a variety of household chores!  Score!

This system has been working out really well for us.  My boys are loving the allowance.  I am loving the motivation they have to do their chores.  There’s also less fighting, because they know what they’re supposed to be doing.

You may be thinking “A nickel per job?  That’s it?!”  Don’t worry, it adds up, and their chores aren’t the only way they earn nickels.  They also earn them when I catch them doing good.  They can also lose them…

Whenever they want to cash in their nickels, I trade them for cash.  That way I’m not always running to the bank for nickels, and my boys aren’t carrying around 50 lbs. of change. 

If these chore charts don’t suit you, check these out:

Here’s a fun one Ash made a few months ago.

This Family Home Evening chart could easily be converted into a chore chart:

Anyway, there’s a few ideas.  What works for you and your family?

P.S.  KidPointz didn’t sponsor this post.  I’m just sharing the info and their site because it works for us.  Their charts are free, too!  Bonus!!

This little piggy…helped with chores?

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Maybe having a toddler ask for EVERYTHING at the store, or not wanting to pick up toys, or throwing fits when asked for 300+ time to do something sounds familiar? Well, I was getting tired of it, so I combined a bunch of ideas from Pinterest and came up with a solution, that so far (knock on wood) is working. First off, we had a family meeting to decide on family rules. The kidlets helped come up with them. I printed them up and put them in a thrifted frame.

Then, I came up with chores/jobs that I expect them to do every day, and some extra jobs they can do at their age.

I printed it up, and put it in a matching thrifted frame, and used washi tape to add a little bit of interest to it. Nothing too special, just simple for us. These frames came from the DI with Velcro on the back, so I used these Velcro strips from 3M. So far, I like them.

And hung them where all the family could see them, but it’s not the first thing other people see.

Next, I got a bunch of glass jars (does anyone else save them? No? Well here’s proof to my honey it's not just another hoard) I let the girls pick their colors from my acrylic paints (purple and pink, is anyone really surprised?) and made a few different jars. The first has a chalkboard label and a slit in the top (made a little safer with washi tape) for them to put their tithing in.

The next was just too freakin cute. I saw the idea on Pinterest and just changed it a bit. I cut out vinyl for their first letter of their name, and added cereal box ears, wooden bead legs, pipe cleaner tails, and washi tape snouts.

How adorable are those?!? They don’t have a slit in the top, so they just unscrew the snout to put their money in to save.

Now, all of my hubby’s and mine loose change goes in this jar. I used vinyl and a Cricut to cut out a mustache (from my mom’s cartridge she designed. She’s pretty awesome. It’s called Paper Doll Dress Up), and added the words “my stache” Hee hee, makes me smile whenever I see it

Finally, I got some empty Crystal Light containers, cut slits in the top, and added vinyl with their initial and the words “chore $”. Whenever they do things from the list, they get so much for doing the everyday jobs, and a little bit more for doing the extra jobs. I give them their change as soon as they do the job (from my mustache jar), and then they get to put it in their chore jar. If I have to ask them multiple times to do something, and/or end up doing it myself, they have to pay me the same amount. At the end of the week, we count their money and put some in tithing and the rest in the piggy bank. So far, my oldest has appreciated having a way to get money, and I’m sure once she’s able to buy her first thing, it will come together even more!

Wall Collages

I love Pinterest.  A few days after we had our family pictures done, I came across this:

 

and I fell in love with it.  Especially the couch, but there’s nothing I can do about that right now.  Here’s the wall collage I had in my front room:

Please note the cute kids in the corner playing a game on the laptop.  That’s #4 and #5.  Love them.  Oh yeah.  Back to the wall collage:

So, this is what I had.  I had these pictures coming:

Aren’t my kids gorgeous?  Swoon…

These pictures were taken by the lovely Lacey.  She is an awesome photographer.  You should book her for your next photo session.  I promise you won’t be disappointed.  Check her out here:

Lacey’s Photography

I love that she even took a picture of my husband scaling the bridge, and this lizard my #2 caught.  She perfectly captured the beauty of my #5’s eyes.

Isn’t he yummy?  So, you can see that I had a lot of pictures to choose from, so I needed more frames than I had on the wall for my display.  No worries.  I hit a Black Friday sale at Wal-Mart and scored big time.  I messed around with the frames on the floor and came up with this:

I cut out cardboard and paper to represent the frames on the wall and I marked where the hangers were on the back of the frames on the front of the paper frames.  That way, when I needed to hang them, I could just go through the paper and rip it off once the nails were in place.

I taped the paper up on the wall and hammered the nails into place.

Then I hung the frames. 

I decided where I wanted my vinyl and emailed this picture to Brandi (the best vinyl lady ever!) with measurements.  I told her to choose whichever fonts she wanted and that I wanted both black and brown vinyl since I had black and brown frames.  This is what she did for me:

I love it.  I love her.  I have gotten so many compliments on my wall collage! Email Brandi with your order at 3bbgunns (at) gmail (dot) com.

This is what my front room looks like now:

Love, love, love it!

Since I already had an order in with Brandi, I asked her to make up a “Family Rules” collage for a wall in my kitchen.  This wall:

Boring.

To apply vinyl, you need to CAREFULLY peel the backing off the vinyl.

With a project this big, I found it easier to roll it.  You have to make sure you don’t have any of your lettering sticking to the backing.

Once the backing is off, lightly place the transfer tape and vinyl on your wall.

When you’ve got it where you want it, make sure it is even.  When it is even, take a spatula, credit card, driver’s license, library card or whatever else you want to use, and secure your vinyl to the wall.  Brandi describes it best HERE.

Carefully, carefully, c.a.r.e.f.u.l.l.y….

…peel off the transfer tape…

…keep going…

…when the transfer tape is off, smooth out your letters to secure them in place…

…and you’re done!

The picture was taken on an angle.  Sorry.  But, do you love it as much as I do?  I love what vinyl can do to a room.  If you need a change in décor, vinyl is the perfect way to spruce up a room!

Vinyl Says It All

Today, we get to be wowed by the most fabulous vinyl lady ever!  Brandi is such a great friend and she is also the mama to all boys.  We totally get each other!  Brandi is going to teach us how to apply vinyl lettering.  Ready?  Okay!

Vinyl lettering is the newest craze in home décor. It’s easy to apply and can be completely customized to fit your home. Vinyl lettering can be applied to a number of surfaces such as wood, glass, walls, windows, tile, mirrors, and metal. The options are endless. You can choose any quote, font, and color.

Vinyl lettering is similar to a rub on sticker. Before you apply the vinyl, be sure that the area you will be applying it to is clean and dry. If you have just painted a surface make sure the paint is dry before applying the vinyl. To make application easier, you can mark the application area with a pencil. One of the most common mistakes is not applying the lettering in a straight line. Marking the area will help you to avoid this mistake.

The lettering arrives on a piece of vinyl paper with application tape on top. Firmly rub the application tape with a hard surface such as a credit card or squeegee. To apply the lettering, slowly pull the application tape away from the paper. The vinyl will stick to the application tape. If your vinyl is not sticking to the application tape simply rub that area again. Once you have all the lettering on the application tape you can then position it. Be careful not to let the vinyl touch the application surface before you have it exactly where you want it. The best way to do this is to hold the application tape by the edges and position it where you want it. Once you have it where you want it gently rub over the tape with your hand to secure it in place, then use your hard surface (credit card or squeegee) and press firmly. Be sure to rub over the surface several times to insure the vinyl is secure. Then remove the application tape by slowly pulling it off at an angle.

To remove the vinyl from a surface, hold a hair dryer to the vinyl for about 20 seconds. The vinyl will then peel away from the surface without damaging anything. Because vinyl can be removed without any damage, you can put up vinyl for special occasions without worry.

Here are some simple Christmas gift ideas that are fast and affordable and can be placed on just about any surface!!

Here are a few samples of Brandi’s work:

How about this plate for Santa’s goodies?  Let’s face it.  As a mama of all boys, the saying on this plate is a must!  :)

I love this advent calendar!  Just move the magnet as the days go by!

This wood block would make a great neighbor/teacher gift!

I just love this little saying in my nursery.  So sweet and so true!

I live by my whiteboard.  I seriously couldn’t live without it.

I love this job chart for my boys.  Their chores are always changing, so I love that it is on a white board.  Oh, yeah.  The “Paranoid-Freak-Mom” in me changed their names for this post.  Just pretend the names are in vinyl!  :)

Here is our FHE chart:

This would work as a job chart, too.

Here are some sweet vinyl crafts found on Pinterest.  Brandi could recreate any one of them for you:

Sweet!  I’m a good mom!  I definitely need this one!

…for the Harry Potter geek in us all…

So precious. 

Brandi is making this one up for me right now:

I can’t wait to get it up!  She’s also helping me recreate this:

More on that later.

She’s got a special discount on the “Family Rules” for all of you Crafty Cousins readers.  Email her at 3bbgunns@gmail.com today with your order.  Brandi’s got a huge vinyl machine, so she can do so much more than a Cricut or a Silhouette.  And she’s awesome.  Thanks so much for the post, vinyl craft ideas and discount, Brandi!

Have a great weekend!