Saturday, August 25, 2012

New Pieces, New Savings, Newness All Around

Hey there.  Now that both my boys are in elementary school (a totally new experience for all of us), I find I (sometimes) have a bit more time...although this is tempered by the fact that my husband is in Scotland on business for 5 (five) weeks (also a totally new development)!  A prime example of that whole giveth, taketh away thing.  Anyhoo, I was able to create and list 20 new pieces in my Etsy shop this week, in between working on some pieces for a friend, laundry, grocery shopping, running errands...

Here's a quick peak:






In celebration of all the newness, how about a new way to save?  Now through September 9, save 20% on any order from HandstampedOriginals with Coupon Code: SCOTLAND.

Speaking of Scotland, my shop will be closed September 10 through September 24 as the boys, my parents, & I will be traveling to Scotland.  :D

Thursday, August 16, 2012

School Daze

Hey there.  Today was the big day--my babies are now in 3rd grade and Kindergarten!!!  How did that happen?  I wanted to share my favorite pic from this morning:



Can you see the excitement on my little guy's face?!?  So ready to be a big kid!

I'm in a bit of a school daze (sorry, the boys are big into puns right now) myself--restructuring my daily schedule, planning DIY projects, and working on new jewelry pieces.  More soon.

~Melissa

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Back To School Visual Schedule & A Free Printable For You

So, I'm a sucker for a schedule--especially when it comes to getting the kids up, ready & out the door for school.  And, it turns out kids really respond well to schedules, too--especially visual schedules (schedules with pictures).  For years I've utilized the free resources of Do2Learn for picture cards for use at home with my kids.

As our school starts in just 8 days, and since for the first time ever, both my boys will have to be up and ready for a full day of school, I decided a little visual reinforcement might help...  As with so many past adventures, the Target Dollar Spot came to the rescue!

I found this handy dandy "Pocket Chart Scheduler" in the Target Dollar Spot for just $1 (I bought several colors because I anticipate several uses...):



Here's what our School Day Morning Schedule looks like:



My plan is to have a big colorful paperclip assigned to each boy (Jack=red; Sam=blue) attached to the schedule, which each boy will be responsible for moving as he moves through the schedule.  I'm thinking of including some incentive for completing the schedule independently (that is, without reminders from me--what are the odds?? :D ).

Here is a free PDF printable of our School Day Morning Schedule for your use.  I used a Landscape orientation for the document.  Enjoy!

Anybody else out there have some creative kid scheduling/organization tools, ideas or projects?

~Melissa