At Home With The Hinsons

Monday, June 14, 2010

Chore Jars

Good morning long lost friends!
I've missed you
and all the therapy that blogging brings.
Remember when I told you
that the first few weeks of anything is tough?
Well, establishing our summer routine has been c-r-a-z-y!

Between juggling everyone's schedules &
the things that have to be done
(you know, buying groceries, cleaning & such)
there hasn't been much Mama left over for fun.
I look back on last summer and wonder
what happened to the Mary Poppins I remember??

So today I'm here to share the possible key to my sanity.
Instead of saying the s-a-m-e things over and over,
I've created an ongoing jar of instructions.
I considered a chore chart,
but I never keep those going for long.

As I considered solutions, I realized a few things.
1. I was more willing to put work into it on the front end.
   Then I could make minor tweaks as needed.
2. It had to be completed in one day.
3. It had to allow me to customize each day.
4. Last but not least, cute!

Here's what I did...
I printed out the boy's everyday tasks,
routines chores and a few extra things.
I cut the paper in strips,
then used Modge-Podge to attach them.
For the base I took large popsicle sticks 
and spray painted them.
You know I love me some spray paint. ; >
Once everything was secure I topped it off
with a clear coat of glossy acrylic.
Remember, I intend for these babies to last.
Finally this morning, everything was ready to go.
I separated them into jars.
Well not just any jars,
jars with ribbon of course.





The turquoise jar is James'
and the navy blue jar is Joseph's.
I also made an extra jar that includes 
green sticks for bigger chores
& silver sparkly sticks for summer fun.
Every morning I can decide what needs to be done
and load our jar full of instructions & fun. :)

There you have it,
the equivalent of a spoon full of sugar.
Just call me Mama Poppins,
because these jars full of instruction
promise to make the summer go round!

Need more ideas?
Stop by the DIY Showoff
and the CSI Project for inspiration.

7 comments:

{edie} said...

What an great idea Sarah---and the jars turned out adorable!
love to you,
edie

Country Mouse said...

Cute idea! Thanks for sharing!

Lisa at Paint in my Hair said...

These are cute - how has it worked out?

mamaTAVE said...

Nice idea! I think I will try this when my little one can read... although, I bet I could substitute words with pictures! Yes, I may have to try that. Thanks for the idea!

Yanet @ 3 Sun Kissed Boys said...

That's such a cool idea! I'll have to try that for my boys.

Melissa said...

I think this is a great idea. Seems like it would be easier to assign and track the chores, too. Now that Summer is almost over (UNBELIEVABLE!?!), How did it work out?

everbuddy dreams said...

This is a really good idea, more so, a reason to craft something cute. ;) My girls are still too little for chores but I'll be sure to pass this along to my mom for my teen sisters. I spent the past week over @ their house and for some reason my mom called me everyday to tell me to tell them what chores to do. This would've been so much easier!

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