Favorite Friday, Travel and Home

Here's some things that inspired me this week.


{1: our mantra, 2: you'll never loose your sunglasses and keys again, 3: sleep among the trees, 4: farm muffins,
5: lego storage finally in the US, via, 6: natural beeswax crayons, 7: $3 modern outdoor lighting}

5 Days to a Cleaner Home

One of my goals this year is to keep up with cleaning the house. It seems that once the weekend rolls around, the last thing I want to do is break away from quality time with my family and go scrub a toilet.

So how do you eat an elephant?

One dirty rag a day.

Truthfully, I started doing a chore a day a year ago, but as life, and my days got busy, I faltered, and my house suffered. And as much as I loathe dusting, the dust bothered me more.

So I picked it back up a couple weeks ago and let me tell you, the weeks get easier, more streamlined, and the chores become second nature (and things don't get as dirty!).

I made this chart to remind me of how I have the weekly tasks broken down. If you click on the image below, you can download a copy too. They're listed how I structure my week, Monday's at top, Friday at bottom (yup, that's right, you get the entire weekend off) but didn't want to list the certain day in case that doesn't fit how you'd want to structure your week.


The best way to stay motivated is to print this out (it's a 5x7 print), stick it in a frame, and put somewhere you'll see it everyday (by the kitchen sink?). Velcro a dry erase marker to the side of your frame and as you finish your chore for the day, mark a big ol' X across it. Oh the satisfaction in checking things off a list!


Now excuse me, my iron is calling my name (save me).

Gallery Wall for Artwork and Christmas Cards

{I am giddy with delight for today's guest post from Abbey over at Aesthetic Outburst.

you can find her amazing handiwork gracing pages all over the blogisphere. from the creative art in her shop,
to  making and styling costumes for Parents Magazine, and everything in between! this is a blog you'll want to bookmark and visit daily.

here today she is sharing a tutorial for a gallery wall. use it to hang art work or for displaying Christmas cards. thanks for the great idea Abbey!}

Hi, I’m Abbey Hendrickson! I live with my little family in rural upstate New York. We recently purchased an old, abandoned farmhouse and have spent the last few months working to make it our own. When I’m not tearing down walls or refilling sippy cups, I write a blog called Aesthetic Outburst and work as a freelance craft stylist. Thanks so much to Christen for inviting me here as a guest blogger!


One of the first things we did when we moved into our house was to make a gallery wall for our kiddos (ages 2 and 4). They’re both quite prolific and love to see their artwork displayed. Making a gallery wall is simple, and kids of all ages will love having a spot to hang artwork, photos, or important reminders. You’ll need:

screw eyes
wire (I used 18 gauge)
wire cutters
a level and/or measuring tape
clothespins
artwork




Instructions:

1. Mark the spot where you want to put your first screw eye. Using a level or tape measure, mark the spot where you want the matching screw eye. Mine are about 3 feet apart.
2. Twist the screw eyes into each mark.
3. Secure wire around the first screw eye and stretch the wire to the other. Wrap wire around that screw eye and cut off any excess wire.
4. Continue for each level, being sure to take into account the average size of your artwork and keep enough space in between.
5. Hang your artwork!

Getting Those Busy Bags Organized

Here we are, back with installment #3. And this is for the organizer in all of us. The quest to be perfectly put together and ready to go at a moments notice.

Ok back to reality, here's some ways to organize your busy bag (see 1 and 2 for ideas) so you can just grab it and go. Then only have to worry about getting everyone else out the door.


 {row 1: if you feel like sewing up your own tote, this is a great tutorial; one way to sort each game is in pencil holders which I'm sure you could find on clearance right now with back to school, row 2: don't feel like splurging on pencil holders, ziploc bags are just as great; this brilliant idea of using part of a shoe organizer would be great to have your activities at the ready for road trips; make a tag labeling the contents of what you have in your bag before pulling everything out, this is great for rotating stock, row 3: this dual bag-in-bag is great for separating each activity as well as toting it; you can find a basic tote that's cute to boot on etsy; but this felt organizer is sure to please even the most anal organizer}  So go forth. I have bestowed all the tools you'll need. Create. Organize. And pass it on.

I'll be back tomorrow with our great little bag we put together.

Busy Bags

You know when you think you have an original idea, only to find out you're totally not original?

I had that moment this week. In fact, it happens quite often. I'm always impressed with how many genius crafters there are out there. Just ask Pinterest! Am I right?

My thought was to put together a bag full of fun tabletop activities to keep my littles occupied while out to eat, waiting at a doctors office, etc. No, I'm not naive enough to think I was the only one who had thought of this concept, but was blown away with just how many ideas there were for this. Come to find out, they're called busy bags.

These are Montessori style activities all stored in a tote, preferably stashed away in the car, ready for use at all times. All the activities fit into a sandwich size bag and are meant to basically engage the mind and keep hands busy.

You should see how many tabs I have open on my browser brimming with inspiration! I'm in love with this idea. This will be a three part series, full of insanely fun ideas.

It's best to pick a handful of these activities and change them out periodically, to keep the little peeps always excited when they see the busy bag.

To kick this off, we'll start with things to print. Click on each of the pictures to take you to the download of these printables.

Mr. Printables' website has dozens of great downloads, all for free! You'll find these below, plus many more.




They also offer wonderful coloring pages, that I took, and made two to a page. This way they're smaller, easier to color and tote around.

Their file folder games are the best I've seen. 

This baby food jar lid game would be fun as a memory game. 

My favorite memory game for summer is this popsicle game that I posted last week. 

And lastly, here's some food flash cards I made up from the images found here. 

Did you make it to the bottom? Exciting, huh?

Check back on Tuesday where I'll cover projects using basic craft supplies, that you probably have around the house. We'll cover a few other essentials throughout the week, followed by what projects I ended up putting into our bag.

If you have done a busy bag and have suggestions, please comment below!

Art Stop

Tayden's closet art station (or as he calls it, art stop) is finished. With a trip to the Dollar Store and Ikea, it came together for under $30. Remember the before?
Well here's the after, and all the details:










Sedae is trying her hardest to figure out how to get up onto the chair.

The last thing I forgot to get is some undermount lighting. Another Ikea trip. But he loves it none-the-less. And I'm happy he has a place to dream and create.