Kids Command Center

I love all the command centers I see on Pinterest but I just didn't know if I needed one and didn't know where to put it. Well then every day my son was coming home from school asking what we had planned for the day. And my daughter needed help understanding the concept of days and weeks. She needed to be able to count the days before an activity or just the weekend. So I decided they at least needed a calendar. But of course I can't just add a calendar, that would be too easy!

So I found my wall. The only problem, it has a pocket door and I could not put any nails in the wall for fear of scratching the door. So here is before. The wall is right by our back door and mudroom.

Enter the Command products. 

I used the picture hanging strips for some clip boards and cell phone holder to hold the pens. I got my clipboards from the dollar store.

The cell phone holder actually has a hole in the bottom so I added paper to the cup to cover the hole.

I came up with a plan for my wall and measured it out. I used a level to connect the dots and draw a straight line. I then taped it off and used chalkboard paint. I have a very textured wall so chalk doesn't work well but chalk markers have worked really well to label areas on the wall. 

This new wall is far more functional than I could have even imagined! I love the pretty at the top, since they can't reach anything high it was fun to fill with pretty ( I hung the flags with push pins). And the kids love having the calendar to refer to when they want to know our plans. It is just their calendar so it doesn't have any of my stuff on it. I got the dry erase calendar from Staples, it is a Martha Stewart self adhesive calendar. 

I found these quotes at The Handmade Home.  I printed them out on card stock and hung them with washi tape. They are perfect and they have lots of choices to pick from so I could easily change them out later.

Each child has their own color for activities and they have been crossing off the days as they are done. They each have their own clipboard for spelling lists and reading programs and behavior charts. The two older kids have two or three reading programs they are involved in for school and it has been so helpful to have everything in one place since it all has to be recorded on a daily basis. This has been a life saver for me. No more taping lists to the inside of EVERY cabinet door or misplacing them on the counter that seems to swallow papers. It is so easy to grab a spelling list to work with kids or for my daughter to put her own stickers on her reading chart. Who knew that little task would make her so proud.

Do you have a family command center? What do you have in yours? Has it made your life easier too?


Featured at: Cherished Bliss

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Winter Mantle

I finally took my Christmas mantle down, I really liked that one so it was hard to take down. Just when I think I have packed all the Christmas decorations away I find another wreath or bowl full of ornaments. Does that happen to you?  I hope I find everything soon, I didn't have that much out.

At least my mantle is done, for now. I would really like to find a mantle setup that I keep up longer than a holiday. It is too much work changing it with each holiday. We will have to see

I started with a bunch of S's (Our last name starts with an S) that I found at Joann's and Hobby Lobby.  And I painted them up in either white, gold or blue.

For one of the gold letters I added a blue edge. I love how it turned out. (If you will notice I added a thumb tack to the bottom to keep it from rolling away) S is hard, I had to eliminate several choices because I didn't know how I was going to get it to stand.

I love this little gold S. It is fun to add more gold to the house.

Since we are in Wisconsin and we got about 8 inches of snow the other day it is best to embrace it. So "let it snow" is very fitting around here. We might as well get used to it and try to enjoy it. I would rather have the snow than the bitter cold.

I hope you are staying warm. I am headed off to a girls weekend! It will be so fun to catch up with friends I don't get to see much these days. So excited!

Have a wonderful weekend yourself!

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Kids Chalkboard Easel

Happy Monday everyone! I can't believe Halloween is this week! I need to buy some candy for trick or treaters. I try not to buy too early or it does not make it to Halloween.  I always seem to open a bag for just one piece and end up eating more and then my husband finds the bag and then it is all over. Sometimes I can hide it in the basement but it is always best just to wait until right before Halloween. So I think we are just about there. It should be a fun week with class parties and trick or treating.

I finished a quick little project over the weekend, it always feels good to get a little organized no matter how small the project. I love this easel, we got it at Ikea last year for the kids to draw pictures and practice letters and numbers. They use it a lot and I love that it has two sides so two kids can use it at the same time. But I really didn't like the mess of chalk and markers all mixed up together.

Here is a before, not terrible but I knew it could look better and maybe even be more functional.

So I was in Target getting some Christmas shopping done (yay me!) and I came across these cute buckets and letter stickers in the dollar section and I knew they would be perfect for the easel.

I added the stickers to the buckets in hopes the kids will keep things in their place. A mom can always hope. 

I found some fun chevron paper in my paper stash, I think I got it at Hobby Lobby. I just cut a 12"x12" piece in half and taped it to the bottom. I love how it turned out! It looks so much nicer and cleaner. It should work perfect for the child that wants to work on the white board side to just grab the bucket with the markers and then hopefully put it back when they are done.

It is such a little thing but it looks so much nicer when it is sitting in the kitchen all pretty.

What little things have you done that make a big difference?






Linked up at: The Silly Pearl, Suburbs Mama, My Love 2 Create

Halloween Mantle

Well we have skipped the 60's and 50's and gone right to 40 degrees, Brrr. Everyone is getting in the mood because I had a hard time finding boots in my kids sizes last night. The cold weather always seems to come too early. I have been enjoying the fire place and warm drinks though. Their is something very cozy about the cold weather.

I finally got my Halloween mantle put together and I really like it. Last year was the first year we decorated for Halloween, because the kids were begging. Of course it is not scary or bloody enough for my son. I have to remind him his younger sisters don't like to be scared nor do their friends that stop by to play (and I don't like the bloody creepy stuff either, but for now I will blame the girls).

I found the crow candle and all the glassware at Home Goods last year. The purple flowers were on clearance from World Market last year. The chevron picture was a DIY I did recently.

I love how my "BOO" turned out. It was the first time I free handed a chalk picture. I usually get inspiration from Pinterest or something.  I may have to try to be more creative in the future.

And every house should have some paper bats, so fun!

I love the bats on the wall. I found a great template last year here. I just used black card stock and put them on the wall with Handi-tak.

That is about it for our Halloween decorations. Do you decorate a lot for Halloween? Won't be long and it will come down for Thanksgiving decorations. This fall is going to fast.

I hope you have a Wonderful Day!


Linked up at: A Glimpse Inside, Imparting Grace, Liz Marie Blog, The 36th Avenue, Life Inspired, The Happier Homemaker, The Silly Pearl

Chalkboard Runner

Well I finally put together a Facebook Page so head on over to check it out! And feel free to "like" it.

I love the look of runners on a table but it always seemed like something else to clean and get spilled on. Plus fabric dangling over the side of the table just seemed too tempting for the kids, I could just see my son thinking it was a handle and give it a good pull. So when I saw this chalkboard runner over at the  Liz Marie Blog I was so inspired. It has been more fun than I even imagined. The kids have loved putting their names at their spot and drawing little pictures. It will be fun for each season to change up the pictures.

It was really easy to make. I popped into the Home Depot and found a board 9" by 6' and had them cut it in half. (I have plans for the other half) The cost was $4.15, I think.

I put two coats of chalk paint on the board and added felt pads to the bottom to protect the table. Then brought out the chalk and the kids went to town.

My daughter recently learned to make stars so they are on everything she draws. I love it!

I love this for fall and it will be so easy to change the fillers for Christmas as well as other holidays.

Not bad for a little over $2. I just can't get enough chalkboards lately.

It is supposed to get cold and windy this week and we might see snow flurries tomorrow. I swear it was just 70 degrees. I am not ready for such cold weather. I hope you are having warmer weather.

Have a wonderful day!

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The Silly Pearl

Linked up at: Uncommon Designs, Craft-O-Maniac, SKip to my Lou, Keeping it Simple, Cupcakes and Crinoline, Mad in Crafts, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Blackberry Vine, Coastal Charm, A bowl full of lemons, Sugar Bee Crafts, Hope Studios, A stroll Thru life, Handy Man Crafty Woman, DIY by Design, Someday Craft, The Life of Jennifer Dawn, The Happy Housie, The Trendy Treehouse, Cherished Bliss, Lamberts Lately, A Glimpse Inside, Imparting Grace, Life Inspired, The Happier Homemaker, Suburbs Mama, My Love 2 Create, Thrifty Decor Chick, Or so she says

My New Kitchen Wall

I really hope a house can't have too many chalkboards because I just added another one. I love the look of the chalk markers so I had to try one out for myself.

This is how the wall was before. We have had this wine rack for a long time and as you can see it is mostly empty. Because I like wine. So there isn't usually much hanging around. And an empty wine rack doesn't look that good. Sometimes I didn't drink a bottle because then the rack would be empty and that just seemed wrong.  So down she came.

I started by putting the pictures on the floor so I could see how they looked together. I even put tape on the floor showing how wide the wall was, I am VERY visual.

Then I cut out pieces of paper the same size as the pictures and hung those up. I then measured where the hooks were on each picture and marked that on the paper so I could put the nail right into the paper and the picture hung right where I wanted it.

I found these chalk markers at Michaels. They worked pretty good, but I would try a different brand if I bought more. You had to push down on the tip to release the paint/chalk and if it ran out half way through a letter it was hard to get it to look perfect when I went back. Maybe this is how they all are though.

I put chalkboard paint on the last of my canvas stash. Here is where I painted over a canvas for my mantle. I really love the look of the chalk marker, it is so crisp and bright. And I finally found a permanent location for my watercolor "S". Here is a tutorial I did on watercolor letters. The mirror was a birthday present from Ballard Designs.

I love this new corner, now it looks complete. The mixture of colors and finishes just feels perfect to me.

Have you used a chalk marker before? What is your favorite brand?

Have a wonderful day!!



Linked up at: Liz Marie Blog, One Project Closer, It's overflowing, Or So She Says, Suburbs Mama, Uncommon Designs, Craft-O-Maniac, Skip to my Lou, Keeping it Simple, Cupcakes and Crinoline, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Blackberry Vine, Coastal Charm, A bowl full of lemons, Sugar Bee Crafts, Hope Studios, A stroll thru life, Handy Man Crafty Woman, DIY by Design, Someday Crafts, The Life of Jennifer Dawn, The Happy Housie, The Trendy Treehouse, Cherished Bliss, Lamberts Lately, Imparting Grace, The 36th Avenue, Life Inspired, Thrifty Decor Chick