Kids | Blue Cricket Design

Kids in Training: Keeping a Room Clean and Orderly! Giveaway and Free Printable

March 11, 2013 By Becca 8 Comments

I know I’m not the only who has struggled with trying to help my kids keep their rooms clean! It was a constant battle and frustration in my home. I would often give up and clean it myself but the reality of them missing out on this important life lesson and skill finally won me over and I had to come up with a better plan!

In my e-book “Kids in Training” I drive head first into this very topic and share how we turned a corner when it came to conquering the bedroom clutter and keeping it clean! Can you believe after I put a few new daily responsibilities into action that my 9 and 7 year old daughters have been able to keep a spotless room for over 4 months in a row!!! CRAZY, I know!

It all came down to making them responsible, minimal daily pick up and seeing the potential that their personal space had hidden under all the piles and mess!

My girls do a few thing EVERY single day. By keeping on top of it they are never left with the daunting task of cleaning a disaster zone. I share our tips and tricks in Chapter 1 of “Kids in Training: Life lessons that will help lead to productive, responsible and grateful kids!” Keeping a room clean and orderly becomes totally manageable for little ones with a little direction, motivation and organization.

I’ve created a few fun chore charts that you can use to help your kids stay on top of their bedroom responsibilities! Help them identify a few daily tasks that will help them keep a clean room. By seeing what they need to do and marking it off when it’s done, they will feel the pride that comes with being responsible. I also talk about fun incentives and rewards for their continual hard work.

These weekly chore charts are great for helping your kids keep track of their progress! Insert daily bedroom chores on the blank lines and have them mark them off as they accomplish their chore! Things to consider putting on the charts…

Make Bed

Clean Desk

Clean Dresser

Clean floor

Clean closet

Toys put away

Customize it to your kids room needs or areas that have been a struggle. If they have had a hard time keeping books in order add that chore to the daily list! Doing 5-10 minutes of daily work will totally help keep a space in order!

Read more about what’s been working in my home by reading “Kids in Training!” Along with helping my kids keep a clean room, I touch on 9 other helpful life skills that are helping me teach my kids how to be productive and responsible!

If you purchase a copy of “Kids in Training” Now through March 19th, you will be entered into our “Clean Room Giveaway!”

These fun items are the perfect tools to help any kids room become organized and ready to KEEP clean! Items are being ordered and shipped from Amazon so they are subject to availability once a winner is chosen! Winner will be chosen from my e-book sales log and announced on the Blue Cricket Design Facebook Page March 20th! If you have already purchased a copy you are automatically entered to win!

Click below to purchase “Kids In Training!” Check out is via paypal and the pdf version will be emailed to you after you check out!

Filed Under: Becca's posts, e-book, Free Printable, kids

8 Comments

First day of school

September 3, 2012 By Becca 7 Comments

The first day of school is a big deal over here at the BCD house! It has been since the day I sent my first preschooler off for the very first time! This year was no differentand with all three of my littles off to school all at once I took full advantage of capturing this special day!

It wouldn’t be the first day of school without a fresh box of Crayola Sidewalk chalk! This has become our signature first day photo op and this year Charlie got in on the action!

Grab an iconic black board and a bistro chalk pen and create this super simple “first day of school ” sign.

I borrowed this vintage school desk from a good friend and and piled on the thrift store books to help create this fun little scene. I absolutely adore the way these turned out!

These frames from “Cut it Out” make the perfect personal sign. I create the printable and painted each unfinished frame keeping in mind what my girls outfits were and painting them a coordinating color.

I can not believe it’s back to school already for these little ones. These three will be all grown up sooner then we know it and I know I’ll treasure theses photos forever!

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“Good Morning America” came to my house to film a segment on “The first Day of School!” It was a day my whole family will never forget. The segment should air sometime this week so be sure to fan the Blue Cricket Design facebook fan page ! As soon as I know when it will air I will post details there! More details on my day with GMA to come!

In the mean time…

I created a FREE printable ready for you to download! Enjoy these ” First day of…” signs: Preschool through 12th grade! Please feel free to share and pin.

First Day of School Pre-12th

Filed Under: Becca's posts, Free Printable, kids, Photography

7 Comments

Hand stitched Cards by ” Teal and Lime”

February 17, 2012 By Becca 3 Comments

This year I wanted to start a tradition of the boys exchanging handmade gifts. Of course I helped considerably with my youngest’s gift for his brother. My older son was able to offer a lot more help with his little brother’s gift. First up was lacing cards for Jax (<2 years old) to give Pepé (4 years old). This project is so easy, but has the power to keep little hands busy for a while.

DIY Lacing Cards

I purchased card stock shapes from Michaels. Each shape comes in a package of 10 for $1.99. We chose stars, houses, and two types of leaves. You can also create your own shapes on heavy duty card stock. To keep this project as quick as possible, I opted to buy pre-cut shapes. We used some for lacing cards, others for gift tags, and saved the rest for future art projects. I punched holes with a 1/8″ hole punch around the perimeter of each card.

We cut one yard lengths of yarn to lace with. To make them easier to thread through the holes I used white electrical tape to bind the ends like shoelaces. We included a variety of fun colors from our yarn stash in the arts and crafts storage center. The yarn scraps were lovingly donated by Grandma who crochets towels for her Etsy shop.

Lacing cards are great for fine motor skill development. For my very active 4 year old, I know they can keep his little hands and mind busy. He loves to have a project to do (just like his mama). This is a great project for him while mama sews. The lacing cards can also be reused over and over again. He can even color the cards if he likes.

For more great ideas from Jackie please visit “Teal and Lime”

Filed Under: Contirbutors, kids

3 Comments

Guest Post: Angry Birds FREE printable by My Concrete Sky

December 19, 2011 By Becca 5 Comments

who doesn’t love angry birds?

last time i checked, they are pretty close to taking over the world…

(or at least pinterest pins, eh?

well, if i’m being completely honest, angry birds aren’t quite my thing, but my 4 year baby boy is sure obsessed! and i have this 6 year old daughter, who kinda likes angry bird herself, but mostly just loves making stuff for other people!

so put the two simple joys together and voila!

a fun, handmade, mommy/baby nugget ANGRY BIRDS project/sibling gift!

i wish i was clever enough to claim this idea all as my own,

but instead i am just super grateful for the genius idea i found here…

i changed it up and bit and instead of hand painting each can, i created some printable labels because a) i don’t have the patience to paint each one individually! b) my daughter could then do most of the project herself (since it is her gift to little brother…)

today i am sharing those printable labels with you so that you and/or your babies

can make a fun set of your own!

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THE SUPPLIES:

+ recycled soup cans (in the amount of ‘pins’ you want to make…we had 10 for our set)

+ mod podge (i favor matte finish, but i’m sure glossy would be fab too!)

+ green acrylic paint (’2553 lime green’ by folk art from walmart for $0.97 is a great match!)

+ sponge brush (to apply mod podge)

+ regular brush (to apply paint, but you could use a sponge brush too…just use whatever you have!)

+ printed labels (you need one for each can you have…download below!)

THE PROCESS:

+ paint the cans (just the tops and about an inch around the top and bottom of the cylinder part…)

+ while you let the paint dry, cut out your bird labels

+ once paint is dry, generously apply mod podge (momma helped baby girl with this part…)

+ stick the bird labels to the mod podged cans

+ make sure the entire label is adhered to each can

+ apply coat of mod podge all over the now labeled cans (and to the painted can tops)

+ let it dry

+ stand back, admire and go gaga over your adorable creation

+ wrap it up pretty and give it to some angry birds addict who will love this real life set to bits and pieces!

A COUPLE MORE THINGS:

+ after one trial and error can, i discovered the easiest method for applying all coats of mod podge that i must share with you! (see photo below…)

put your hand in the can opening while you mod podge then you can apply mod podge on the entire circumference of the can without getting it all over your hands! once i was done mod podging, i slid the can off of my hand using the counter’s edge so i wouldn’t ever have to touch the stickiness! (you can see two finished cans in the background on the counter’s edge using this ‘slide-off-of-the-hand method’

+ also, mod podge both coats with the can’s ridges instead of against…much easier!

+ i bought an actual angry bird doll dude at a post-thanskgiving sale…if you’d like to make your own ‘bird ball’ there is a great tutorial from the same blogger that inspired this project here…+ a big thanks to heidi for posting her project so others could pin it (thereby allowing me to find it

and to freevectorsdaily.com, the site that so generously shared the angry bird images i used to create the labels…THANKS FOR SHARING!!

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our little set turned out even cuter than i anticipated (that’s always a good thing isn’t it?)

hope you have as much fun as we did making this simple present!!

happy holidays from our home to yours!!

Download the FREE printable HERE!

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alisa is living her dream and true calling as a full-time mommy/wife and as a nap-time artist/designer. She spends he days schnoogling her babies, avoiding laundry, finding order in the chaos, enjoying the journey, and cultivating a creative life. to see more of alisa’s work, please visit her at myconcretesky.com.

Filed Under: Free Printable, Just for fun, kids, Uncategorized

5 Comments

Wrapped Christmas books

December 1, 2011 By Becca 14 Comments

Christmas is all about creating fun family traditions and indulging the littles in extra fun! I loved the idea of wrapping up Christmas books and having the kids open one each night to read as a family! You’d think that finding Christmas/Winter themed story books would be hard and expensive but if you frequent Thrift stores like I do you’ll quickly find that it’s amazingly easy and affordable!

Thrift stores are chuck full of Holiday books! I paid 50 cents or less for every book. I left one store with 11 Christmas books! Two thrift shop visits later I had a full collection. I even grabbed Easter, Halloween and Valentines Day books to start those holiday collections!

Starting tonight we get dive into the book basket! I don’t know who’s more excited! Me or the kids.

Speaking of Christmas stories…what’s your all time favorite Christmas story?

Filed Under: Becca's posts, Christmas, Just for fun, kids

14 Comments

Cultivating a love of art in kids

November 12, 2011 By Becca 2 Comments

One of the most asked questions I get is how do I get so many projects done with a house full of kids? And my answer… GET THEM INVOLVED! It not only allows me to have time to be creative but more importantly it helps me encourage them to be creative, express themselves and develop their talents. It also helps them understand the creative process and in my opinion it’s never to early to have a love of art!

At my kids elementary school they are lucky enough to hav ethe PTA sponsored “Reflections” art program. Each year there is a theme and every student is encouraged to enter an art project. This years theme was “Diversity Means” and this is my Blue Birds project titled ” Every Gardens Different.” She did this all my herself, even the hot glue, she was supervised of course and she was so proud of it! It was a treat to see her do each step and get more excited as it came together!

She was so excited to turn in her art work! I hope that as my kids grow up they will will have fun memories of being creative!

Filed Under: Just for fun, kids, Paper projects

2 Comments

Googly eye picture

October 13, 2011 By Becca 5 Comments

This super simple craft is perfect for the kids! Googly eyes glued onto scrapbook paper and framed! Makes a great little vignette additive during this spooky time of year! Grab the school and kids and get to work! This project cost me $1. I used paper and a frame I already had and bought the googly eyes at Dollar Tree! That cute rat is also from Dollar Tree! LOVE that place!

Filed Under: Becca's posts, Halloween, kids

5 Comments

Huge Print preview!!!

September 22, 2011 By Becca 12 Comments

I saw a great segment on Studio 5 where the darling, Laci Davis, shared an AMAZING secret! She filled us in on the how you can get HUGE black and white photos printed at Blue Print Printing shops for WAY cheap! I knew I had to go check it out for myself!

So I took this photo…

And I had it printed to be 4′ x 3′! This print cost me $6.

And to put it into perspective, here’s the silly faced model sitting next to her larger then life print!

And here’s a funny story…when I went to go pick up the prints the guy who was helping me over the phone showed me his printing FAIL:

He accidentally put in the wrong dimensions on this picture of Cricket and this is what happened! Pretty funny huh! He gave to me for free and lets just say this thing might be hanging up as a family joke from here on out on special occasions! I’m thinking prom night, first day of her senior year!

I had my photos printed at SBR Technologies in Salt Lake City. To find a print shop in your area do a google or yellow pages search for ” Blue Print printing” and see what pops up. You will basically find printing costs for black and white for about 35 cents a square foot.

This was my test run! Now that I know I LOVE this technique I’m going to create a fun photo wall. I think this is a little too big for what I’m going for but you can print like this in any size so I’ll be getting creative!

These photos are printed on paper, not photo paper so they are not as sturdy as a photo print. This is what makes them so affordable so it’s a fun way to print photos and change them out!

*****

After I saw the HUGE long photo of Cricket I thought how fun would those look at a wedding reception!! Long huge black and white photos of the bride and groom hanging off large dowels with ribbon hanging all over! Makes me want to get married again!

Filed Under: Becca's posts, Before and After, Design, kids, My home, New Discoveries, On the Cheap, Photography, Wall Decor

12 Comments

First day of school headband

September 20, 2011 By Becca 4 Comments

This is what you get when you add a silk flower, a fabric rosette, a rounded pom pom, a fabric button and netting!

Gather your elements and create the clutter you like! Glue them onto a piece of felt, trim and hot glue onto a fabric covered headband!

Makes the perfect accessory for the first day of school!

Filed Under: accessories, Becca's posts, DIY, fabric, gift ideas, kids

4 Comments

Girl’s room make over part 1: Fresh coat of paint & Board and Batten

September 15, 2011 By Becca 8 Comments

My solution to the dreaded ” Mom! Mom!!!! We reeeeeeeeally want a pink room! PLEEEEESE!!”

Um yeah! Not a fan of pink rooms! Not a fan of soft, frilly, princess like loveliness! I know! I may in fact never win the “mother of the year award” for not giving into “Pink” but I can still give them a great room that fits the rest of the homes feel! Colors that don’t scream kids room but are still youthful and fun!

So my solution is: PINK Board and Batten accent wall!

BEFORE:

Now don’t hate me or send me nasty emails for painting over this darling mural! I know! I know! It’s a crime! But honestly…it served it’s purpose in the playroom but with us moving the big girls into this space I knew I had to kiss it goodby!

First’s things first…when you paint over any sort of mural you need to sand the paintings. They might feel flush to the wall but trust me! They will leave a raised impression so put in the time and sand.

This project is pretty affordable especially when you go for the more economical wood. These wood pieces were more “rustic” meaning they needed sanding and I took my time looking for pieces that were straight and not super knotty. This entire wall treatment cost me less then $20.

Board and Batten is pretty simple! Measure the lengths of each board, 45 degree angle cut the ends that will line up with your base boards, layout your boards being aware of outlets that might get in the way and nail then in place starting with the top horizontal wood pieces and then add the boards. Cover the nails with wood fill and paint!

It really is that simple!

Board and Batten Color: “Wazzup” by Kwal

Now we are both happy! The girls get a dose of pink and I’m happy to not have a “Blush and Bashful” room in the house! So much more to reveal as this room comes together!

Here’s a little preview on the new bedding…

Bedding found at TJ MAXX and Home Goods! It’s youthful and not juvenile and that’s exactly the direction I wanted to go!

Stay tunes for more girls room makeover posts to come!

Filed Under: Becca's posts, Before and After, Decorating, Design, DIY, Home Improvement, kids, My home, On the Cheap, paint, Uncategorized, Wall Treatments

8 Comments

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