Thursday, July 17, 2014

Day 2: Motivate the toddler #100DaysofPinterest


DAY 2: motivate the toddler



If your household is anything like mine then you are going to love this next pin. 

There’s an unruly three-year-old stampeding through our castle demanding everything under the sun except the sun itself, although I am expecting that any day now. 

After some thought about how to tackle the madness I came up with a reward system. It’s simply titled, “I did it for a ticket.” She understands that usually upon giving or receiving of a ticket there is a prize or gift. Think Chuck E. Cheese or a train ride at the mall. Both involve tickets and awesome kid rewards. 

I made this not-so-pretty display during a quick crafting session to see if potty training and other daily activities would happen a little easier if my daughter would “win” something at the end. I should have busted out the Cricut but I didn’t have time. 

For those that know us, you know Amelia wears glasses and wears an eye patch for 1 hour a day. I suggest putting tasks on the board that you know your child needs encouragement to do, especially ones that might not be particularly fun. 

So far it’s been about a 50/50 reaction to the ticket-reward concept. She hasn’t redeemed the first week’s collection of tickets yet. So, I think once she sees what she can get for all of her hard work next week will be a much better reaction. 

I was inspired by the “Behavior Bucks” I found on this blog.

If the ticket system fails I might resort to money. But for now I’m hoping Amelia will be satisfied with her tickets. 

It’s been a few days since the implementation and she is starting to get excited about putting the tickets in the slots. This is also teaching her how to read and recognize words associated with pictures. It’s a mom win-win. 

I’m praying this day 2 pin works. If it proves successful I can foresee it growing with us for years to come. 

How it works: For every deed completed Amelia earns one ticket. I’ve decided to make each ticket worth $0.05 (5 cents). She will then have the chance to buy prizes or save the tickets for a bigger prize. I’m guessing she will spend them rather than save them. But that’s OK. This momma doesn’t care what she does with her tickets as long as the daily routine goes a little bit smoother. 

I thought of taking away tickets for all of the "No's" I'm still getting, however, I decided not to use negative conditioning. Instead I remind Amelia she will not earn a ticket for something she doesn't do. 

Also, I suggest using envelopes or something loose. I already discovered the tickets are hard to get out of the the little pockets I made because the paper rips when I stick my fingers in there. The board might need an update later down the road. 


Now let’s tackle today’s Bible study lesson. The word of the day is “encouragement.” This a big word both phonetically and rhetorically. Romans 15:4 reminds us “through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” With God’s help my husband I will continue to encourage Amelia to learn how to live right and just while achieving daily goals such as potty training and wearing her eyeglasses. 


We all have our own personal struggles to conquer. I pray you find ways to overcome yours as we are slowly doing, too,  by the will of God and the faith we have in His ability to make us better people by seeking Jesus everyday. 


Until next time,

Melissa Merkler

Monday, July 14, 2014

Day 1: Get Organized #100DaysofPinterest


DAY 1: GET ORGANIZED



First I cut off the lid of the shoe box. It can remain on if you intend to close it. 

Next  “design” the box using Duct tape. The box could be painted, plastered with stickers, covered with wrapping paper or just left as is if you're in a hurry or just lazy. 

Next hot glue the bottom of the toilet paper rolls and place anywhere inside the box. 

To create larger storage tubes tear apart empty ribbon spool and hot glue together as seen here in the picture. Be sure to match up the sizes or the tubes will not be even.

Cover with Duct tape for extra stability (and it’s prettier).  Hot glue into place or not if you want to move them around. Hindsight I wish I had not glued my in place. 

The final step is to organize the supplies.

The little pink lid (bottom right picture) holding the crayons is from a laundry detergent bottle. It fits perfectly inside the spool tube. It lifts out when little hands want to color. 



In my pursuit to get closer to God I am incorporating an impromptu Bible study. I hope you will follow along with me on my quest to learn more and be a better Christian. 

Today’s word associated with this pin is “crafty.” Before looking up the definition and the meaning according to the Bible it didn’t occur to me that the word I often call myself actually has a negative connotation if used improperly. 

According to www.dictionary.com crafty means, “skillful in underhand or evil schemes; cunning; deceitful; sly.”

And, in the ESV Bible crafty is directly referenced twice once in Genesis 3:1 and then again in 2 Corinthians 12:16 when Paul addressed the Corinthians-- both not referring to scrapbooking!

The word crafty has taken a few jogs around the block and now it is most commonly associated with someone that is creative and skillful, such as a DIYer, sewist or artist. That’s what I think of when I define it in my head. 

What do you think? Comments and questions are always welcome. 

Thanks for reading my blog and I hope you have fun crafting

Until next time,

Melissa Merkler

My desk is a little more organized now that all of this junk is contained to a box instead of floating around getting in the way. Phew, Day 1 is complete. Good night!




Sunday, February 5, 2012

Amelia's Thanksgiving Tutu

Pics to follow

Madison's Sweet 16 Party

Pics to follow

Harper's Birthday Owl

This was a special "first birthday owl" that I made for Harper. Unfortunately, I forgot to take proper photos of it before wrapping it up. So at the party I had to sneak off and snap a quick photo while at the party!



"Happy Birthday" fabric



Usually I put a heart on the backside, however, this time I put a "1" to represent her first birthday!

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Is that a real pumpkin?

Pumpkins! Pumpkins! Pumpkins!


OK, so I made the first pumpkin from scratch and I was somewhat pleased with it. But when I showed it to my husband, he was less than thrilled about it and "made suggestions." It actually hurt my feelings at first, but then I decided to apply that negative energy into a new pumpkin and the results were 100 times better! Take a look at the before and after!


I have now decided to make a Thanksgiving Cornucopia and other fruits and vegetables. But for now, all I have are these two lonely pumpkins. 




Pumpkin # 1







Pumpkin # 2