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Thursday, August 7, 2014

Back to School

Here are a couple of fun projects I've been working on to get us all ready for school!


Special Shirts:


We have a tradition of buying cheap, matching outfits and customizing them for the first day of school.  This will be the only time any Beveridge kids coordinate!


Our process:


1. Google cute school-ish images.  Last year, it was an apple.  This year, it was a scholarly owl graduate.  Make sure image is fairly simple to copy using fabric.

2.  Using that image as inspiration, assemble complimentary fabrics.  

3.  Use iron-on fusion adhesive (exact name??) to give ordinary fabric iron-on capabilities.  I iron on the fusion material first, then draw the shapes on the back because it is much easier and cleaner to cut the fabric (it will be stiff).  

4.  Cut out shapes, assemble, and iron on.  Then, embellish with stitches or fabric paint!


I noted each daughter's new grade on the book that Mr. Owl is reading...they just love this!


Last year's outfits-



 Daily Routines & Chores


I mixed and matched some other Pinterest ideas to come up with what I hope is an effective chore manager. 
The kids painted their own chore boards (wooden doorknob hangers from Michaels), which are hooked on a board (Michaels) that I painted and mod-podged fabric onto.  I divided their chores/essential routines into morning, after school, and evening.  




I wrote the chore on one side of the clothespin (Dollar Tree), then hot glued a button (Michaels) that matched their personalities on the opposite side.  

The chore board is divided into "To Do" and "Done!".  Each time a chore is completed they can clip it to the "done" side, which is where the cute button/gem is.  I also added a silly praise phrase ("boo-yah!" "Good job!", etc.) to make it a bit more gratifying.  





What if...???


I know my kids, and they are guaranteed two things:

1.  to forget
2.  to complain

I decided to add a "penalty box" with extra chores that they have to do if they forget about a chore or whine about a chore.  Here's hoping this works!!