Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Accountable Kids Review

I do find myself sounding like a repeating record, have you brushed your teeth?  Can you take out the rubbish?  Can you get in the bath?  Blah, blah, nag, nag, nag.  So I decided to do some research into simplifying the process.  I wanted something that would suit all ages of my children, rather than being targeted for my oldest or youngest.  After days of surfing the web I fell upon the Accountable Kids system.


It is a basically picture card reminders of things they need to do throughout the day, broken down into morning, afternoon, evening segments.  Everything is held on a little peg board.  They go to the peg board and move their picture cards once they have completed the task.  In return for this they get a ticket.  Once they have done everything they NEED to do, they can then go about finding extra chores to do, which in return they will get money.  If they complete the whole day, they then get a star on a card.  Once the card is full, they get a special date. Each Sunday, we have a little meeting.  They turn in their cards and I give them any money that is due.  I decided to add little baggies onto the board, a place for them to keep their money.  This part is especially transformational.  Each time we are at the supermarket and they ask for a toy or candy, my reply is..........do you have enough money to buy it? Genius, I am no longer a bad Mummy for not buying them everything they want.


To be honest, to start with, I found the whole system rather confusing.  It took quite a while to get the hang of it but once we got into the swing of things, I found it quite simple.

I have never seen my children so keen to do things that I have been nagging them to do.  It totally took the stress out of the everyday.  And they were even keen to do things that they never dreamt of doing before.  e.g. Bringing in the rubbish bin, HELLO, this has never happened before.



I think the system is fabulous and would give it a 4 out of 5.  Like most things, the novelty did ware off and I am having to be strict about enforcing it.  But like any system, it will work if you make it work.  If you need a system, I would definitely check out Accountable Kids.



Friday, November 11, 2011

Craft Fair - Item 2

Here is a little Santa Terrarium that I put together. Really quick and easy. I just glued some moss on the bottom of the vase. Then glued in Santa and the Tree and shook a bit of fake snow on top. Tied the ribbon and added some bells and ta-da........

Man, I am not sure what is going on. I showed Prince Charming it this evening and he said that I should keep it, that it would make a really nice ornament for the house. My mantra is...I have a table to fill, I have a table to fill, although it is kinda sweet. Anyway, my crafting must go on. Have a wonderful weekend.

Products used: Vase - dollar shop, Vintage Santa and Tree - ebay, Moss, Ribbon and bells - Hobby Lobby.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

The School Craft Fair

I would say that I am a very eager person. Always eagerly coming up with fabulous ideas on what we should do. Parties to host, plays to see, events to go to etc. I get so excited and my tongue seems to overtake my brain. Then in the cold light of the day I wonder what on earth I have got myself into. A case in point is the school craft fair. I have been banging on at the school to do a Christmas craft fair for years. This year they agreed, I am now wondering if I was on drugs when I suggested it!! The fair is next week and I am super busy making things to fill a table of Christmas crafts. Not an easy task with baby Oompa Loompa around and I am not even sure if I am a crafter of sorts. Sure, I can put scrapbook pages together and even make the odd quilt but a Christmas crafter??

Anyways, I am inviting you on my creative journey this week whilst I create Christmas goodies to sell at the fair. I can not take any credit for the ideas, everything I am making I have seen on the web, unfortunately I can't remember where or who, so I do apologize to the creative geniuses who came up with the wonderful ideas, I am just the monkey. Although I will take the credit for blinging the ideas up, everything always seems so much nicer with a bit of bling.

Today I am going to share with you a Christmas Wreath that I am in the process of making. I have never made a wreath before but I blew the dust off my trusty glue gun and gave it a go. Must apologize for the first few photos, taking photos was an afterthought, (as you will be able to tell).

Started gluing down the balls, working in the centre first - slightly tedious at this stage.


I then found it got rather fun, once the base layer was down. It is sort of like a little jigsaw puzzle, finding little balls that fit into the spaces. Warning - try not to get hot glue on your fingers, it really hurts.


Ta-da.....


OK, I still haven't finished. I still have the top left hand side to do but I ran out of big balls and need to get some more. Now, I need to ask you a question. Do you ever make something and decide that you love it too much that you can't give it away? I mean, I think I rather love it and am not that sure if I can really bring myself to sell it at the fair. Mmmm - this is not looking good, I must keep reminding myself that I need to fill a table. What I really love about this wreath is the mixture of new and vintage balls, along with the adorable little santas. Oh - decisions!!

Products used: Foam wreath - Michaels. Plastic balls - dollar store. Vintage balls, santas, plastic flowers - ebay. Merry Christmas sign - Hobby Lobby.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Thank You Siri....

Last year, after I had baby Oompa Loompa, I received the most amazing gift in the post. It came all the way from Norway, a beautiful knitted wool vest. The most perfect gift for me, as I just adore knitted clothes for children, (as my Auntie - the knitting Queen - can confirm). The vest was from Siri.

I have to tell you how I know Siri. Siri was one of my first customers when I started the kit club back in 2009. I actually think she was one of the first subscribers I ever had. Each month, I pack up her kit and send it on its merry way to her little village in Norway. The most beautiful village ever, I have seen lots of photos on her blog.

Well, the vest was so perfect I totally assumed that Siri had bought it. Err, no, I got that wrong. Siri had actually hand knitted it especially for me and baby Oompa Loompa. I was totally blown away with this unbelievable gift, from a person I have yet to meet. The time it would have taken her to knit it and then sew on the beautiful heart wooden buttons and the little poppers - it means the world to me and I will treasure this little vest FOREVER. I feel so blessed and honored with all the wonderful people I have 'met' through the kit club and the blogsphere. It has definitely made living in America, (away from my friends) so much easier. So, thank you for being there for me. And a huge, big, amazing, wonderful and lovely THANK YOU Siri - you totally rocked my world. (Yes Father - if you are reading this - I did write and thank Siri at the time!!!)

I wanted to share a few photos of Baby Oompa Loompa wearing the vest - here they are:




Now, onto the winner of the kit. I put the numbers in random.org and came up with lucky number 48. That is Nitasha Griffin. Great Nitasha, just zoom me over a quick email with your address and a kit will be on its merry way. Have a very happy Wednesday.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Halloween Journal

On Saturday, Prince Charming graciously let me go to the ball, (well...an all day crop!!). I was on a mission, I knew that I wanted to start and finish my Halloween journal. It did take all day and a bit of night too but I am happy to report that it is now done and dusted - yay!!

I thought I would share a few of the pages:

















Now that is done, I can start getting my head round the old December Daily!!

I will be announcing the winner of the kit tomorrow. Have a happy Tuesday.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Finally - The Kits are READY!!

OK, I think this may have been slightly ambitious, doing 5 kits. As I said earlier, I am really not sure what I was thinking at the time. Well, I am now happy to report that they are all done, packed and ready to go.

I must say that I am not feeling a hundred percent, I think I have caught baby OL's cold, so I am very pleased to tick this off my to-do list.

Without further ado, here are this months kits:

Main Kit


Bits & Bobs


LOVE THIS - Thankful Mini Album


December Daily Bits & Bobs kit


Finally, a Fall Journal......

We have got lots of snow today, so I think I am going to drug myself up with paracetemol, drink lots of tea and try to sneak in a little shut-eye. I think the sleeping might be a bit of wishful thinking - chance would be a fine thing!!! Have a very happy Wednesday.

Happy Halloween

I hope you had a wonderful Halloween, ours was fabulous although baby Oompa Loompa was poorly, so he missed it. Best to keep him warm and snuggly inside as it was rather chilly on the old streets. I now know what it feels like to be Willy Wonka, the amount of sweets I seem to have in the house!!! Major rationing going on.


Busy getting the kits ready, should have everything on the website later today. Have a happy Tuesday.