Rewards Charts

My husband and I have been pretty diligent in correcting Joey's occasionally, not so awesome behavior. Part of the process has been creating rewards charts and him earning stickers when he meets our expectations of a desired behavior.

I wasn't exactly sure how to make a rewards chart or what to put on it. I brainstormed for awhile trying to make the expectations both helpful and a learning moment for Joey. I searched around Google and found a great website that offered free pdf documents of rewards charts. Find the website for the rewards chart here.

I started off by printing two rewards charts in different colors. I printed them onto white card stock to make them more durable.



I opted to make two different charts. One for Behavior and one for Chores.
I used scrapbooking stickers to decorate mine and it is completely up to you on how you want to design it.

For Behavior I chose 5 different task for Joey to achieve: Manners, Listening, Walking, Inside Voice, and Sharing.

For Chores I chose: Set the Table, Put away his Laundry, Pick up Toys, Brush Teeth, and Potty Time. I wanted to think of a better name besides chores, b/c obviously some of these task are not chore like, but oh well.

Once the chart has all the desired task labeled I put them in sheet protectors. I used sheet protectors because I have so many of them and that way I can reuse the paper once the charts are full. Just toss the sheet protector and put the chart in a new one.

I added some ribbon to it and called it good.


*It doesn't have manner stickers on it b/c we just started it the other day.

Joey loves the idea and we love that he is willing to modify his behavior to earn stickers. We hung the chart low on the wall so Joey can see his progress. We also award with tiny star stickers he can put on his hand for each task he perfoms. Once the entire chart is filled out Joey can choose one prize from the prize box. I haven't made the box yet but it most likely will be full of toy cars, stickers, a piece of candy, etc.; everything that Joey likes.

With the Rewards Charts I found it easier to make task that fit Joey's needs and personality. Joey loves setting the table, so he feels like he is being a big boy and helping out "Mommy". I try to incorporate the Rewards Chart through out the day and always give Joey chances to earn stickers. Occasionally he does task without me asking. I also reward him even when he is not doing the desired behavior just for the stickers, that way its unpredictable and he will strive more and more to have good behavior and responsibility. For example, this morning I handed him his sippy cup and he said "Thank You" without me reminding him too. For that he earned a sticker. And you can bet his manners were very good the rest of the day.

The end result of Rewards Charts use should be that Joey will complete the desired task and behaviors without being asked too.

Crafty Time

I have been eager to get my hands on a couple of different craft projects so today I took full advantage and got down to business.

My first one was a word/frame object. I have included a tutorial for your pleasure.

I started out with one of my silver wedding frames that have 3 5x7 inserts.
Any good mom knows that once children come along all the wedding pictures get taken down, only to be replaced by beautiful pictures of smiling children.
So instead of wasting a perfectly good frame that had served its purpose I decided to remix it.

1. I took the glass out, I tend to not like shiny everything.
I gathered all my materials: frame, paint, brush, fabric, wooden words, and hot glue gun.


2. I painted both the words and the frame black. Acrylic paint does not work well for this kind of project (to dull and the wood grain shows up) so I went with a gloss enamel paint in black. The words took two coats and for the frame I did three coats for good measure. There was no sanding needed.



3. While the paint was drying I took out the frames mat and pictures. I chose three different fabrics that I have fallen absolutely in love with! I am thinking about using the same material for more house decor, perhaps in our bedroom.
I cut the fabric a little larger then 5x7 and glued to the back of the mat with my hot glue gun.



*The fabric itself lays pretty flat so there is no real need to pull it super tight, but I would recommend ironing the fabric. I did not and mine is a bit wrinkled.

4. After all the paint is dry glue the words on to the fabric. Hot glue holds well and even seeped through the fabric a little to the backing which gave it a little extra security.
Put the frame back on and voila! You have yourself a neat remixed frame.



AND....

because I had a little time to spare between the coats of paint I undertook a small craft project.

I took a frame with a verse from the bible (which will be used with something else) and changed it into a monogrammed art frame.
Before:


After




I loved the color of the frame itself and found this awesome piece of scrapbook paper at Joann's. I wasn't sure what color to make the 'C' and boring me would have gone with a blue or brown but my friend, Marie, suggested red. I loved the idea so I took the wooden 'C' painted it with red enamel paint. I always suggest enamel paint on wood projects, especially if the wood is untreated or unfinished.

I don't love love this project. I think a bigger 'C' would have been better so I may redo it. But I also need to figure out a place to put it now. I am thinking on a wall collage of picture frames but I am not sure.

Making a Diaper Cake

Yesterday I went to my childhood friends Baby Shower. I wanted to make a diaper cake but not a tall, huge one so I opted for a sheet cake version. This was my first attempt at making a sheet cake diaper cake and I think it turned out pretty neat.

First off start with your ingredients. Most of this stock I had on hand besides the diapers. I try to buy cute baby clothes and shoes when they go on clearance or when I can get a great deal on them.



Basic Ingredients
Newborn or Size 1 diapers: One pack contains about 50 diapers. I also recommend choosing diapers that don't have a lot of design on them. In this case I loved the fact that the diapers I chose (Target's Up and Up brand) had polka dots on them in boy colors.
Ribbon
Rubberbands
Baby toiletries and clothes/shoes
Cardboard layout fit to the size of your desired cake
Hot Glue Gun (don't worry if the glue gets on the diapers or product, typically it will come right off when dried)
Scissors
Misc. items such as stickers, tag board, etc.
String

*Remember Diaper Cakes are personable and unique. No two are
alike and they should reflect your personality or the recipients. You can put as little or as much "ingredients" on it as you would like!

Step 1.

Take all the diapers and roll them individually and secure with a small rubber band.


Step 2.
Align how you would like to make the cake. The inside of the cake consisted of 4 groups of 6 diapers formed in rows of 2x3. Every "six" diapers were fastened together with a larger rubber band.


In my case I knew I wanted individual ribbons wrapped each diaper along the outer edge of the cake. I counted how many edge diapers there were and planned my ribbons accordingly. Because there were 22 diapers that could fit on the edge and I only had 7 ribbon types chosen I opted to have the 4 corner pieces stand out in a yellow color.
I cut the ribbons to size and wrapped it around the diaper to cover the rubber band and secured with a dab of hot glue.



Step 3.
Loosely secure the entire diaper cake together with dabs of hot glue. You don't need much, just enough to keep its shape for the next step.







Step 4.

Once the diaper cake is put together you can choose how you want to secure it so the individual diapers don't fall out. I always go with ribbon and wanted to accent this sheet cake as if there were two strips of Icing going along the edge.
First I tie a piece of string around the entire edge on top and bottom. This step is not necessary but it does ensure that when you wrap the finished ribbon around it it will be secure and snug. Once the string is on, wrap the ribbon over the string and secure each end with dabs of hot glue. Press the two ends together until the hot glue is dry to ensure a secured fit.
At this point I cut the string and remove it from the cake. The knot I tied with the string tends to get bulky and stick out.



Step 5.

At this point you are almost done. Lay out how you want the top of the cake to look like. Play around with a design and when you like what you have secure the clothes/shoes/etc. with COLORED push pins. I suggest colored because you are pushing these pins into the diapers and the idea of a diaper cake is for the Mom to be able to use every ingredient. There is nothing worse then a pin pricking a little babies tush. Pins are so tiny and are easily missed.


I finish my cake with an ingredients list so the Mom knows what size and quantity of items are on the cake. I also add some scrapbooking paper to the cardboard sheet to dress up the cake a bit more.