Valentine Bookmark

With my son's class Valentine's Day party looming, I knew I didn't have much time but still wanted to have a little something extra for him to share with his classmates. Typically, there's a lot of candy going around that day, and I just didn't feel like anyone needed more. "Wanted" maybe, but didn't "need." So I decided to make them each a personalized bookmark instead.

They were quite easy with only 5 simple steps. I just need to leave a little more time to do things like this now that there are 23 students in his class, but I tend to leave things to the last minute.

Begin with a piece of white cardstock 1/2" smaller than the size bookmark you would like to make. I made mine 6" x 2". Use a hole punch to put a hole in the center of one end.

Next, use a heart punch to punch a couple of hearts into the opposite end.

Then add a layer of red printed fabric (or paper) onto the cardstock. It should be slightly smaller than the piece of cardstock. I used fabric and used pinking shears to add texture to the edges.

Add the student's name. I used my embroidery machine to stitch their names, then positioned the name on top of the fabric and sewed it in place. You can use any materials to create the name, such as rubber stamps, vinyl letters, or even hand-written with markers or crayons.

Next, tie a ribbon through the punched hold. I used a ribbon that frays when cut to add a little flare to the tied end.

Finally, glue the back of the cardstock onto a piece of red felt slightly larger that the piece of cardstock. I cut mine 2 1/2" x 6 1/2", then used pinking shears again to finish the edges.

That's it! Ready to use to mark your place.


My son presented them to his classmates today and they really seemed to appreciate them. His school is very big on extra reading, so everyone should have a use for them.

It was a Valentine's gift that won't rot their teeth, and hopefully will (indirectly) grow their intellect. Definitely beats another piece of candy that will be eaten and forgotten.

Hope you give it a try!

And be sure to check out the endless list of inspirational ideas at my home page childmade.com.


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The Verdict is IN!

The burger chore chart was a complete success!!! I mean really!! I don't normally babble on about my daily life, but this one just had to be shared. Plus, I did leave a few hooks in my Burger Chore Chart post that I needed to follow up on.

As predicted, my son zeroed in to the burger chart first thing in the morning, like a 90-yo and the bathroom. (Who am I kidding, how old am I?)

Anyway, he checked out all the chores and examined the "ingredients," though I stumped him with the carrots. :) Before I was out of my shower, he had 3 of them stacked. Which was quite humorous, actually, because the 3 morning chores evidently are mayonaise, mustard and pickles. Yum!

And, yes, HE MADE HIS BED! Without me saying a thing! All day was like that. Even up until bedtime, which he did without any fuss.

Best of all, he was very pleased with himself! And had fun doing it. The last thing he did before he went to bed was to "unstack" his burger so it would be ready for him in the morning.

Sigh....

Life is good. Now, for the story "between the lines..."

We had a bit of snow last night, so school called a late start, which meant it started an hour late. Though I would have liked to kill the hour in bed sleeping, my son wanted to talk about the chore chart. He needed a little more details on how it "worked." Like what was his reward if he did them all. But he also wanted to tell me that I missed a couple of chores! Can you believe it??

He wanted me to ADD TWO CHORES THAT I MISSED!! Well, okay!

So I had to make up a few more ingredients. I did onions and bacon and had them ready for him to check out when he got home. Which is exactly what he did.


He fed the dog early, read his 1/2 hour without any argument, even read a few extra minutes, and ran upstairs at bedtime.... Heavenly. Simply heavenly.

So I'm going to be adding another aspect to the chart. I wanted to be able to keep track of the days that he did all of his chores. At the end of the week, that will help determine his allowance. He and I talked, and we decided it would be fun to have a matching serving of french fries. Everyday he completes the whole burger, he'll get a french fry. He'll also get a french fry for everything "extra-ordinary" that he does, like if he demonstrates a random act of kindness. The more fries, the bigger the allowance.

And it's already been worth EVERY DIME it costs me!

I haven't made the french fries yet because I have to get some "golden brown" felt. And also because my son wants to help me make them. Bonus! I'll post a follow-up on how that goes.

I'll offer two modifications on the construction of the burger. First, the hot glue doesn't work well on the magnets, as I feared. I think I'll stitch another layer of felt to the back, enclosing the magnet on both sides. Second, I think the tab displaying the chore should be the same color as the ingredient, so that it blends in. Other than that, it has worked splendidly well.

So my recommendation on this project is: two thumbs up! Give it a try.

And be sure to check out the endless list of inspirational ideas at my home page childmade.com.

Burger Chore Chart

If you have children and you're anything like me, getting your child to do their chores can be quite a challenge. Making them fun, somehow, seems to be the best way to get my son's cooperation. I've tried a number of tools in the past, but as soon as it becomes a chore for me, then it no longer works.

So as I laid in bed last night half-asleep, I came up with this idea. Perhaps it was an overflow from all the cool felt food I've seen posted lately. Perhaps it developed out of desperation because I realized my son hadn't made his bed for weeks. (At least!)

Regardless of what drove it, I'm very excited about this idea! I whipped up an initial prototype tonight and plan on using it beginning tomorrow. I showed my son my preliminary work and even he was excited. Fingers crossed!

So here's what I put together...

First, I cut out and stitched a "bun" from tan felt. I used embroidery thread and added some sesame seeds to the top of the bun.

Then I added some strip magnets to the backs. I used hot glue, but I'm not sure how well it's going to hold up. I'll get back to you on how well (or not) after a little time trial.

Then I started making ingredients to put on the burger. Each one will relate to a chore. I used a label-maker to put the chore on the ingredient, since this is still in the experimental stage. If I make another one, I'll probably use my embroidery machine to apply the chore. But I'm sure there are any number of ways to do this part.

Then I put a strip magnet on the back of each of the sandwich ingredients...

... and a chore on the front.

For ingredients, I made a burger and tomatoes, ...

lettuce and cheese, ...

ketchup and pickles, ...

mustard and mayonaise, ...

and just to be silly, some carrots.

I didn't have patterns for any of them, just made a basic color/shape that represented the basic idea. I'm quite certain some of the felt food crafters reading this have much better models.


The bun and all the ingredients are going to get put on the front of the refrigerator. In the morning, I'm sure my son will check it out, and I predict he'll start building his burger right away, layering the ingredients into the bun as the chore is completed. He's usually good about brushing his teeth. I'm wondering if it will motivate him to make his bed in the morning?

If he has a really good day of getting his chores done, he can make a macho-manly, super-duper, gazillion-decker burger as a reward! As long as he doesn't decide not to do a chore because he doesn't like the ingredient. Like tomatoes. That would be a bummer. I would have to make some new ingredients, like candy and ice cream. Not that they would sound very tasty on a burger, but then that would be just like a boy, wouldn't it?


If you would like to try one of these, you might consider some other food groups too. I don't expect the interest in this to last forever, so I think I'll work on a pizza version to replace it ultimately. If this one is well-received anyway.

If you try something different, I'd really like to hear about it. Just drop me a comment or a note. And if you'd like to see the follow-up for my son's reaction, check out the results!

WINNER OF ...

Thanks for visiting! I hope you enjoyed my tutorial. If you'd like to see more like this, I'm sure you'll want to check out my Ice Cream Cone Chore Chart...


... as well as my Veggie Garden Chore Chart.



Also, check out my home page childmade.com. And please take the opportunity to share a few links of your own. It's a link party that never ends! To find out more, check out my "About" link.


I'll be linking up on the following McLinky parties:

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Button Heart Frame

If you're looking for a quick and easy craft for Valentine's Day, this one is perfect. And it doesn't require any special tools or skills. You don't even need glue.

I found this idea a few years back, but unfortunately I don't remember where I found it. I offered it one evening for a fun mom/daughter night out, and it was a big hit.

Start by gathering the supplies. You'll need a frame, some white felt, red fabric, red embroidery thread, and a handful of red and white buttons. Of course, you can alter these colors in any manner to create different combinations.

Cut the white felt into a rectangle to fit the size of the frame. Then in the center of the cut piece, cut out a heart shape. (Save the cutout, as I'm sure the heart shape can be used for another project.)

Next, apply a blanket stitch to the outline of the heart. If you're not big on a blanket stitch, even a simple decorative straight stitch would work too.

Place the finished heart into the frame, finished side facing the front of the frame.

Next, fill the heart with buttons, facing the buttons to the front of the frame. The buttons won't be secured in any way beside the closure of the frame.

Next, cut a piece of red fabric to fit the frame, and lay it on top of the buttons.

Close the frame, making sure the frame backing secures tightly. If not, add a layer or two of cardboard to make sure the back is tight so the buttons don't slip behind the felt.

And when you're finished, flip it over and it should look something like this.

Simple, fun, quick, and perfect for Valentine's Day.

If you like how easy this is, the same idea works well for other holidays too. You can do a shamrock for St. Patrick's day, a bell for Christmas, a pumpkin for Thanksgiving, etc. You get the idea.

And the really great thing about this craft is that if you ever get tired of it, you can salvage the buttons for another project. A great way to be "green."

Thanks for visiting! I hope you enjoyed my tutorial. If you'd like to see more like this, check out my home page childmade.com. And please take the opportunity to share a few links of your own. It's a link party that never ends! To find out more, check out my "About" link.




I'll be linking up on the following McLinky parties:

Monday
Metamorphosis Monday
Just Something I Whipped Up
It's So Very Cheri
Make it Mondays at the Persimmon Perch

Tuesday
Toot Your Horn Tuesday
Today's Creative Blog

Wednesday
Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Designs

Thursday
Transformation Thursday
Show Off Your Stuff Party
Strut Your Stuff Thursday
Thrifty Thursday
Get Your Craft on at