Good Girl Jar

I've created a good behavior reward system for my 3 (almost 4) year old daughter Addison! I first saw this idea here & thought it would be perfect for her. I've noticed that she thrives on rules & rewards lately. Not that she always obeys the rules :), but she likes to know what's expected of her.

I came up with 6 different activities that she could use encouragement on. Each small jar represents that chore or behavior.

The large tupperware is the rewards jar.

I spray painted the lids black (I used primer first) & cut out circles of different colored card stock. I used white card stock & Lindsay's Silhouette machine (thanks Lindsay! I've put it on my Christmas list!) to make the activities . I glued everything together with a glue stick, which worked fine for Day 1, but may need to be re-addressed with further wear & tear.

With each successful behavior, Addi can move 1 coordinating item to her reward jar. For eating well & asking to be excused from the table, she gets a green pom pom. Brushing her teeth earns her a blue flower. Cleaning up her room and the living room gets her a jingle bell. She gets a pink crystal ball for doing something kind for someone else. And a cross if she can recite her weekly bible verse. We've JUST started working on that one, so we'll see how it goes! And I notice that I'm a picture short. But purple is for bedtime. If Addi goes to bed (and does not get out of bed), than she gets a jewel in the morning.

The rewards jar consists of prizes that Addison loves! A piece of candy. A craft project. A trip to the store to get a new toy. And once it reaches the princess crown, SHE gets to pick the reward (within reason). Maybe a trip to the park or ice cream with Dad. I like the idea of letting her pick, but I'll have to see how that one plays out! The good thing about the reward icons, is that I can change them out if they don't seem to work or if she tires of them. I just printed the pictures on address labels so that I could cut them out and stick them on the jar.

Like I said, this was only the first day, but Day 1 was a huge success! Even my younger daughter (just turned 2) contributed to the jar tonight by brushing her teeth and picking up her toys! So this could be a great way to encourage team work with them! Well see!

Baseball Scoreboard {Wall Art}

When I saw this scoreboard in the Pottery Barn Kids catalog a few months back I tore it out (this was before I discovered Pinterest!) and knew I would do it "someday".

Well, that "someday" has come!




Last weekend while my husband was out of town, I got to work on this little project.
First things first... Wood!
I used some scrap plywood we'd been saving in the garage.
I measured the area the sign would hang and cut the plywood to size (4' x 3') using my jigsaw.

I chose to use the knotty side of the plywood to give it a little more character & spray painted it green.
When working with spray paint your colors are pretty limited so if I were doing it again I would have hand painted with a color closer to the PBK inspiration photo. I just like it better.

Once it was dry I used painters tape to mark my lines for the scoreboard. This is where the measure twice, tape once rule would have come in handy! After painting the middle line & ripping the tape off I realized that the two 'boxes' weren't the same size. My mom had come into town and we tried it again, this time successfully!

I created stencils for all the letters and numbers using my Silhouette machine. That little machine was AMAZING for this project.

Using a sponge brush I got to work. Tip: Use a rounded sponge brush for this. I just didn't have one on hand.

For the changeable score plaques I used paper templates to figure out how big they needed to be.

Then I used those templates to cut out the rectangles with my jigsaw & mitre saw. We then gave them a quick coat of spray paint.

Once they dried, I used my silhouette again to create the score stencils and painted them on. We drilled a small hole in the top of each piece of wood for the jute rope to slip through. Mom made a knot at one end with a loop to hang on the nail.

Last thing was to tape off the edge and paint a white border all around the scoreboard.

I nailed small nails in each of the Visitor/Home sections so that I could hang the score for each inning. Once I had them where I wanted them I tied a knot on the front of the plaque and trimmed the excess jute rope. I'm wondering how long it will take my 3 year old to figure out that these things can move (and be lost!). :)

He's pretty proud of the thing and I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. There are a few imperfections that bother me when I look at it, but overall the end result was exactly what I was going for. So, don't wait... Take those inspiration photos you've been Pinterest-ing and go for it!

UPDATED:I've had several questions about this project in the comments so I wanted to try and answer as best I could.

1. Do you take orders?
Yes! I would love to create a custom scoreboard.  The charge is $325. Remember it's a large piece... So the bulk of this is for shipping. (Shipping costs over $175 will be added on to the total).

 I will also sell the stencils if you want to create your own. The charge for that is $35 (includes postage).

2. What font did you use?
It's called Copperplate Gothic

3. What's the wall color?
It's Sherwin Williams Whole Wheat

4. What are your margins/letter sizes, etc?
See the photo below... :)

Let me know if I missed any of your questions...




Linked here:

Chic on a Shoestring Decorating
Fingerprints on the Fridge
The Shabby Nest

Link Party #1

We've yet to come up with a fancy name for our Link Parties... so for today it's just called Link Party #1! (Any suggestions for a cute name are welcome!)

As I mentioned last weekend I just ordered a Silhouette SD! I am super excited to get my hands on it and see what it can do. I have never even tried it out but I've seen so many cute things online that people have made. That's where this link party comes in.



Link up your Silhouette projects (Cricut, Cuttlebug, etc. are fine too!). This is just for projects you've made using one of the above (or similar) machines.

Simple rules:
1. Please become a follower of That Village House - we like new friends.
2. Link back to your specific post - not just your main blog.
3. Visit others and comment - it's nice to be nice.
4. Link back to this post on your blog so that others can join in on the fun - we all like to be recognized, right? You can grab a button or a text hyperlink is just fine.

Remember... this link party is ONLY for your Silhouette projects (or the like). Soon we'll start link parties for ALL your crafting, cooking and decorating glories!

Big Announcement & Upcoming Link Party!

I'm super excited to announce that I've ordered a Silhouette machine!! I can't wait for it to get here so I can get cracking on some crafting! BUT... I need your help! I've never seen one in person so I don't exactly know what it can do. SOOOOOO... this leads to another exciting announcement.

That Village House is having it's first Linky Party!!!

WHEN: Wednesday, January 26 - Friday, January 29
(if my linky ability works like I expect it to!)

WHAT: Link up your favorite Silhouette (or Circut, Cuttlebug, etc) projects

WHERE: Right here on That Village House!!

Keep your fingers crossed for me that it actually works. I've never done a link party before so I am not totally sure what I'm supposed to do! HAHA. But, if all goes well Tiffany & I will start a weekly link party to link up your favorite crafts, decorating projects, recipes, etc.

This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship between That Village House & Linky Tools!