Reusing our Recycling

I don't know if it is because I joined Pinterest or if it is because I am not working so we are watching our spending but lately I have been taking a second look at things before I toss them in the trash/ recycling bin.  One collection that I started was the tops to Emmett's food pouches.  They are round and colorful so I instantly thought they would make great counters for the kids to use.  We have quickly collected a lot of them and needed a better way to store our large collection.  The empty formula tub seemed like a great solution and it was a perfect way to reuse a container.  Alexander was more than happy to help with the project and he was a great worker!

Empty tub, paper, markers, decoupage...

and you have your own custom container.  

What a Chore

Last fall a coworker of mine gave Alexander a notepad of weekly chore charts.  He loved the idea and it really helped encourage his independence and self-confidence.  The problem became filling out a new sheet every week, the paper became an extra chore.  We also had the unfortunate event of losing a chart one week, Hannah coloring on a chart another week and few nights out in the driveway digging through the recycle bin looking for the missing chart.  I liked the outcome of the chores but it was becoming one of those things where I was working harder at it than the kids.  Around the time that I was thinking the system needed to change I remembered I had some Staples Rewards to redeem so I went shopping...

They did have their own packaged magnetic chart system, but I didn't think the layout would work for us and the chore suggestions were a little more than what Hannah would stick with.  I ended up getting this great magnetic dry erase board and a package of printable magnetic sheets.  I hung the board on the kitchen wall (using those great Command picture hanging strips) as that is a spot that the kids walk by frequently but is out of the way of other items.  I then used the printable sheets to create 3 columns; Alexander, Hannah and a section for chores that are Done.  I had the kids help me think of chores that they felt that they could do daily  and I chose one to challenge them with and we typed those up as well.  As I was cutting the chore list items out, Alexander took the scraps and put stickers on them.  He then cut out the stickers and added them to the top of the board as extra decoration (I think he likes recycled art more than I do!) which I think was a nice chart.  We are now a bit more organized about our chores and I love that we can change the chores whenever the kids are ready for more responsibility.

Dining Room Part 2

With the recent "surprise" project of our broken pipes we have had to put some of our design projects on hold.  I wanted to wrap up a few indoor to-do's before we get too far into Spring and all of our extra time and energy is spent on outdoor to-do's.  I thought the dining room chairs would be quick fix and they did not disappoint!  After so many things going wrong lately it was nice to have a project turn out as I was hoping it would.  When I first starting thinking about the dining room face lift the color scheme of yellow, black and grey came to mind as something I would like to explore.  I was also mindful that the set is from the 60's and I wanted to be true to that era/style.  When I went to the fabric store I found this great stripe fabric that was the perfect mix of those things.  

Before

Afters

Now on to wall color and window treatments...