Chore/Behavior Chart

Inspired by a blog post at widkidsblog I came up with this chore/behavior chart for my kids as well as the kids my husband watches after school.  They can earn ten cents by following three simple rules... 

1. obeying the first time

2.  being polite

3.  not whining

each time they don't follow one of these rules they lose ten cents.  I also added a few chores they can choose to do to earn a little more.  Their goal is to earn money for the ice cream man this summer.

I began with a $3 drawer from the habitat for humanity store, taking off the drawer handle and front. A little flat paint, some jars (thank you Cede), a strip of poster board, clothes pins and rubber stamps was all it took.  For the most part it has been very well received by the kids; there was some questions as to who's jar should be first in line (seriously, the things that trouble children amaze me) but once they started losing dimes for whining it was over rather quickly.  Katie also decided she "hates that stupid thing" when she lost a dime for getting an attitude (not polite).  Once she calmed down she came out of her room, grabbed a wash rag and wiped down all the base boards to earn her dime back; win!

I have another drawer that I purchased at the same time and am trying to come up an idea for it to go above this one.  So far I'm thinking calendar or some sort of art, what do you think I should do?

Check out these other great creations at let birds fly!

Successful Weekend

I am happy to report that I was able to complete everything on my list this weekend!  

Here is what I was able to accomplish...

After a surprise visit from my dad, Friday night didn't go quite like I had hoped, though I was able to get the bills paid and our taxes done.   A few hours of sleep and Saturday morning came all too soon.  I stumbled out of bed and got in the shower to wake myself up.  I made a meal plan and shopping list before waking the girls and getting them ready for scouts.  We left the house about 8:15 and hit grocery outlet, Bailey saw these mini cinnamon rolls and requested that I buy them for her scouts for breakfast.  Not the kind of food I usually like to buy for kids, but it was so sweet I couldn't say no.  After I dropped the girls off I met my sister at Ross for a little fun shopping, which of course took us way too long and we had to pick the girls up before hitting Safeway to finish our grocery shopping.  By the time I got home, put groceries away and had lunch it was 1:30 and I was beyond tired, so I took a nap.  My wonderful husband, knowing I don't like to nap for more than hour brought me a cup of coffee and got me up.  I had just enough time to spend an hour working on my business plan; I didn't do much, mostly research, but I did find an outline and printed it.  When my hour was up I cooked dinner.  Katie went to a friends house for the night and Bailey had a slumber party on my bedroom floor while I finished the first page of my plan, my mission statement.  Sunday morning I spent cleaning the girls rooms and doing laundry.  Bailey went down to her friends house to play and I used my "kid free" time to start a project, a chore/behavior chart.  Not only was I able to complete my project but I also made one amazing pot of split pea soup.  I would have liked to get one other project done but I am super proud of myself for accomplishing what I did.

I wish I had pictures to share, but I just can't seem to figure out how to get stuff done with a camera around my neck.  I hate to admit it, but I think I need an iphone, any advice on how I can get one without breaking the bank?

Future Design Star

While decorating my garden window a few weeks ago my little mini me (Katie) asked if she could help me.  I really wanted to say yes, except that I get so lost in that stuff that I don't really like to talk while I do it.  I have a hard enough time remembering to take pictures so I can blog about it, I didn't need another distraction.  I could tell she was disappointed so I asked her if she would like to decorate something else.  That got her excited!  I gave her (almost) free reign of my design stock and told her she could decorate the sofa table.  She did a really great job, coming up with three overall designs...

Each time she took it down she took a little longer to redecorate it, thinking and switching things in and out, just like I do.  She was busy for a good hour!  I always love when we find something that keeps their attention for more than 15 min!!  With any luck I will be able to live both my big dreams vicariously through my children!  Katie will be an interior designer and Bailey a dancer!  Don't get me wrong I will let my children do pretty much whatever they want when they get older, but does it hurt to try and steer them while their young?!  Next Christmas I'm giving Katie a doll house with changeable furniture and decorations!  I just love how my mind works sometimes!  :o)  Bailey will be a little more difficult as we live in a small town and the dance classes around here are a joke, but since I've been wanting to work out I can start playing just dance with her in the evenings, in a couple years she'll at least have rhythm and if she wants I could start driving her to Olympia a few days a week for dance classes.  See, I'm not forcing, just steering :o)

Thanks for stopping by to see me!  

Nic

Space Bag Ottoman

 For those of you who don't know me I feel it's only fair to warn you that I am a blanket hoarder.  I love blankets, especially super soft fuzzy ones!  Since I love to change my decor so much I am constantly buying new throws to match whatever the feeling I'm going for + who can pass up a really good deal on a blanket?!  I like to give myself limits when it comes to stuff like this so unless it is a blanket for my bed I never allow myself to spend more than $10 ($20 if it's for the bed).

Even with the strict and rather unfair restrictions I place on myself I still ended up in a predicament with this stack of blankets taking up way to much space in my room and therefore in my mind.  A couple different ideas ran through my head as to what I was going to do to hide the mess.  I was pretty sure I had an empty plastic tub somewhere but I am trying to scale down the stuff in my storage closet to make room for emergency supplies, besides it wasn't all going to fit into one tub anyway.  Then of course I came up with plans for a hope chest type bench, but that meant having to wait for good weather and this is not the season for that.  Finally I figured it out and added space bag to my "looking for" list.  The next time I was at Ross I found a space bag cube with a storage ottoman to hide it in!  Only $14.99!!

I was pretty sceptical as to weather this was going to work. 

5 throw blankets + 1 Queen blanket + 1 Queen sheet

Win!! 

The ottoman on the other hand... Fail!

It isn't the ottoman so much as it is the space bag in the ottoman.  The good news is the blankets are now in the perfect storage container to be added to the emergency supplies and the wheels are already turning as to what I can do with the ottoman...

New Idea + Decorating the Garden Window

As I unhappily did the dishes earlier today I had a conversation with myself, it went something like this...

“Maybe I wouldn’t mind this annoying ass chore as much if I decorated my garden window.” “Perhaps, but you don’t have time for that, it’s 2pm on Saturday and aside from grocery shopping and cleaning out the fridge you haven’t crossed a single thing off your to-do list!!”  “Okay, but this would at least give me something to blog about, except now that I’m looking at it I would need to go shopping to make it what I really want and that means...but wait!  I could make it like a two part blog post; today I blog about what my window looks like right now, then I’ll go ‘shopping’ around the house and show what I can do without spending a dime!  Then I can make a list of things I want to find and make to improve it and when I’ve completed it I’ll have a whole new post!”

Then it dawned on me that most women have three complaints when it comes to decorating:

1.  They aren’t creative
2.  They don't have time

3.  They don’t have the money

My hope when starting this blog was to inspire creativity, now I realize that it can be so much more.  Not only can I inspire but I can show how I do it for very little money and on a working mom schedule.

And so I present to you, my garden window...

Please ignore the bird poop, it's too damn cold to go outside and wash the windows right now.

Note to self: get a roll of packing tape to keep in the kitchen 

so boxes for play kitchen can be taped up and taken upstairs right away.

This little flower was my inspiration to want this window to complement its beauty.

This is what I was able to do with things from around the house...

I'm really pretty proud of it and once I bring the rest of my vision to reality it will be amazing!

The wire rocking chair, milk jug looking piece and pitcher I found at the thrift store, I only paid about $3.00 for all three!  The lantern I found at Michael's on sale for like 75% off, I don't remember the original price but I only paid $2 dollars, so I bought two.  The paper whites (flowers) my mom gave to me for my Birthday, I planted them in a set of jars that I found at Ross a while ago.   I filled the jars with some rocks from Dollar Tree and planted the bulbs, they are so beautiful!  

The large mason jar holds some sand from the beaches here + a few treasures I have found on my journeys through Washington.  The birdhouse is one of the $1 ones from Jo-ann's that my daughter painted and the pitcher was another thrift store find, only paid $0.25!  Love half off days!

The large pitcher in the back in an antique of my moms that I just LOVE!  The two smaller ones are more fantastic thrift store finds and the lettuce puppy my daughter got for me a few years ago for one of those gift giving holidays.

This is blooming from my cactus, love my cactus!

Believe it or not all I need now is a pallet and some plants to bring my vision full circle.  

I am so excited to show you, I hope you'll back to check it out!

Winter Living Decor

The holidays are over and the new year begun.  

My resolution this year is to make my dreams into reality and I wanted my living space to inspire me on a daily basis while still feeling warm and cozy as winter is setting in.  This past weekend, on top of the routine stuff, I took down Christmas and spent the better part of my three days decorating and creating.  

Though it isn't finished I wanted to share what I've come up with so far...   

This artwork isn't finished, I need to add an inspirational quote, just ran out of time.

I need to finish the inspirational art and there are a few spaces I'm not 100% happy with, but I hope you enjoy what I've come up with so far and that I've inspired you.

Veterinary Set

By far the biggest hit this Christmas was the Veterinary set that Santa, my Aunt Terri and I worked together on.  Santa went to Ikea and got 4 pet carriers, 3 stuffed pets, 2 pet beds, 3 pet outfits and a food and water dish.

I created a book for keeping appointments, x-rays and chart notes, a file box and a doctor kit.  For the book I started with an old time ledger binder that I found when we cleaned out an old office at my work; though I'm sure a three ring binder would work just as well.  Then I went online to twinkl.co.uk and downloaded their free printable set for the appointment and chart pages.  After laminating the appointment page I used packing tape to secure it to the front of the binder, now she can make her appointments with a dry erase maker and start all over the next day.  

Inside the binder I used a binder clip to secure the chart pages and thanks to bing's image search I was able to find animal x-rays that I also laminated and clipped to the other side of the binder.

The file box is a cereal box with one side cut open and re secured with packing tape then covered with contact paper from Dollar Tree + a set of dividers cut down a little to fit.  

For the doctor kit I found this great little bag at Ikea that reminded me a lot of the old time ones that doctors used to carry.  I purchased a real stethoscope from the local medical supply store + a few syringes from the pharmacy, q-tips, cotton balls and felt bandages. 

My Aunt Terri is an amazing seamstress and made the girls each a set of scrubs.  They have played with these things every day, more so than they ever have with any other gift, ever!  

Bailey has now requested her own doctor set and cages for her birthday.  I will also be creating the owl pillows I never got to for Christmas + a few other little projects I have in mind.  So much to do, so little time to do it.  Wouldn't it be great if we could extend the days to be 30 hours instead of 24?  

Hoping you are finding time for all the things in your life,

Nic

Update: Linked up with Bailey at