Day 139: Scratch-Off Chore Card (fail).

Pinterest pin and website link.

I am so bummed this didn't work out!  I had such high hopes that my kids would love to do their chores (ha!) with this scratch-off chore card, but it was not worth the effort / frustration to make the cards and then was super messy while the kids were scratching off the paint.

Materials:
* tempera paint (darker colors are better)
* dishwashing soap
* chore card template
* paint brushes
* craft punch (or scissors)
* contact paper

Instructions:
Add a little soap to your paint and mix together.  Use the paint / soap combination to paint onto the contact paper.  Let dry and repeat again; do several coats so you can't see through the paint.  

While the paint is drying, print out chore cards with the template above, or create your own.

When the paint is fully dry, use a craft punch to cut circles from the painted contact paper.  This step was disastrous for me -- my contact paper kept getting stuck in my craft punch and paint flecks were everywhere.

Peel off the back of the contact paper and adhere one painted circle on top of each chore.  As you can see, peeling off the back resulted in even more flaking of the paint.  Plus, even with 3 coats of paint, the chores could be seen through the painted contact paper on my daughter's pink chore card.

Give each child his/her own chore card and a shiny coin, and start cleaning -- or not.  My son figured out that the cleanest way to see the chore was to peel off the painted contact paper.

Getting the hang of scratching off the paint -- which involved lots of paint chip clean-up afterwards and a frustrated 4 year old (and Mom)!

Verdict: FAIL.

40 Bags in 40 Days: Week 4 Update.

Heading towards the home stretch of this "40 Bags in 40 Days" Project!

25: Toiletries (nail polish, unused medicines, extra hair dryer, etc.)

Messy.

Paired down and organized.

26: Daughter's clothing to save for her -- I was sentimental about giving away my kids' newborn to 4T clothing, but found that it was much easier to get it out of my house if a) it was going to someone I know and love and b) I saved a few of my favorite items and included a picture of the kids in each outfit.

Clothing and pictures to save.

Packed away in her "hope chest" (a.k.a. a Sterilite tub!).

27: Son's clothing to save for him.

Clothing and pictures to save.

Packed.

28: Son's room.

29. Entryway closet.

Before.

After.

30. Craft, picture, gifting storage closet.

Friday Favorite -- Sweeping Game.

Pinterest pin and website link (I'll  be going back to this site -- there are some good tips here!).

The entire time I had this blue tape on our kitchen floor, my son would beg me to let him sweep after meals.  The second I took the tape up (because it was annoying me to look at it), he was no longer interested -- or even seemed to remember that he'd ever swept before.  I think ugly blue tape on my hardwoods is worth the extra help with housework -- it will be back in place tomorrow!