Look 'WHOO'S' Helping Out, Summer Chore Chart Printable!

I love summer time!

I am so excited to have all of my kids back home for the summer, now to keep them busy!  I love charts, I am a big nerd I know.  But my kids really like them as well, it keeps my three kids ages 3-7 motivated!

Last year, I made THIS chart, and while I liked how it was very visual, I did not like the maintenance it took every day to take the pictures up and down! This year I knew I wanted something a bit simpler.

I made these cute Owl themed printable charts that are simple, and only need to be changed once a week.  You can download a blank version for absolutely free HERE!

Item's Needed

Printable Chore Chart, you can download  blank ones for free HERE.

Laminating Pouches

Vis a Vis WET ERASE makers  I recommend wet erase because the dry erase smudge to easily!

I printed out my Chore Charts at Walmart, they are 8x10 size, put them in self laminating pouches, and put them on the fridge, and you are done!

I customized mine so that the daily chores are permanent, and I have left spots open for weekly chores, such as kitchen chores, and a bigger chore.  As my kids complete the job, they fill in the star with the wet erase marker.  They get most their chores done by 10 in the morning!  My oldest daughter is so cute, she knows she is going to have to do some chores like clear the table more than once a day, so she will fill in part of the star for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!

As far as rewards go, my kids are pretty happy filling in the stars.  However, I do try to do something fun in the afternoon each day with them.  Something like going to the park, blowing bubbles, drawing a picture, making a treat, going to the library, etc.  In order to do the activity, they have to have their jobs done, but really I haven't need to use that... yet!  If you have older kids you could consider giving them a nickel or dime for each star that was filled in at the end of the week, or something like that!

If you would like me to personalize a chore chart with your child's name and daily chores, email me.  I would be happy to personalize up to 4 kids charts for $5. (ladybirdln10(at)gmail.com)

I like to LINK to these great parties!

Happy Camper--Shirts!

"My Heart is at Home in the Great Outdoors!"

Ah the marshmallow roasting, hiking, swimming in freezing lakes, trying to find my kids under all the dirt, swatting mosquitoes, eating out of a dutch oven... it must be Camping time!! About a month ago I saw THIS shirt on Tatertots and Jello, and fell in love, I knew I needed to make a HAPPY CAMPER SHIRT! But since I don't have Silhouette, or heat transfer stuff (sigh)... I knew I must find a different way. So I decided to APPLIQUE!! Which I am fast becoming a fan of... it is easy, and super versatile. 

Items Needed:
Solid Color Shirt
Scrap fabrics, I used silky silver material for campers
Ric Rac
Lace for Curtains
Iron on Interfacing
Heat and Bond (I think Wonder Under is also the same thing)
Embroider machine, if wanted

Here is a very rough pattern, it gives you a basic idea of the shapes used.  This should fill an 8.5x11 sheet of paper.

Part 1: Applique

1. Draw your patterns on to Heat and Bond, on the smooth paper side.
   
2. Cut around your pattern (not right on pattern)
   
3. Optional: Cut out windows inside your pattern so shirt will not be so bulky. I would not recommend it on the silky fabric I used... but with heavy cotton fabric it works great!
   
4. Iron the Heat and Bond on to your desired fabric.
   
5. Cut the pattern pieces out, with Heat and Bond attached.
   

Repeat this step for all of the camper pattern pieces, including hitch wheels and door.

Part 2: Applique

1. Now that your pieces are all cut out, sew the ric rac onto your camper.
   
2. Iron the door onto your camper. Sew around the door with a decorative stitch to secure the door. I used a satin stitch which is just a zig zag stitch with really narrow zigs!
   
3. Baste your lace curtain to the back of the camper, so it will stay securely on when you attach it to the shirt.
   
4. Your camper should now look like this!

Part 3: Applique

1. Iron on interfacing to the back of the shirt. This helps so the shirt does not stretch when you put your camper on.
   
2. Remove Heat and Bond paper from the back of your camper. Iron the camper onto your shirt. Iron on your wheel and your hitch.
   
3. Use a decorative stitch to secure all the pieces of your camper onto your shirt. I used silver thread for the camper and window, and black thread for the wheels and hitch. I used a satin stitch.
   
4. Now your shirt should have a camper on it! I am lucky enough to have a friend with an embroidery machine that embroidered 'Happy' above each of the campers!  I also added a button to the wheel, which is completely optional!

I am IN LOVE with the lace curtains!  Also, I have decided to help these last longer, I am going to TRY to remember to line dry the shirts.

Aren't these the cutest HAPPY CAMPERS! The rule was if you were wearing this shirt you had to be HAPPY... it worked, most of the time!  I made a Happy Camper shirt for my kids, and their cousins, I also considered making one for my Mother in Law (haha, just kidding)!

For my little boy I had to make a Sheep Camp, because he is in love with our Sheep Camp... The broom, by the way, is a Nimbus 2000!

I know I know, I have the cutest models EVER!

SO if you have some Happy Campers, or want to promote Happy Campers on your next Camping trip... Make a shirt!

I LINK up to these fabulous parties!

Picnic Dresses!

Forget Easter and Christmas, every 4th of July my sister-in-law and I like to make something matching for our girls! We don't like it to scream 4th of July, so we can enjoy it all season long! This year we made matching dresses, using Riley Blake's Sew Cherry fabric line! I just love how they turned out!

We used Simplicity 2231 for the older girls, and McCall's m4344 for the babies. If you remember, I used the same Simplicity pattern for the girls Easter Dresses. I love a simple versatile pattern you can play around with!

The only thing we added to the pattern was a ruffle to the button of the skirt, which I think really added to the overall dress! For a great trick to making ruffles click HERE. I also added a ruffly sleeve to Angel's dress.

 The girls had a lot of fun wearing them to the parade!

The little girls dress turned out a little big! My older daughter is tall so I did not worry about it, but when you are adding a ruffle to a dress, you may want to shorten the length of the skirt on the dress.

OK, one more group shot! I was hoping to do something cute for my little boy, and it didn't happen, I need to do a project just for him.

The patterns we use were fairly easy... We made three dresses in one afternoon, with help of my Mother-in-Law.

I like to party HERE!

America Rocks--Printable

A-wop-bop-a-loo-bop-a-lop-bam-boom!

Is there anything more American than Rock n' Roll, I don't think so!  I love the 4th of July, and I love Rock n' Roll, so this is the perfect 4th of July decoration for me.  I tried to include mainly iconic patriotic rock tunes to create this 4th of July subway art.  Ultimately they are songs you might hear at a 4th of July BBQ!

This is the original one I made, when I had it printed (at Walmart) it was a little darker then I wanted it to be.

 So I made the one below a little lighter!

I wish I could figure out if it was my computer or the printer, printing things out dark.  Does anyone know how to set your computer colors, so they match real world colors... If so please share!

 

As always you can click on the image and it will go to its full resolution (8x10), OR you can download it from my photobucket album HERE!

I hope you enjoy these!  I am ready to ROCK OUT this Fourth of July, and I hope that you are too!

Simple Summer Journal, and a REMINDER!!

 Just a reminder tomorrow is the last day to submit your pillow to the PILLOW FIGHT... You can submit your pillows HERE! We have so many FABULOUS prizes, from incredible sponsors, and it is supporting a great cause! Go enter your pillow creations!

This summer I am teaching summer school at the local high school to help keep my teaching certificate up.  It has been a change going to work when I have had a break for a couple of years!  I teach special education students with varying abilities, and I love it.  It is a great reminder to me of how much I love these kids, we have a lot of fun, and their is never a dull moment! To start the students off in the morning, they write in a summer journal!



I have found questions that are hopefully fun and require some critical thinking skills.  I typed the questions in a Google document, you can see them above or find them HERE!

 I printed the questions off on bright colors, cut them into strips, and placed them in a fancy jar that I had on hand.

 Each morning a student chooses a subject from the journal jar and I have them write about it.  Some students can not write so we have them talk about the subject or draw pictures.  It has been a lot of fun, and helps the students to keep thinking and writing during the summer.  This would be a great thing to do with kids at home!

I like to LINK to the fabulous parties!