DIY Dry Erase Tooth Brushing Chart

My youngest, a boy, does not want to brush his teeth so I've been trying to find a way to encourage him to do so. How does one do that?? Well, I thought I'd start with a tooth brushing chart. Each morning and night that he brushes, he gets to put an "x" on the sun or the moon. If all of the suns and moons are x'd out by the end of the week, he'll get a special surprise. My chart is a 5 week chart so little by little I'll make the time period longer to earn a special surprise.

I went to the dollar store and got supplies.

Frames - 2 kids, 2 frames ;)

Dry erase markers

I glued a magnet on the picture frame to hold the dry erase markers in place.

And this is what they look like finished. The frames are a teeny bit too

small but I don't mind that.

My charts are from our dentist but I found some free ones HERE and HERE. 

And while I had my glue gun out, I made some magnets for the wee ones too :)

Till Next Time!

Easy Baby floor quilt

This DIY quilt takes about 1.5 - 2 hrs to complete and will cost about $25-30 (Hobby Lobby prices).

Here's what you will need:

Fabric and batting

1 1/4 yards fleece (for the back)

1 1/8 yards cotton (for front)

High loft batting doubled (doubling is optional but makes a thicker more comfy quilt)

Sewing thread

Yarn/Ribbon for tying

Pins

Yard stick

Sewing machine

Scissors

Back of the quilt with batting on top.

 STEP 1: Lay down the material you chose for the backside, right side facing the work surface. Lay the batting on top trying to keep it even on all 4 sides.

"Front" material on top.

 STEP 2: Lay the "front" material on top of the batting, making sure it's somewhat even on all of the sides. Not too hard, right?

STEP 3: Now you will be preparing to tie the quilt to keep the batting in place. I used a yard stick to divide the blanket into 6" squares. As you can see from the picture, I inserted a pin every 6" all the way across and all the way down the blanket. After I insert a row of pins, I go back and pin the 3-layer "sandwich" together (i.e. just work the inserted pins down through the 3 layers and then back up on the top).

STEP 4: I didn't take a picture of the tying because I didn't think to  :( but it's easy. Get your quilting needle and cut a long piece of yarn/ribbon. Insert all the way through the fabric leaving a tail where the pins are going in, and then come back up leaving a little gap between entry and exit points. Double knot and cut. Repeat through the whole blanket. 

How big of a gap should you leave between entry and exit points? That all depends on how much yarn/ribbon you want visible on the quilt. Sorry, there's no more specific rule here.

I left about a 2" tail for my yarn but yours can be either shorter or longer. I also tied my quilt on the back side because I don't want the baby to chew on the yarn. It's just my preference so you follow your own heart on this one. 

Once you are done tying, you can trim some of the batting and the top piece if they go over the bottom piece. They probably won't but if they do, trim with scissors.

 STEP 5: Once you're done tying, you'll start making a border around the quilt. I made a 1" border this time, 2" before that, so once again, the choice is yours. 

Making the border

I fold the bottom fabric twice and pin. I am showing the first fold in the picture above. Please note that the second fold should go over the batting and the top layer (see the first picture in Step #6). I hope this makes sense.

STEP 6: The corners. There are a couple of ways to make a corner but this is how I do it. 

When you get to the end of one side, your quilt will look like this. See the tail?

Fold the it down...

 ... then start folding the fabric like in step #5. You may have to work a little to get the corners to meet at the pointy edge and the bottom, but it shouldn't be too hard.  

STEP 7: After you pin, sew the edges and down to the pointy end of the corners all the way around. Voila, you are done!

Finished product

What to do when you are getting sick

doTERRA Essential Oils Girl has a really great article on what to do when you feel like you are getting sick. She calls it the doTERRA bomb and you can read all about it here.

Let me know if you try her recipe!

Glitter wall paint: Valspar's paint crystals review

I never knew such a thing existed until my friend painted her daughter's room purple with glitter. Once my little girl heard about it, it had to be done in her room too. Since her room was due for some spicing up, I thought we could try this.

Before: This is what we started with, a pearl colored wall. 

Here is the "glitter": Valspar's paint crystals in silver.

This little package is mixed with 1 gallon of paint. For

more glittery effect, you can mix 2 pouches with 1 gal

of paint, or mix just one with a quart depending on 

your paint needs.

After: My paint is Valspar's Princess Pink. You really

can't see the glitter unless you are close to the wall but 

it is really pretty when the light hits it. 

I am really happy with the way the wall turned out and recommend paint crystals. They were easy to use and mix with the paint. The only word of warning is that you have to use all of the glitter paint within 5 days or buy more glitter to mix in if you want the same effect.

Cost of the project: 

**Paint: about $33/gallon at Lowes

**Paint crystals: about $8 at Lowes

 So for about $40 I got a totally different look in this room. And we are not done yet!

DIY Laundry detergent and triple threat laundry softener

Happy New Year! I've so totally busy with other things that I haven't even thought about this blog since the end of December and oops, it's now almost February. Well, no matter I'll dive right into what I'm going to talk about today: DIY laundry detergent safe for HE machines and my triple threat laundry softener! Let's get to work.

The recipe is:

3/4 cup liquid Castile soap, scented or unscented (I used Dr Bronner's because I already had it)
1/2 cup Super Washing Soda (NOT baking soda. You can find this in the laundry isle)
1/2 cup Borax
20 drops of doTERRA essential oil of your choice (If you don't know anything about essential oils or even if you think you do, go HERE to find out why the grocery store or dollar store oils are a big no no)

You'll need a big bucket to mix this stuff in (bigger than 2 gallons) and empty containers for your laundry detergent.

Add the Super Washing Soda and Borax to the bucket and stir well.

Add hot water just to cover the ingredients and then stir stir stir until well blended.

Add the liquid Castile soap and essential oil drops.

Add 2 gallons (or 16 cups) of hot tap water. Mix mix mix and then mix some more. I started mixing with a spoon but switched to my hand because I wanted to make sure everything was well dissolved.

Once everything is well blended, you can divide the mixture up in containers. You should use about 1/4 - 1/3 cup per load but you may have to experiment with it. Also, be sure to swish your container around each time before using so the ingredients mix together.

The cost of this batch, which makes about 96 loads, is about $16, or $0.17 per load. It is not the cheapest out there but I like it because it doesn't require Purex crystals (loaded with chemicals) or any other chemical cleaner/fragrance that I'm trying to get away from. The 96 loads should last us 6 months so this makes mama very happy!

On to the triple threat laundry softener.

You will need:

A glass bottle/container
White vinegar
doTERRA Essential oils

Fill the glass bottle with vinegar and add essential oils. My bottle is about 16 oz and I used 10 drops. doTERRA oils are very potent so less is always more.

Now why do I call this laundry softener triple threat? Here's why:

1. Vinegar is famously antibacterial, also killing mold and germs. Essential oils also have the same properties. 
2. The vinegar makes sure there will be no soap residue left on your clothing.
3. The vinegar will help take care of your machine: it will help it stay unclogged and deodorized.

My wonderful mommy trunk!

My kids are very eager to clean and do chores lately. You may be asking yourself what's my secret? It's something called a mommy trunk! No more asking a hundred times to pick up, clean up, brush up, wipe up, or shape up. I ask once and that's it (Hallelujah chorus singing). My wonderful mommy trunk has changed my life and this is how it works.

I have a trunk, well actually just a cheap laundry basket from Walmart but that wouldn't have looked nearly cool enough in the picture. Use whatever works and whatever your budget can afford. I tell the kids to pick up their toys, backpacks, shoes, coats, whatever ONE time. If the items don't get picked up, they go in the mommy trunk. Simple enough so far, right?

To redeem their precious and sometimes very much needed items, they have to reach into an envelope that I've filled with different tasks, and pull out a piece of paper (we keep recycling the papers). Written on that is some kind of a chore, and here are some examples of chores I have on mine:

Put up all the toys off the floor in your room

Dust your room

Give your sibling a compliment

Vacuum your room

Help mommy with lunch/dinner

Dust your computer desk and computer

Read a book

Wipe down bathroom counter, sink and faucet

Empty dishwasher

Vacuum living room

Vacuum TV room

Put up toys in the TV room

Put all the shoes in the bucket

Vacuum daddy’s office

Ask daddy for a task

Ask mommy for a task

Ask your sibling for a task ((

Recite: Mom is cool, mom is great, she’s the one I appreciate! :)

Do X jumping jacks

Organize toys on the porch

Sweep kitchen floor

Sweep the front porch

Take out the trash

Dust the fireplace

Clean the bathtub

Clear the table after dinner

Load the dishwasher

Unload the dishwasher

Tell daddy how much you appreciate him and why

You have to do NOTHING! Merry Christmas to you J

Vacuum and mop the kitchen floor

Vacuum and mop your bathroom floor

Pass one of the Articles of Faith

Help cook dinner

Sing mommy a song

Sing daddy a song

Do the dishes

Wipe down kitchen cabinet doors

Wipe kitchen counters
Wipe down bathroom cabinet doors
Wipe down bathroom door

These had to be fairly simple tasks for even my littlest one to be able to do. My trunk filled up the first day I started to implement this. The kids got right to work to the next day to start earning back their toys. I was happy . 

One last thing, if a toy doesn't get redeemed in month, I donate it. The kids know the rules and we are all on the same wonderful page. That's my secret, what's yours?

Christmas crafts

We made some that I didn't have time to post until now. I guess better late than never, right?!

 My daughter and I made these pony bead candy canes for

an economics fair at her elementary school. If you make

these, make sure to tuck the pipe cleaner under the

second and second to the last bead to hold the first and last

beads in place.

Decided to make a shirt for my daughter. I drew a reindeer

and traced it on the plain white shirt. I used just a pencil 

because I didn't have fancy things like tracing paper or a 

sewing pen with disappearing ink. 

 Here is the finished product. Because it is lined in beads

the lines are not perfect. That gives it the more handmade

look. I considered using sequence that's already sewn

together but the lines at Hobby Lobby were WAY too

long. (sorry, the picture wouldn't rotate!) I also thought

about hand embroidering this with glittery yarn but that 

would've required a trip to Hobby Lobby and... 

If you look closely enough, you can see this reindeer is

Rudolph with his red nose.

 This picture will not turn either but whatever. This is a 

picture of a teacher gift. I made these bags or pouches

by using white cardstock on the back and scrapbooking

paper in the front. Just used tape to tape it in the back 

but I did miter the corners to make it nicer looking. I also

used decorative scissors to make edges pretty. I filled

the pouches with hot chocolate pouches and candy canes,

glued on a bow and voila, done.