Tech Tickets; or, how to pry the video game controller out of your kid's deformed, claw-like hands

Summer drags on. There's still a whole month of it left! My kids are BORED, you guys. Like...so...SO...bored.

Boredom = too much screen time. It's mathematical fact. We start out the day with cartoons, and then it's hot and I've got stuff to do and suddenly it's noon and I'm like wait, are you guys seriously still on the couch?? So we turn it off and then 4 minutes later they're SO BORED MOM THERE'S NOTHING TO DO PLEASE CAN I JUST PLAY TEMPLE RUN ON YOUR PHONE PLEASE PLEASE!

Now. We still use our Bored Jar pretty consistently, and it does work. But still, it's a constant battle of "No, no more TV. No, you cannot play on my phone. No, you don't need to play the Wii again." Yesterday the 7 year old took the Bored Jar around the corner and MAGICALLY pulled the ONE slip that involves playing video games. AMAZING!

So I hit up Pinterest and came across some good ideas for screen time management, including Technology Tickets. I didn't invent the idea, there are lots of much better and more imaginative bloggers out there who shared their awesomeness first. My favorite was this one from Mudpies and Makeup. I borrowed some of her ideas and put my own spin on them, to make them fit our family. She has a free printable over there, though, if you're interested! I totally don't. I'm not that handy, and I'm not that helpful.*

I chose to give them each 12 tickets at the start of the week. This is because we're normally not home on Sundays, so it's the other 6 days of the week I'm worried about. Twelve tickets gives them an hour a day for those 6 days. I didn't want them to have to earn every ticket so I'm giving them an hour a day to start, but we will be using them as a discipline tool, too. And knowing my feisty 7 year old, she may lose more tickets than she uses at first. BUT I built in some ways to earn them back, or to earn extras, by doing educational or helpful activities around the house. WIN-WIN.

To make the Tech Tickets "board":

I designed the rule sheet, printed it on card stock, then made the tickets and cute little library pockets with my Silhouette Cameo and scrapbook paper. If you have a Silhouette, I used this file for the tickets (I chose to fill them and print them, then just cut them out with scissors because my Silhouette machine was doing other things and I was too impatient to wait and use it to cut them all nice and pretty). I laminated them for extra strength, then used this file to make the pockets out of scrapbook paper that looked like lined paper (I had to resize the pockets somewhat to fit my tickets). I cut the names in vinyl using a typewritery font, and stuck them on the pockets.

Then I just glued the rules sheet and the pockets to a piece of 12x12 scrapbook paper and hung it up in the kitchen. I thought about adding a third pocket for "used" tickets, but then I wised up and realized we'd better put them up somewhere out of reach to ensure nobody tries to...recycle. Yeah, Bianca is a sneaky one. We're working on it. Don't judge.

Jack is only 2, but he loves to do everything just like his sister, so he'll like turning in his own tickets. He's big enough to ask for my phone constantly, so I guess he's big enough to go get a ticket and hand it over first!

So. Today is day 1 of the Great Tech Ticket Experiment, and I'm at work (on my lunch break! Calm down!). So the O.G. is home with the kiddos and I guess I'll find out when I get home whether it worked. :)

Why am I expecting to come home to find all the tickets either used up or lost?

*UPDATE!! So many of you asked that I went ahead and made myself helpful after all. You can download the pdf of my sign here.

Personalized Trick or Treat Buckets

One of my best sellers over the summer was my personalized beach buckets. I made so many of them and they were just so fun to do.

Custom Beach Bucket, $10.

Well, summer's over and I still have lots of buckets! The nice thing about these is they can be used for so much more than just the beach. I mean, it's a bucket! Use it to store toys or craft supplies, use it as a fun alternative to a gift bag at your next birthday party.

Or, of course, add a spooky design and give it to your kid to fill up with candy on Halloween! You guys know how much I love Halloween. Remember Gnarles? Gnarles is ready to come out and play again! STAY TUNED! Seriously. Stay tuned, or he will find you.

Anyway. :) This is what the Princess (who seems to believe she's dressing not as a princess, but as a vampire this year!) will be trick or treating with:

Your kids can have one too! $10

Sponsored Post. Well, sponsored by me.

Some of you probably remember that I opened an Etsy shop. right around the time I...quit blogging. Remember me?? I'm a blogger. Or I was.

Well, the good news is my Etsy shop is BUSY! The bad news is it leaves little time for things like blogging and sleeping, and I miss you guys. And sleep. But mostly you guys.

The OTHER good news is that I've finally decided to do something about it. Since all I think about anymore is vinyl and design and tumblers and wall decals...I think I'll just blog about those things for awhile, and see where it takes us.

I'm really super excited about my newest product. I found these very nice little lap desks at Michaels, and I just knew I needed to vinyl them up.

I toyed with the idea of just personalizing them, and decorating them with something cute, like I'd seen others do.

But where's the fun in that?

The real inspiration struck after I took one to church for my little Monster to color on. He loved it! Monster is almost 2 now (I KNOW!), and sitting through church is not exactly his favorite thing in the world. But it happens to be pretty important to his mama, so he has little choice in the matter. The lap desk was like a magic wand...I put it in front of him, plopped some toys and coloring books on top of it...BOOM. He sat still. For over an hour.

Let me say that again.

My BUSY 2-year-old boy sat STILL. For over AN HOUR.

I was noticing something, though. He loved to color on it, but his real fascination is cars. And he seemed to think this little lap desk was the perfect surface for racing his cars.

And so...the Vroom Vroom Play Tray was born:

Get yours here. That's right. In my Etsy shop, Sticky Chic Boutique.

It's been a huge success so far. He drives his cars on the roads, he crashes his cars into the trees, and when he's done with his cars (it does happen, every now and then), he uses it to color in his Cars coloring book (natch) and have a snack. Out of his Lightning McQueen snack cup. Sigh. Are you noticing a trend??

I'm back and I'm blogging, and I would love, love, love if you would all take me back into the fold. I'm not just advertising merchandise here, I really am excited about the recent developments in my life. That's why I've been reluctant to blog this before...I don't want to turn into a self-promotion blogger. So I've felt like I had nothing to blog about because I'm so busy with my shop, but....well, right now, that's my life, and why shouldn't I just blog about my life, the same way I always have? Right?

I hope so. :) You don't have to buy anything, but thanks for reading.

I'm going to try to keep up with it this time. Here are some things you have to look forward to: The Monster (OK look, his name is Jack. I mean, it's right there in the photo. I'm over it. HUGE REVELATION) is turning 2 in five days, and his party is a week from Saturday. It's gonna be awesome. Also, I'll reveal the "girl" version of this play-surface lap desk. Unless your girl wants to play with the car one, which is totally fine and awesome. Just get her one of each. She's well-rounded like that.

xo

An Introduction and a GIVEAWAY!

I have to tell you guys why I've been largely M.I.A. lately. It's partly due to my hectic work schedule, like I told you last time I posted. But there's something else. I have an announcement.

I have a new baby!

No, not that kind of baby.

I'm talking about my Etsy shop, Sticky Chic Boutique!

I make vinyl wall decals. You know, the removable kind that look hand-painted? They're all the rage in home decor. They're sticky, and they're chic. Get it? I knew you would. I have such smart, stylish readers.

Photo by Ashley Erin Photography.
Get the decal here.

I also make car decals, painted signs and subway art, and personalized items like water bottles and tumblers.

Photo by Ashley Erin Photography.
Get the tumbler here.

Photos by me (in case you couldn't tell by the inferior quality).
Get the beach bucket here.

Now that the shop is more or less established, I promise not to abandon you again. I love this blog and I love YOU, but what can I say, I love to get my craft on, too. I know, right?? Totally unexpected. This won't become a craft blog or anything, but you might expect to see a few more posts relating to crafts, kinda like this one.

Only now, you can buy the crap I make!

Or...you can win some of that very same crap in my first-ever blog giveaway!

That's right! To make up for leaving you all these weeks, I'm introducing you to my shop with a giveaway. The winner will receive ONE of the following (winner's choice!):

1. One custom tumbler, or
2. One 12"x12" custom wall decal, or
3. One custom kids' sand bucket and water bottle set

See how nice I am??

This is good stuff, you guys. You already know I'm beautiful and talented, and now in addition to allowing you to read my words, I'm allowing you to purchase items I have actually made with my hands. You're welcome.

Look! It's a Rafflecopter widget. Get to it:


a Rafflecopter giveaway


I love you guys, and I've missed you. I'm back on the blogging horse now, new and improved with crap for sale.

The winner will be contacted by email sometime after the contest ends. I know I'm supposed to give you some kind of to-the-minute winner notification schedule but that's not really how I roll. If you win, you'll know about it. Promise.

*contest only open to residents of the United States. Sorry, lovely foreigners! I love you but I can't afford to ship you free stuff!*

The one in which I sell out. Holla!

So have you guys heard of Become.com? I hadn't either! But check it out. You can go there and buy, like, anything. It's like Costco on your computer.

Except better.

They use some kind of advanced cutting-edge search engine technology so you find exactly what you're looking for, without all the spam and junk. Like distressed cowboy boots. Because, hello, like I can be bothered to distress my own cowboy boots? Um, no. It's not like I'm going to wear them anywhere more distressing than the mall or dropping my kids off at school. So they really need to bring the stress with them.

Or if you're shopping for somebody who's not me (I'm not sure why you would do that, but just go with it), you might be interested in some really nice hiking and outdoor gear (again, please note: not me). They've got some really good prices on guide series clothes. Were I the hiking type, I might really need this vest.

Or if you are shopping for me (yay! You shouldn't have!), you might like these jean jackets for juniors. What?? I can still shop in Juniors, right? Right? LOOK HOW CUTE.

OK, fine. I'll just take one of these.

What I really love about this site is how huge the selection is, comparing prices and items from all over the web, and how well organized it is, with categories like "Top Deals" and "Hot Products." They have helpful Top 10 lists, like Top 10 Motivational Posters to get a Coworker (you know, to passive-aggressively tell him what a loser he is and that you wish he'd do his job properly), and Top 10 Gifts for Expectant Moms (slightly less pass-aggressive).



You may have figured out that I was paid actual cash money to write this post (holla!). But of course, all words and opinions and sentences and typos are 100% my own. That's how I roll. Go visit Become.com so they don't regret working with me.

FANCY Friday: A Guest Post for the Magnificent Mr. Carlos

Hey guys,

If you didn't catch it on Twitter, here's the link to my guest post from last week. I decided to throw my cousin a bone and grace his blog with my benevolent presence.*

Head over and check out my contribution to his FANCY Friday series, where I list all the fanciest items I simply MUST purchase (or accept as gifts. Call me).  Go on and click.  I wrote it, so of course you'll like it.



*OK, in all honesty, he IS my cousin so I'm obligated to give him a hard time, but he's really a good guy and a smart, funny writer and an active sailor with the U.S. Navy, so you kind of owe him. Go check him out.

Let Me Tell You What To Buy

Full Disclosure:

I'm now an Amazon Associate!  Wooo!  Basically what that means is this:

• I get to make lists of awesome stuff on Amazon and post links to them on my blog.
• If you click on those links...well, nothing happens except you get to look at some cool stuff on Amazon.
• If you BUY something after clicking on those links, I will be rewarded for my hard work with an incredibly tiny percentage of what you spend on awesome stuff!  So buy something expensive, ok?
• Nobody's paying me to say good things about Amazon or put their stuff in front of your face.  I'm just doing that because I love you.

I know you love Amazon.  How do I know this?  Because you live in the 21st century, you have a computer, and you are a person.  Also because I love Amazon, and I'm assuming you're just like me.  Ergo, you love Amazon.

I love Amazon because I love to shop.  What I do not love is shopping with my children.  And I always have my children when I shop.  Don't you?  Yes, you do.  If you are a mother (and you are, remember, you're just like me), this is the way life works.  With Amazon, I can buy anything I want, seriously, they have everything, and I can buy it without having to get my children fed, cleaned, clothed, napped, strapped into a car, strapped into a cart, through a store, through a check stand, and back into the car.  I can do it in my pajamas while my children watch Sesame Street.  And a few days later the things I purchased will be delivered to my doorstep.

Because you're just like me, and because I know how you value my opinion, I've taken it upon myself to create a Near Normalcy shop, tentatively titled "Let Me Tell You What To Buy."  For short, we'll just call it "Stuff You Need."  Because really.  Let me tell you what to buy.  This is stuff you need.  You're welcome.

Here's a smattering of the Stuff You Need.  (Click images to see more info.)

Stuff You Just NEED

Of course you need these boots.  Do you SEE these boots?

The Hunger Games.  I don't care that you're not 12.  You need to read these books.

Stuff Your Kitchen Needs

Ashley has one. So you need one. (Remember, you are just like me.)

Stuff Your Baby Needs

Babies like to hit stuff.

Babies like mail. A LOT. So get them their own. They'll still try to tear up yours, but it's worth a shot.

Onesies. Just, like, a million of them, ok?

Stuff Your Big Kid Needs

Dr. Seuss's Beginner Collection.
Buy them together, buy them apart, just buy them, and read them.  A lot.

Whimsical rain boots are a MUST.

You can access the entire store by clicking the handy "Stuff You Need" tab up top.  Again, you're welcome.