Small Town Crafts: August 2010

Ok, just as I promised, here are my details and tutorial of my handy chore chart.
So the first thing you need to know is that this isn't an every single chore, chore chart. It's mostly thing we over look on a weekly basis, i.e walls, cabinets, baseboards, floors. I know everyone vacuums every day, and does kitchen and living room cleaning, the basics. The chores that i've picked are deep cleaning chores. When it says floor, it's not just the kitchen, it's every floor in the house. Trust me the first week or two it's hard work, but one a month goes by and everything is clean, it's mostly just keep up. For instance, when you do the walls, it's mostly spot cleaning, the first week you will have many more spots than a month from now.

So this is my list of chores that I do, It's different for everyone, and there are so many more that can be added. Bathrooms we clean on a daily basis and keep it tidy, but this lets me know that I need to go in and make sure cabinets are organized, showers are scrubbed and tp is stocked. And cabinets is a wipedown or wood shining of kitchen and bathroom cabinets.

Mondays: Dust and Cabinets
Tuesday: Walls and Baseboards
Wednesdays: Floors and Windows
Thursdays: Mirrors and Garbage
Fridays: Bathrooms and Couches
Saturdays: Yardwork

It's also a laundry chart, I used to pick one day and do ALL the laundry on that day. Yes it was called......Laundry day, or the dreaded day. I soon realized the day after Laundry day was the hardest cleaning day. Since I was so focused on laundry all day my daily duties of that day got put off until later. So I started doing a few loads everyday. I can actually see my laundryroom floor now, everyday, it'a amazing! At the end of everyday I gather all the dirty clothes from our rooms and bathrooms and sort them in there bins in the laundryroom. Then I have designated days that I do certain loads. I always put laundry first, as soon as I roll out of bed I throw in the load of laundry. I also fold it as soon as it's dry whenever possible. If you stick to this system your loads won't usually be massive, so it'll be your new favorite chore...hehe....okay, that's a strech.

Mondays : Bedding, All sheets and Blankets
Tuesdays: All colors
Wednesdays: All towels and Dog stuff (beds or blankets)
Thursdays: delicates and area rugs
Fridays: Boys Clothes
Saturdays: Whites and Church

I'm sure it's different for everyone, but you put your schedule in an order of convience. I do all the whites on Saturday because my husband is a painter and he wears all white when he works. I do it all Saturday so I never have to worry through the week if he has clean clothes. Some days are easier than others, like my color days I have more loads than any other day.

NOW ON TO THE TUTORIAL:

Items needed:

Magnetic paint and Chalkboard paint (magnet paint says it should take only 2 cotes, but i did 5, test with a magnet in between each coat until you are satisfied)
Magnetic paint should be applied first and Chalkboard is abt 2-3 coats.

A large mirror or even a picture frame with wood. I had an extra mirror that I wasnt using, it's 24" wide and 36" tall. If your using a mirror or glass make sure to scuff it up a bit with a piece of fine grit sand paper so it doesnt just peel off.

Then take a 2" piece of painters masking tape and tape up the edges, try not to put too much of the tape under the fram or it can cause peeling. After you've masked and scuffed the mirror it's time to paint!
I never use brushes on chalkboard projects because of brush lines. I usually use one of my husbands paint rollers. There are small and large ones available depending on your project. For this one I used a 3" roller, make sure it's wool and not foam. Then I just followed the directions on the cans. let 15 minutes to dry in between coats, and 1 hour or more in between the magnetic and chalkboard.

The last thing you have to do is come up with your game plan. Which days are convient for which chores and laundry (those of you with older kids(or a lot of kids) are gonna have a sparkling house) Then using scrapbook paper cut out strips and then using Scrapbook lettering put yours chores on the strips. I used two different papers, one for laundry and one for chores. Then laminate your pieces and cut them out. Hot glue one thick circular magnet onto the back of each piece.
Then lable your chart Chores, I used Precut letters, I also used them to lable the days of the week. And there you have it, your deep clean Chore Chart!