24 August 2013

My DIY Chore Charts



With the boys getting older, we have been wanting to give them more responsibilities and create chores for them to do.  I, of course, have a fascination with creating forms, lists and trackers, so I had to come up with a chore chart!  I browsed Etsy first, to see if there were some out there I liked to just buy and avoid making my own.  I found some from Cucumberlime, but the pricing was a little high once you have two boys you need them for.

Daily Routine Set (12) BOY
Daily chore set from Cucumberlime

They also have some dice that have chores, rewards and consequences on them.  I LOVE that idea, so I decided to give those a go as well.  My mom used to make a game out of cleaning when I was little.  She would put the names of rooms in a bowl and my sister and I would take turns picking a piece of paper.  We would then hurry and clean so we could draw out another room!  (Sneaky mom, really sneaky!)  So I think a game with the dice will be fun for my boys.

So after the realization I couldn't afford everything I wanted, I set out to make my own.  Based on the size description on listing, I started to design my own pictures for the the magnets.  I looked all over the internet to find graphics that I liked, but I couldn't find matching designs for all the different chores I wanted.  I decided to give it a try making my own....and I think they turned out pretty well!!  I am impressed with myself.  Download these for your own project, sorry, no girl theme yet.

Shark themed for Landon.  

Car themed for Braden.
Once I got my designs down, I headed to one of my favorite places, Michaels.  There I found wooden tiles that were perfect for my chores and the wooden dice.  I figured Mod Podge would be the way to go for adhering all of the images to the wood.  I never gave Mod Podge a try before, but I watched some videos about it to make sure it would do what I need it to do.  I got the gloss variety.  Well, hold on. . .first I purchased something made by Mod Podge called Dimensional Magic, I thought that was what I needed.  It wasn't, so I had to make another trip to Michaels.  But I ended up watching a video on that, too, and it turns out it adds a dimensional effect which is very cool.

I printed out the images on plain paper and cut out each square on the dotted lines I created in the image.  



Each image was then applied to the wooden tile with a layer of Mod Podge using a foam brush.  Then a layer of Mod Podge was applied to the top of the image.  

Tile right after Mod Podge is applied.
Tiles with Mod Podge dried.  They are clear and glossy.


After about 15 minutes, the tiles were dry.  Then I put on a layer of Dimensional Magic.  It goes on cloudy, but dries completely clear.  This stuff takes much longer to dry, I let it sit for a day before I touched it.  You also need to ensure that it dries on a flat surface, or it will be lopsided.  You could choose to just do the Mod Podge and leave the tiles flat, just be sure to add a layer or two of Mod Podge to ensure the picture will stay on.

It goes on cloudy white, but will dry a crystal clear layer.


After they had dried for a day, I used E6000 glue to adhere rare earth magnets to the back of the tiles.  Another thing I had never tried before, but have read about it on other blogs before.  This stuff is amazing!!! It adheres to practically anything and is strong.  I used the smallest magnets I found, because earth magnets are strong.  And they did the trick nicely.


Now that I had all my magnets, I had to have a magnetic board to put them on.  Being the person that I am, I couldn't just have a piece of sheet metal up.  It just doesn't look pretty.  I have seen pictures of magnet boards covered in fabric in frames and I thought that would be perfect!  I could pick out some fabric that matches our playroom and hang them up in there with a wooden initial for each frame.  Soooo, back to Michaels I went.  I found some matching open frames, two of them 8 x 10 frames and one 11 x 14.  I would use the larger one to hold all the chores; the smaller ones would be used for each boy to put on the magnets when they complete a chore. 

I then went over to Lowes and purchased a piece of sheet metal. Then off to JoAnns to find some fabric.  I spent a good hour in there, but couldn't find exactly what I was looking for.  I had previously seen some place mats at Target that I liked and the design matched the curtains in the playroom, so I jaunted over there.  I was able to purchase just one place mat for a few dollars.

My dad, the handy man that he is, was able to use his brute strength to cut the sheet metal down to size for me.  He also came up with the brilliant idea to use push pins to hold the metal in the frames.  It definitely doesn't look pretty from behind, but it is doing its purpose of holding the metal in.



I was able to cut the mat up, the front design side was cut in two and was perfect size for the 8 x 10 frames.  The back lining for the place mat was used in the 11 x 14 frame.

Kids play room table AFTER with chore charts
Kids play room table BEFORE


I purchased wooden letters for the boys' initials.  I planned on painting them, but after we painted the playroom grey, I really like the contrast of the white on grey.



Some more photos of it....its just so pretty...



Aren't they cute?  I hung them in the playroom where the boys could easily reach them and move the tiles around on their own.  Each day if they complete their chores, they get to put up the reward tile for that day (the shark for Landon and car for Braden).  If at the end of the week they have every day filled, they get to roll the reward die.



So far it's working out great.  After this project, I have been addicted to Mod Podge! I cannot believe I have gone this long in life without using it before.  I am Mod Podging everything now, even some clip boards for work and my stapler (which may have been a bit overboard, I admit it).


  

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