We've been talking about first-time obedience and attitude a lot recently with her and we decided we'd give a behavior chart a try. She has one at school that lets her know how well she's doing and she always talks about it. So we thought, why not do this at home!?
Normally they look like this:
If the kid is good, their name moves up on the chart and there is the possibility for rewards. If they misbehave there are consequences, and the more they misbehave the more consequences there are. BUT every day they start out with a clean slate. There's a Bible verse about that somewhere... ;)
Well, I wanted to make one that was a bit nicer looking than the school ones. Here's what I did! Good luck!
Materials from the craft store
Substitute whatever you'd like to make it your own.- beveled chip board with holes
- 2 pages of scrapbook paper (keep in mind what your child likes, but that its going in YOUR house)
- wooden letter
- 12 pack of magnets with adhesive backing
- mini picket fence
- sticker pack
- butterfly charm
- Mica Fragments (not shown)
- Hemp rope (not shown)
Other Tools and Supplies
- Mod-Podge or white glue
- Tacky Glue (I'll explain why I have two types of glue in the directions)
- Hole punch
- scissors
- x-acto knife
- needle nose pliers
- wire cutters
- ruler
- Sharpie
- craft paint
- paintbrush & foam brush
Step 1
First, color the outer edge of the board black with the Sharpie. It will just make it more finished looking. I colored the edge of the letter black also.
Then measure the INSIDE edge of the board. You don't want the whole thing because you'll want to see the bevel. So make sure you measure correctly!
Mark your measurements on the back of your background paper (so your marks won't show on the finished product) and then cut out your paper. Place it on your board and mark where the holes are. I used a skinny pen I had.
Step 2
Punch out the holes and then put a thin layer of Mod-Podge or white glue on the back of your paper. I used the foam brush to put the glue on, because they're cheap, disposable and won't leave hairs on my project.
Carefully put your paper in place on the chip-board, lining up the holes. Lay it on it's face on a clean surface and put something heavy on it. This isn't horribly necessary, but it makes me feel better about life.
Step 3
Grab your other paper and roughly cut out around your letter. This just makes it easier to handle. Then put glue on your letter and place it on the BACK of your paper, so the nice side of the paper faces out.
Place it, paper side down, on a clean surface and put something heavy on it.
Step 4
While your glue is drying, get your mini picket fence and count out 10 posts. Take post 11 and 12 out of the wires and snip the wires before the 13th post. You should now have a short length with 10 posts on it.
Use your needle nose pliers to bend the excess wires around themselves so there's nothing to poke anyone sticking out. I used bent nose pliers, but regular pliers would work. Or your fingers, if you're really awesome.
Step 5
Time to paint!! Pick out a color scheme that goes with your papers and stickers. I decided to use shades of reds and pinks. Except for the white, I mixed a little bit of pink into ALL of the colors, so they would all match. Don't be afraid to mix colors! Experiment.
I labeled my posts before I painted them, so I wouldn't mess up. But you don't have to. I also used scrap paper as my pallet because I'm cheap and too lazy to get a paper plate.
Step 6
This step might not be necessary depending on the charm you got. Mine had loops where you could add it to a necklace or something and I didn't want those.
Cue the wire clippers! It took some effort but I snipped off the loops and used the clippers to nibble it down until it looked right. Be warned though, sometimes the metal on the inside is different from the surface. Also, be VERY careful doing this with something that isn't metal. The stress could crack the whole thing in half. Know that its a risk.
Step 7
Mini step - I took the butterfly and stuck it onto one of the magnets, but I didn't like how I could see the magnet showing. It was the adhesive part too, so that means it would collect dust and dog hair. No good. So I stole some glitter from my daughter (she didn't mind) and put it on. No glue required because the adhesive was already there!
Step 8
Your glue should be dry by now on your board and letter. Cut out the letter, doing as much as you can with scissors before moving onto the x-acto knife for the annoying part.
Don't forget to put down a magazine or cutting board to protect your table from the x-acto!
Step 9
No Picture! Sorry!!
Take more Mod-Podge and coat the nice side of your letter and board with a secondary coat. Using the mica fragments or glitter or rhinestones, whatever you want, give it some sparkle because your little girl is kinda like a crow in that she likes things that are shiny.
You could use white glue for this also, because it dries clear, but be careful because it doesn't go on as smooth. Just take your time with it and you should be fine.
Step 10
Put it all together!! This is where the Tacky Glue comes in. Mod-Podge is designed for gluing paper on stuff or coating stuff. It isn't designed to hold large bulky things to other things. So I opted for Tacky Glue, which is much more versatile and has worked in the past.
White glue would probably work for both, but it does take a long time to dry when its used thickly.
This is also where you can add additional embellishments like stickers and whatnot. I also put the other magnets on the fence. Make sure your magnets stick together correctly before you put them on. There is a right and wrong way to do magnets!! Just try it out to make sure it works before you glue anything down.
Add a length of twine or hemp in the holes (not shown) and you're done!! The magnet butterfly can hop around with your child's behavior and hopefully stay on the top levels.
Just be sure to explain WHY they're in trouble, and you'll find they'll do it less. Good luck with the project and your parenting.
