Thursday, March 17, 2011

Weekly Allowances + Etching tutorial.

After being asked for money to buy necklaces and other candy from a school fundraiser, for the money for a doll stroller, for a trip to Lego Land- I wanted to find a way to help my kids save their own money for the things they wanted but also learn more than "I get $5 each week." We have tried to do an allowance before, but it was hard to keep track of, we would end up buying the things the kids wanted anyway, and then after a couple weeks it was forgotten.


We are going to try a new approach, marble jars. At the start of the week they will have 20 marbles in their jar (each is worth 25 cents, so $5 total). If they leave lights on after being reminded to turn them off, leave their rooms a mess or say they have put their laundry away when they haven't- they will lose marbles.

I honestly think the first couple weeks they will have far less than $5 in an allowance. Bad habits are hard to break, and they have gotten used to getting away with things since we have been preoccupied with a baby in the house and moving.



Making the jars was a fun project for me to do. I bought the jars and marbles at Dollar tree, used my Cricut (a present from my husband) with the leftover vinyl from my Houseparty, and Armour etching cream. It took under an hour to make it and most of that was deciding how to place their names and waiting for the cream to activate.


I started by cutting out their names in vinyl and placed them on the glass. It was a little difficult to get the vinyl on because the glasses were angled. A flat glass would be a lot easier.


Be generous with the cream- and protect your hands and eyes! Let it set for at least 15 minutes. 5 was not enough the last time I did this.


Then rinse it off and pull off the vinyl. Let dry and they will be done.

4 comments:

  1. I love the allowance idea! I'm always looking for a creative way to keep my daughter motivated-this may just work!

    I also love the glass etching! I've always wanted to try it but never have. I wonder if I could use contact paper to draw out and cut a stencil? I might have to try that sometime!

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  2. I actually plan to use contact paper next time since the vinyl is pricey. It couldn't hurt to try!

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  3. I think we'll being the week with an empty container and ADD tokens as necessary. Seems like it would motivate my kids to watch the "money" grow.

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  4. I think that is a great idea. We do want to encourage good behavior, and have decided to add to the marbles when they are "caught" being good.

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