Three Cheers for Chores!

Pretty much all the schools nowadays use some type of dry erase board (or more sophisticated system.) Gone are the days of dusty, chalky erasers and fingernails scraping on the chalkboard. So I thought that if dry erase was the more advanced technology in schools then I would try to use it to bring our chore charting system to the modern age. (Not that we have any problems with the current system...)

This is our chore chart currently. It sticks to the fridge. It holds the three chores that are rotated each week next to the youngster's initial who is supposed to do it. (And yes, it is a miniature Doodle Pro and I'm only slightly embarrassed by that.) The system we have in place for the chores the kids have on a regular basis goes something like this: I yell at them to clean their rooms or some other task and they look at me with a puzzled look on their faces as though I'm speaking some untranslatable alien tongue. ("Clean? Room? What? I have no idea what you're saying!")

So eventhough we have a near perfect system already in place, there is always room for improvement.

So to add the dry erase element to our chore system I needed some glass. I found this lovely frame at the Goodwill.

And some scrapbooking paper to add a decorative edge. (I really don't know why the pattern photographed in purple--it's actually a bright pink.)

I taped some computer paper together to make a rough draft of what I wanted. I used a pencil and ended up just playing around with it until I had a design that made sense for our family.

I wanted to use my labelmaker so the chart would be very neat. Plus the fact that I like to put labels on almost anything.

For all the food and pantry items.

For anything I can shove into a plasic container. (And yes, the dog is on a gluten free diet. It is unfortunate that she can't read the label.)

I was happily using my label maker for the chart when it ran out of tape. Bummer! The next day I went to four different stores looking for it. They were all either sold out or didn't carry it to begin with. The Husband's suggestion was to just write it by hand which I promptly dismissed. I mean I couldn't write on it because I wanted it to look neat, remember?

Of course, the next day I felt differently about it. (Maybe he hypnotized me in my sleep.) I thought that if I wrote it in cursive it might give it a more vintage look. (Yes, I'm reaching here...)

I spray painted the frame in Heirloom White by Rustoleum. The dry erase markers work wonderfully. I can write all over the glass and it just wipes right off.

I ended up flipping one portion of the patterned paper and didn't notice until it was all cut and taped down. My writing is a little wonky but I actually really like how it turned out. Our home is going to be ship shape! (For some reason that now escapes me, I thought that it would be nice to photograph it outside. All the weird shadows and patches of light are from the sun.)

I never did find new label tape. I guess I'll just label everything by hand now--You can call me "Sharpie Girl."