Responsibility Charts

I made the boys a couple of Responsibility Charts so that they can start earning an allowance. I was going to call them Chore Charts, but at ages 3 and 5, I am more interested in getting them to work on certain behaviors rather than do chores around the house. They also help keep me on track by making sure that certain things, like daily practice on the piano, actually happen. Also, I feel like we spoil them too much with Lego purchases-both Steve and I are big fans and have "collector" personalities, and we find the toys hard to resist-so I wanted the kids to start earning their Legos, or whatever other things they might choose to buy.
I loved this modern chore chart that was featured on CRAFT, but I wanted mine to be on a dry erase board so that I could change the list of responsibilities and tasks as they boys grow and master certain things. For my charts, I picked up a couple of square magnetic dry erase boards from Wal-Mart for less than $7 each. I think they are 14" squares.

For every task that they complete, the boys earn one magnet square. Each square is worth 5 cents, and they each have 5 daily tasks. If they complete all 5 tasks for the day, they get a special Star Magnet that doubles their earnings for the day. So they can earn up to 50 cents per day, or a maximum of $3.50 per week.
The magnets are made using Avery Printable Magnet Sheets, but instead of printing on them, I used colorful permanent markers.

I cut strips of magnets just under 1" wide and colored them in semi-solidly. They boys wanted to get involved, so I carefully covered the workspace (permanent markers!) and let them each go to town on a few of strips. I then cut the strips into squares and tiled them along the bottom of the chart. I used permanent marker to write their names and make the chart, and used a dry-erase maker to fill in the tasks and change the daily balance.

They really are motivated by the chart system. Huck is eating vegetables, for goodness sake! Also, I never force or fight with them to complete their responsibilities, but I do remind them and mention that they won't be able to earn a magnet unless they complete a task. It has been good for all of us.

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Ombre! Ole!

In 2011, one of my New Year's Resolutions was to not cut my hair (other than split end trims) for the whole year. This was a major thing for me, because I get easily bored with my hair, and I change my style often (and usually drastically) on a whim. It took a ton of willpower, but I managed to keep my resolution into the new year. Although, I did give myself bangs because I had to cut *something*. Still, my hair is the longest it has been since I was a teenager. I love it, but that itch to change it up has been creeping up on me. So it was time to grab a box of bleach and go all ombre up in here. I figured that if I screwed it up, I could just cut off the bottom, right? Right.

But I won't have to do that because it turns out that I like it a lot. It is pretty drastic color change, but it doesn't seem like it for some reason. One thing I really like is that since I wear a lot of black, my hair doesn't get lost on all that darkness. Also, I bleached it out even more on the underside of my hair, so it doesn't look so drastic when my hair is down, but when I braid it, throw it in a bun, or otherwise style it up, it ends up beautifully variegated and textured.

You can see in this close-up that the ends are a wee-bit crunchy and dry. I probably should have had a trim before bleaching it. But I'm hoping a little TLC (and maybe a coat of this stuff) will get it back to normal in a week or two. Also, the color is a little bit brassy. It's okay for now, but once it is soft and smooth again, I may go even lighter. I love this color, getting to platinum at the ends:

And I have been dying to add some fun color. Maybe this summer:

Ha! Dying. No pun intended.
At any rate, I think this turned out way better than the last time I bleached my hair. Which was just about 20 years ago:

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Be Mine

Ah, Valentine's Day. I always thought it was kind of stupid. But that is another one of those surprising things that changed once I had kids. Now Valentine's Day is one of my favorites. I've come to embrace the cheesiness and syrupy sweetness of red frilly hearts, and I love the beautiful Valentines that my boys make for their friends and family.
This is the first year that we have had to bring valentines for an entire class. Huck's teacher sent home a note asking each child to bring in a box of valentines. No treats or prizes were allowed, and the kids would address and sign all of their valentines in class. I swear I was going to listen and follow directions and buy a box of valentines featuring Lightening McQueen or something, but it killed me, I mean it KILLED me to buy a box of pre-made valentines. I knew what we had to do.
I cut and folded a bunch of red cardstock and then I let the boys go at it with sponge pouncers, white paint, glitter glue and felt heart stickers. In the end we had very modern, gorgeous little cards.

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Painting With Kids

I wanted to share one of my all time favorite tips on painting with kids. I can't remember where I read it, and I wish I could give credit, because it has transformed our paintings from muddy messes to modern masterpieces. And it's an easy one. Ridiculously easy, and totally common sense, actually. When I saw it, I was, like, "Duh! Of course!"
Just don't give your kid any colors that, when mixed, turn to muddy brown! That means that instead of offering the whole pallet of colors, you should only give two primary colors. When the colors mix, you'll get a third color.
You remember your color wheel, don't you? If not, here's a refresher:

Your primary colors are Red, Yellow and Blue. So you can give the following combinations with the resulting third color:
Red + Yellow = Orange
Yellow + Blue = Green
Blue + Red = Purple



In Milo's painting above, I gave him blue, yellow and green paint (I went ahead and threw an already-mixed green for him because, why not?). To add in more variety of color, I offered him glitter glue in magenta, orange and blue. Since the glitter glue won't change color when it is mixed with the paint, he was able to get lots of colors without the whole thing turning into a big brown blob. Not that brown can't be lovely, but sometimes we want beautiful, vibrant colors! Especially in a painting of the ocean with islands and pirate ships and treasure such as is the painting above (or so I am told).



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Cupcake Apron for Mei Mei

Another Christmas gift! I made this cupcake apron for my niece Mei Mei. I have made her an apple apron and a floral and polkadot apron, and no doubt I will make her more aprons in the future. I had some fun playing with my new sewing machine's embroidery stitches on this one.





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Miranda R. Mueller Original art for children and their rooms ❀ DIRT Cosmetics Made from earth Hearts & Home A vintage inspired life ❀ Literary Tease Customizable word-based jewelry and accessories



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Sweet Baby Booties

Pin It I made a few handmade gifts this Christmas, including these sweet baby booties for my pre-walking niece. Unfortunately, this was the first time I had met her (they live on the East Coast) and I didn't realize what a plump little ball of baby she is, so the booties didn't fit :(
It's okay, though. Her crafty mama has is planning to make her a Waldorf-style doll, and these booties will get to live on dolly feet. I picked up the Jaden pattern from I Think Sew, which is having a 50% off sale until January 8th. Check it out because the patterns are around $2 each right now! I also picked up a couple of patterns for my own feet, as I have been wanting to make my own shoes for a long time now. I'll let you know how that goes!





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Miranda R. Mueller Original art for children and their rooms ❀ DIRT Cosmetics Made from earth Hearts & Home A vintage inspired life ❀ Literary Tease Customizable word-based jewelry and accessories



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