What to Wear? Challenge 1: Meet the President

Update on the slipcovers:  I haven't done anything more.  Next week, I hope!

Despite my uniform of jeans, tank tops and hoodies, I really do like fashion.  And while I hate trying clothes on, I do like to shop for them.  Come with me and let's pretend to shop together!  Now that I know (kind of) how to sew I can't help but wonder what I could do myself.  

Challenge One:  Political Mixer
Let's say you are married into a family whose business is highly regulated by the federal government and taxed to the ends of the earth.  What kind of conservative spring outfit do you wear for a late afternoon lobbyist meet & greet in D.C.?  Photos will be taken so color must be considered.

I like the trendy lace look, but don't want be mistaken for wearing lingere which is why I love this dress so much.  Any combo of black and nude or black and pink are out.

These colors would look good on me too.  Just sayin'. 

This is Creatures of the Wind, $1660.  The turquoise and pink is fun!  The dress isn't produced in a size larger then a 8 (which is sold out) so... it's kind of eliminated from our pretend shopping trip anyway.  But I do think it could be made, maybe not in as fine of materials, pretty easily.  Or at least with manageable difficulty by someone who knows how to sew well.  Although it is not a shift-  look how well the waist is defined without  messing up the pattern- they meet and curve gently in a way that screams, "Hey!  She didn't buy this dress at Target!".  Pricey and the neckline isn't the most flattering for a busty woman.

In a similar vein, but a little less dressy are these two Lilly Pulitzer numbers, much more affordable and readily available at Sak's.  Keep in mind neither would be nearly as short on me.

$348.  Fond of the cap sleeves, but would have prefered more of a sleeve and a lower neckline.

$245.  Keyhole back and pockets are a plus, no sleeves means you need a wrap or a sweater of some kind.

I suppose I could buy two each of those Lilly Pulitzer dresses for the same price as the pretty lace one.  They are both cotton though and I'm afraid in person they would read too juvenile.  I imagine with some cotton eyelet and some good dye you could make something similar for half the price anyway.

 

Sleeves, pockets and knee length with a v-neck?!  It's a miracle!

Jonathan Saunders, $1695.  Same pretty coral color.  It's a little Doris Day, I admit and a full skirt is not a friend of my hips.  But it is so difficult to find this combination I feel like everybody should buy one just to reward the designer for the effort.  The shoulders look very complicated and lining up the pattern with the pleats would be impossible for me to do myself.  Look how nicely the points on the lace print hit right at the pleat.  That's a thousand dollars of the price right there.  The more I stare at this dress the more I like everything about it.

More coral pink.  I'm in a mood.  It also comes in peacock and a silver gray.

Temperly London, $900.  I'll just say it:  Alice Temperly is amazing.  Love a lot of her collections.  Edwardian-Modern is my best description of the stuff I love most. Sometimes there is a mistep (like their biker-ish ugliness) but it is rare. I already own one of her dresses in two colors.  She hasn't abandon the open neck like everyone else with their mod-inspired lameness.  I like this because it could easily be dressed down or up depending on the shoes.  I'd have to tack close the back a touch (because I must wear a bra) which brings the design down from evening a bit as well.  Looks better on a body then not: 

I would not wear heels with this dress and that necklace is hideous.

This is so very pretty and (from the front) perfect for late afternoon. I got married in red shoes so they have a soft spot in my wardrobe. 

Okay, the color here isn't the best and would wash me out in photos, but it is simply lovely.  Lela Rose, $2495.  There is one serious dealbreaker in addition to the ridiculous price:  the back is simply too bare.  Whatsherface on Project Runway All Stars hammered on the designers for their inability to design a dress a woman could wear with a bra and she was totally right.  Who is going to be able to wear this anywhere?  The front is lined so it isn't intended to be worn as a peek a boo either.   On the runway the skirt wasn't lined at all.  That said, the criscross in the front and the drape from the waist are perfection.

No bra, no buy.

There is some knock-off potential here.  A simple sheath (so you could wear a bra) in a light liner fabric with a tulle overlay could happen.  I feel that it would look messy though if it wasn't done right, the seams and edges especially.  The tulle would have to be that really high quality bridal stuff which is not cheap and you would needs yards and yards of it, plus I wound need to master my serger which is still in its box.

Final contender in this round is a dress from Ann Taylor which I'm going to find an excuse to buy at some point I'm sure, but probably not the best choice for a photo op;  even the model looks a little washed out. The shot of Kate Hudson shows her wearing it with a bright pink belt to brighten it up.  Some of the detail is lost on the screen.  In person it is to die for and way more affordable at $248.

It is boring, I can see that.

Ann Taylor makes this in a petite too which I appreciate. 

"Hee, hee!  It is so great to be me and not you!"  This is actually a better shot of the color of the dress, it's kind of a super pale mocha, less of an ivory. If it was a v-neck I would have already bought it.  I imagine finding shoes might be a challenge unless you just went for a bold color. 

I still have an entire bolt of crepe back satin in a really pretty dark teal...  I should probably be shopping for patterns instead of already made dresses.  Next what to wear challenge:  other people's weddings! 

St. Patrick's Day: Little Girl Evening Gown

An elegant dress for a four year old, isn't it? We added the shamrock sash and glittery crown for that oh, so sophisticated touch. And who needs shoes anyway?  Footwear is so cliche. 

The Shamrock Princess- so regal.  She is above looking at the camera.

Actually, my husband and I attended a big fancy-shmancy party last night where after a few hours I was wishing desperately shoes were optional.  I really do hate heels. 

The back.  In person the green is more electric then it is showing up in photos.  I should have made a fake bow for the sash, didn't occur to me until right now.  The sash kept slipping during the day so I should have inserted little loops in the side seams to keep it at her (non-existent) waist.

I realized Friday afternoon that I haven't made Abby anything in ages and felt kind of guilty. I got a bee in my bonnet and whipped up this dress.  It is made with the cheapest costume satin ever produced which I think I bought last year imagining I'd make a Tinkerbell costume for her.  The sash is leftover from Viv's jumper, one of three St. Patrick's Day projects I did last year.  I'm slacking.

No sash = pleats in action!

Notes on the project:  Used my turning tool for the first time with the sash, though I'm pretty sure I used it wrong, but whatever, it was long and pointy.  Used the same bodice pattern from Little Girls, Big Style I've used before (it is a really easy pattern, I recommend for beginners highly) and I made the same mistake I did before which was not make the straps more narrow.  I think they are just too wide, or perhaps Abby is just that slight.  I've made a note in the book now so I'll remember if I do it again.

I did pleats instead of gathers for a more neo-classic look and made the skirt longer for the "gown" effect and wider to accommodate the pleats and so cut the two sides of the skirt at 25" X 25" each. I lined bodice with muslin, but not the skirt. The only other change is the buttons:  I couldn't find my button-hole foot (I didn't look too hard) so I just sewed in Velcro and put fake buttons on the outside.  I think in the future I'm just going to put a zipper up the back of the bodice and sew the straps into both sides.  It will look a lot neater. 

Cost:  Took me maybe three hours?  Maybe four-ish.  Went way faster then last year's St. Patrick's Day dress and was considerably less stressful.  I already owned all the fabric and it wasn't terribly high quality so I'd guess $5.

Verdict:  Preschoolers do not need evening gowns.  It is a tripping hazard.  That said, success!

This is Abigail's fake beauty queen reaction:  "I can't believe I won!  Little ol' me?!"

Sewing Sofa Slipcovers: Part 1

This project is a huge pain in the ass.  I'm not finished yet, but thought I'd share what is done so far and how I did it in an effort to restore my enthusiasm.  If nothing else, this project has done its job of keeping me occupied and off the Internet. 

Let me begin with a warning:  do not do this.  Or, okay, do it, but only if you really cannot afford a new couch.  I should have just bought new furniture (yes, wasteful, but dear lord! Way easier).  I guess if you are a great seamstress and have endless free time and no kids or no need to sit on the sofa in question for days and days then, sure, you can give it a go.  Otherwise, seriously, Pottery Barn is your friend. 

This is how 40 yards of 54" fabric is shipped to you from Fabric.com:

I'm only 5 feet tall.  This is nearly a third of my body weight. Awkward isn't really strong enough of a word. 

If you follow any sort of "real" directions you will at this point be measuring out everything before cutting.  The math worksheets inside "Custom Slipcovers Made Easy" ought to earn you college credit. At least a unit.  Needless to say I did not do any of that.  Instead, I followed the "Lazy Girl's Guide to Custom Slipcovers" and just did some draping and cutting.

Down the back I have a good 2.5 inches onto the floor.  I regularly have my couch vacuumed and steam cleaned because that's how I am, but I realize that is not typical so remember to vacuum and clean well before you start because you don't want to be doing it in the middle.

Since the fabric is a solid color I just railroaded it which makes things much simpler.  If this is your first slipcover (like me) DO NOT choose a pattern.  Just don't.  It is already enough work.   Remember you want to drape the fabric inside out.  The backside of my fabric is a bit lighter then how it will actually look.

More draping and pinning. In this photo four sections:  outside back, right arm over,  inside back and bench.   Cushions are removed in this photo and I believe were being made into fortresses in front of the TV at this point.

Instead of draping the inside back all the way down onto the bench I put a seam between the bench and the inside back.  My reason for doing this is that my bench could then drape all the way to the floor without a skirt.  Ruffles aren't really my style.  The important note here is that you have to make sure the bench piece is wide enough to wrap around the outside to meet with the side pieces (not in the above photo yet).  You'll have to trim quite a bit around the inside arms, but it will be better then having to piece together yet another bit of fabric. 

All these pins are wrong.  Every single one.

Here is a tip for beginners that ought to be tattooed on my face:  RIGHT SIDES TOGETHER.  I pinned across the back and along the inside arms before realizing I'd pinned it wrong.  Yeah.  That was rough. I was too busy trying to get it straight and tight.  A stupid mistake that cost me a chunk of time.  Another hint:  you will pin your hands.  It will hurt.  Drink wine.  It will help. 

I used something like 300 pins.  My fancy magnetic pin cushion was worth the investment.  I love mine!  I can't imagine what I would have been doing without it.  Individually poking them into my standard tomato?  No thanks. 

"Lazy Girl's Guide" is skimpy on some details which becomes evident once you are trying to fit the fabric around curves and along angles.  I had to make darts along the corners which wasn't difficult or anything- just wasn't in the directions.  This is where the overwhelming detail and complicated techniques in the "Slipcovers Made Easy" book are helpful in pointing you in the right direction.  Not that I was going to be doing faux-box corners or anything, but at least I knew I wasn't crazy that it wasn't looking right without the darts. 

Cutting bias strips is difficult since my cutting table isn't actually wide enough to cut 42" fabric at a full 45 degree angle.  I cut half than flipped the fabric and cut the other half.  It worked.  Don't use disappearing ink as it'll be gone before you get to cutting.  Use tailors' chalk.

After that initial bout of pinning, I needed to pin the arm fronts which I needed welting in order to complete.  I considered making the welting the easy way, just folding fabric straight over cording, but in the end decided that I was going to make it the right way, encased in bias cut strips that were pieced together one at a time.  I did try to figure out how to make continuous loop bias tape to save some effort, but after watching video after video on YouTube I was still confused and so nixed that too.  I did use my rotary cutter for the first time since I failed with it early last year.  They were using rotary cutters in all of the videos so I picked up some tips on how to use them properly, if not how to make the loop.  Kind of in love with it now. 

Another totally awesome tool to use when making your own welting or piping is this do-dad: 

My bias strips are two inches (roughly, even with the rotary cutter some are a little straighter then others) and the cord is cotton piping in size 8/32.  The 4th grade math student in me so wants to reduce that number properly.

The do-dad is magnetic so sticks to the base plate and pushes the cording up along the zipper foot nice and tight.  I have zero idea when or why I purchased it, or what it is really called, I just happened to find it among my notions while searching for my zipper foot and was pretty stoked I had it.  It will also help you gather pins when you leave the magnetic pin cushion in the other room.  FYI. 

I made 7.5 yards of finished welting.  The whole process, cutting bias strips and sewing, took me about 3 hours.  I will need to make an additional 20 yards for the cushions and then double the whole amount for the second couch.  Yeah.  That should be 10-12 hours of work I imagine.

I then pinned the fronts to the arms inserting the welting along the seams.  I cut into the arm drape where I wanted to run the welt horizontally across the side of the couch.  That was unnerving since I'd already pinned the inside of  the arm to the bench and inside back and was concerned I'd mess it up and have to re-do all the work. 

This eats up pins like crazy.

After all the pinning it is finally time to sew.  Now in "Lazy Girl's Guide" she bastes all the seams by hand before taking it to her machine.  That sounded like a good plan to me so I tried it.  Terrible.  I don't know what I did wrong, but something was not right.  I kept snapping the thread and was really burned out with the whole effort.  I quit basting after one one arm.  Maybe I should have taken a break. 

In "Sewing Made Easy" she doesn't baste, but does outline with marker where she wants the seams.  The problem with that is you have to plan ahead of time how you intend to put the fabric through the machine which spatially I cannot do.   Unless she was doing it on both sides of the future seam?  Maybe that would have worked.  Anyway, I said screw it and dragged the pinned mess to my dinning room.



I'm telling you:  buy a new couch.  Ballard Designs, slipcovered "Davenport" $999 for the frame $280-450 for slips.  Sure, no down cushions, but no million pins pricking you either.


This was difficult.  And all kinds of disastrous.  There is simply way too much fabric!  A tip for beginners (that I will be using on the second slipcover):  pin one seam at a time, sew, check the fit, then pin the next seam, sew, check the fit, repeat-repeat-repeat.  It may seem more time efficient to pin all at once and then sew it all at once, which it may very well be, but don't do it if you don't know what you are doing.  

Completely exhausted, I turned it right side out and put it on the couch.  It did not fit well and I had bunching where I'd sewn through two layers on accident in several places.  I did not take a picture because I was pretty sure I was going to give up.  Wish I had now. (Taken photos, not the giving up.) I talked myself into trying to fix it after a couple of days of moping.  I had to rip out and re-pin a bunch of seams, all of them along the arms.  

Cushions back on the couch. We use this room on a daily basis for hanging out and watching TV, playing games, etc. It being off limits for an extended period of time was not possible so we just used while pinned up.

 

You can see how much brighter the yellow and dark coral will make the room.  One day.  Far, far in the future.

Part 2 will be the cushions and I hope to do them this week.  We'll see how it goes with my time.  And then, of course, I have to do the second couch.  Good grief!

Linkys:





 

Sewing Project: Couch Slipcovers- Fabric Choices & Planning

I'm planning to sew up slipcovers for our two playroom couches. Crazy?  Oh, yes.  But I'm going to give it a go!

The couches themselves are about seven years old.  They are identical (which will hopefully make the sewing a bit easier) and currently upholstered in a cocoa colored microfiber that I chose because the design consultant told me it was super durable. Of course, my kids have destroyed the fabric anyway.  I'm sure the dog helped.

Dexter the Pug nests in the cushions regularly.  He likes to cuddle.

The couches themselves are still very comfortable and in pretty okay shape. The back cushions are down filled and the seat cushions are down wrapped foam. To reupholster would be roughly $3,000 and to replace them with the exact same couches (La-Z-Boy "Daphne") would cost $3,200.  In either case, the fabric is only going to be destroyed again.  The couch and chairs in the living room are leather (and twice as expensive) for this very reason. 

The Plan:

I own Custom Slipcovers Made Easy by Elizabeth Dubicki, which, while the images are certainly dated, has step by step instructions and tons of photos detailing how to make well-tailored and fitted slipcovers.  So tailored and fitted, in fact, that I'm intimidated whenever I flip through it.  She wants you to start with an upholstered chair to get your feet wet.  Pfft.  Two couches for Rebecca!

The Internet, in all it's DIY-blog glory, has been more of a cheerleader. Here are but a few of the brave ladies who have slip covered their family sofas and shared their tips with the world:

Bibbidi Bodbbidi Beautiful:  A much uglier couch then mine turned into a beauty by simple white canvas.  Pleated skirt too!

Midwest Magnolia:  An ottomon with piping!  This done in a far more tailored way then my current ottomons. Love the corner pleats.

Honeybear Lane:  A more modern shaped sofa, like mine with the sharper corners. Great tutorial!

Pink & Polka Dots:  Super inspiring results with a sofa, chair and ottomon!  I think the fact that she tackled the main part of the couch in one day was amazing.

I purchased the $10 Pink & Polka Dot "Lazy Girls Guide to Slipcovers" PDF.  In comparison to the Custom Slipcovers Made Easy book, Pink & Polka Dot's approach is way less detailed and far more encouraging. Plus, her blog is just stuffed with slipcovered success! My plan, so far, is to follow her rough outline and try to incorporate the more "professional" techniques where I am able.  I'm going to skip the muslin draft like she does for sure as that just seems like a waste of both time and fabric. If you leave a big enough seam allowance to make corrections I just don't think there is a need. I've decided to do piping which will add some difficulty, but I am NOT going to do a skirt so hopefully that will balance out in terms of expended effort.

The Fabric:

This was tough.  You'll note in all the links above the sewers have chosen white duck or canvas for the fabric.  White slipcovers are classic and I do admire the way they look. Everyone swears it is so easy to just throw them in the wash! But I know I'd be washing them everyday.  I decided quickly that microfiber was out since it hasn't stood up well so far and I wanted something that could resist the randomly spilled cup of juice and muddy dog feet, so 100% cotton was out too.  My outdoor furniture is uphostered in Sunbrella fabric and has worn excellently despite being out year round and is really easy to clean (you just get it wet and scrub it down with a brush if you need to, but you rarely need to) so I decided an indoor/outdoor fabric was probably the way to go. 

I ordered a bunch of fabric samples from Fabric.com in a wide variety of fabric types and prints.

Fabric.com sends good sized swatches, FYI.

Fabric choice, unfortunately, was limited by the room itself- there is a 30' dark redwood wall on one side, a brick fireplace hearth in the corner, fantastic stone tiles with an ever so slight pink undertone on the floor and an exposed wood celing.  I know Rustic-Modern is in vogue and all, but it isn't exactly easy to decorate around if you don't live in a Dwell magazine spread.  Which I'm totally willing to do, btw.

No fluffing.  Keeping it real, folks.

You think your cobwebs are bad?  Bats hide up here.

Sofa, tile, maple, redwood and brick in one shot.  It's an insane combo to work around.

So yeah, finding fabrics to pull that all together was not easy, but here is what I came up with:

Final fabric choices altogether in rough proportion. It'll be happy! 
Should also make the room both warmer and brighter.

$8.98/yard, need 38 yards.  Total $341.24

The sofa slipcovers will be Premier Print's Indoor/Outdoor in "Dixie Yellow", a 54" 100% polyester, mid- weight fabric. The washing directions say to use cold water and a mild detergent like Woolite, but to NOT dry it in the dryer, air dry only, which is a bummer, but still totally workable.  It is mildew, stain, water resistant and fade resistant up to 500 hours of direct sun exposure.  Not that sun is a problem in the playroom- next to the kitchen it is the darkest room in the house which makes it good for TV.

This is way brighter on my screen then in person. 
$10.99/yard, 2 yards needed.  Total $22.00.

I've tentatively chosen to make the piping with Joann's 45'' Home Essentials collection in "Picnic Spice Red". It is a dark coral pink. This catches the pink undertones in the floor without being PINK! and coordinates with the brick too.  100% cotton so I'll wash it before making the piping to allow for shrinkage.  My reservation is that it's a little juvenile to have contrast piping, though it is the only casual room in the house so I should embrace that, I guess.  We do call it the playroom afterall.

$11.98/yard, need 3 yards.  Total: $35.94

The couch throw pillows will be made in Marco Valdo's new Charlie home dec corduroy line in "Orange".  It's pretty heavy duty, definetly made for upholstery, but our pillows take a fair beating, being used as walls for blanket forts and floor cushions for cartoons so it is appropriate and surprisingly soft.

$19.98/yard.  Not cheap!  Need 4 yards.  Total:  $79.92.
Again, less pink, more of a dark coral-ish-red in person.

The two ottomons I already slipcovered once before will now be redone in Richloom's Cynthia "Kalidescope".  I've been toying with making (or having made) some curtains for the room in Cynthia as well, but one project at a time! The ottomons will be what makes the whole scheme work- it has the orange, the yellow, and the dark red-pink. It looks good on the tile, next to the redwood, the brick and the maple.  If I pipe them they will be self-piped, I think.  Just so many decisions!  The fabric also has some of that crazy green that ties into the playroom bathroom, though technically you can't see one from the other.

This is by far the biggest sewing project I've taken on.  
Wish me luck!

2011: The Year I Learned to Sew

My mom loved this stupid blog despite the fact that I update only when I feel like it, make no effort to promote it and take horrible pictures, usually with my phone.  She died the day after Christmas; she was 56.

In fact, my mom loved all my lame attempts at making stuff.  My Etsy shop was a thrilling endeavor in her eyes and she'd patiently been waiting for me to hurry up and finish a damn novel since I was ten. For my 35th birthday in October she and my siblings bought me (a sure to be awesome) serger that ought to arrive in the next week.  I'll be posting my enthusiastic attempts at creation with that machine too, so watch out Internet.   

I haven't made anything yet this year, still working things out in my mind and haven't had the focus or drive, so in the meantime, here is a rundown of the sewing and craft projects that didn't make the blog in 2011 because I couldn't get my act together to get them up:

1.  Abby's mermaid costume:  made for a winter-time "Mermaids & Pirates" themed birthday party thrown by one of her best little friends.  The dress is a simple pinafore in crushed panne velvet.  It is unlined because I figured she'd only wear it once anyway.  I used an iron on mermaid patch that Abby fell in love with at the fabric store on the front and used Velcro down that back instead of buttons.  I had many things going on at the time so pictures are what the are:


Best full length photo I took, sadly.




Poor Ariel had to field a lot of questions about how she can live underwater.



Abigail the Angry Mermaid:  Nap time!

The fin is made of some sort of sparkly synthetic material and backed in the same crushed velvet-  trust me, it was awesome, despite how it might look in these photos.  I made it without a pattern, just drew it on the back of the fabric (on the fold so that it would be symmetrical).  I inserted matching ribbon so that it could be tied on like an apron and easily taken off if she wanted to ditch it (she never did).  I stuffed the bottom of the fin with fabric scraps.  If I made this again I would use thick batting instead so that it wouldn't shift as much.  The shell necklace is a souvenir from a long ago trip to Hawaii and finally had a real purpose.  The most fun for me was the hair clip which was made in about 15 minutes right before the party.  I'll be making way more of these, just better. 

2.  My Cleopatra costume:  made for Halloween, I didn't finish it in time because Abby got sick and I went instead as the Statue of Liberty, a homemade costume I purchased the year before.  The Cleopatra dress is made with crepe back gold satin (very pretty and high quality), lined in bleached muslin and absolutely festooned with tacky rhinestones. 

I used a fantastic product called "Jewel It!" to attach the sparklies.  It worked great and is completely washable. 

The weird cape/wrap thing wasn't easy to sew.  The material is terrible.  The Greek key ribbon looks okay now, but it was an absolute pain in the ass to attach properly, both at the bodice and along the edge of the skirt lining.  Fitting it was ridiculous because I don't have a dress form.  I'd have to mock it up in muslin and then try it on and awkwardly pin and mark myself using the mirror in the bathroom.  Eventually I found it easier to take photos of myself in it so that I could see the how it fit without contorting my body and messing it up.   A dress form is definitely on my list of things to look into in 2012.



Tip for beginners:  The least effective way of fitting a garment is to do it on yourself with a cellphone.


3.  Canvas chalkboards:  I have a joke of a number of standing appointments each day- kids to school and back, gym classes, lessons (piano, dance), sports (soccer, t-ball), personal training, therapy, doctor's visits, vitamin shots, etc.  Oh yeah, and work!  I realized at some point that my husband had NO IDEA what I was doing everyday or why I was always running out the door again.  I bought a set of pre-stretched canvas squares at Michael's and painted them with chalkboard paint leftover from the Library Book Box. 

They've gone crooked a bit, haven't they? 

Abby is my Cleverbucket and Henry is my Smartypants.  FYI.

I used a sponge brush to cut down on brush marks, but if you look real close you can see them.  It took a couple of coats.  Writing on them was not as easy as I'd hoped since there is no backing to press down on in the middle, but the chalk pens worked okay. These serve as a basic template to each day of the week.  There are always changes and things come up but this is the outline of my life. 

The list of rules for what needs to be done when we get home from school each day has worked especially well with the kids.  I just point to it when I get any fuss about changing out of uniforms or getting snack before lunchboxes are cleaned out.  For whatever reason the fact that the rules are posted makes it harder for my kids to argue a point, despite the fact that they can barely read.  Rules on chalkboards work well in the playroom too.  These were made reusing the Dollar Store chalkboards from Abby's birthday party.

4.  Kid's chore charts:  same goes with the chore charts, having them posted makes getting them to do it way easier!  I made these with my Cricut and a laminating machine.  I've had this set up close to a full year now and it's stood up pretty well.  They are velcroed to the file folders and then hung on clipboards in the kitchen.  I made a few blank ones so I could write down any special tasks or things they don't need to do regularly with a dry erase pen.  At the end of the week they get a coin (penny or quarter whatever I have on hand) for each star on their chart. 




Mostly pictures because I made these before Henry could read at all.



The book and pencil used to be for writing practice but Henry now interprets it as homework.  Which he has everyday so I need to make more.  I never had homework in Kindergarten! 

Clorox wiping the door knobs is probably her most serious "job".

Stars!  I should earn some stars for making them do their chores- that's the hard part after all.

The only downside to the chore chart system is that you have to monitor and enforce it as the adult and a lot of times I'm just too lazy.  Chores are done haphazardly in our house.  Some weeks I'm on it with the kids, other weeks, not so much, but they are still really young and the chores (other then feeding the dog and brushing their teeth) are not exactly high priority jobs or even really "jobs"-  more like "life tasks" that will get done regardless of whether or not I chart it.  I've found being lazy is the biggest impediment to good parenting.

5.  More Doodle Stitching:  I worked on these while at the hospital with my mom.  They were already traced out originally for Abby's mermaid costume.  As a person who has spent a lot of time in hospitals (and I have in the last several years, way more then I'd wish on anyone) I will tell you that eventually you find yourself  bored out of your mind.  It is a particularly draining kind of boredom since it festers beneath worry and helplessness whether you are the patient or not and I have been both.  Embroidery is the perfect task in that it is portable and easy to start and stop.  It is both mindless and focused. 

I have no idea what to do with these now.  More nautical hair clips for Abby?

Embroidery keeps you busy, but keeps you in the moment-  it isn't engrossing in the same way a book might be and you can chat and seem generally available to nurses/doctors/family/friends.  I did forget to bring both scissors and thread though.  Tip for (hospital) beginners:  dice and a pen and paper can save you from terrible anxiety.  My sister keeps dice in her purse (because she's awesome) and she once kept me company in a surgical waiting room by playing Kismet for, like, three hours. No joke. Also no joke?  I bought a pound of dice from Amazon for my husband for Christmas. 



I should organize this drawer.  This looks like we are hardcore gamblers. 


He was... confuzzled.  I thought it was a fun gift!  Who doesn't like dice?  I still need to throw a Farkle party.