The Burkhardt Politeness Plan....

In an effort to reduce rude behavior in our household, I decided to take some inspiration from a picture I saw on Pinterest entitled The Madsen POLITENESS Plan...I customized ours to suit our home and my daughters' age level and physical abilities.  So for every rude behavior a penalty is imposed that involves improving our home in some way.  These rules apply to mom and dad too!

The 

 Burkhardt Politeness Plan

Rudeness	Penalty
Forgetting to say “please” or “thank you”	Sweep porch or a room
Pushing/shoving or hitting	Clean your room
Interrupting	Dust a room
Name calling	Clean one shelf of fridge
Throwing things	Clean front bathroom
Forgetting “excuse me”	Brush a dog
Yelling	Clean litter box
Disrespecting parents/grandparents	Sweep & mop floor of one room
Speaking inappropriately (sassy/snotty)	Vacuum one room
Whining	Wash front lower cabinets in kitchen
Tattle Telling	Dust ½ a room

T shirt makeover

This is what I started out with.  A plain yellow t-shirt the girls never wanted to wear.  I picked up a stack of remnant fabric at Walmart with a cool variety of bright colors.

This is what I turned it into...it only took me about 1 1/2 hours (with MANY interruptions I might add).

The girls were thrilled and started arguing over who was going to wear it first.  No problem!  I'm making another one...so I told them they'd have to wait until that one is finished.  The colors are much brighter than they appear...poor quality pic with low lighting.

New Art Adventure for me....21 Secrets!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm off on a new adventure in art...I've signed up for 21 secrets, an art journal playground.  Check it out at....
http://21secretsspring.ning.com/

So an update...I am loving this experience.  The videos are full of so many new techniques and inspiration...I just need to get started myself!  As usual...too many projects going on...I need to finish the second t-shirt project and then I'll dive in to the art journaling I've been learning about.  I will share...I promise.

Free Printable Grocery List from WebMomz

Check out WebMomz.com and print off a free printable grocery list at:

http://www.webmomz.com/webmomz-grocery-list.htm

you will also be able to find a lot of resources, coupons, etc.  Check it out!

Gratitude

I just wanted to write to say how thankful I am for everything I have.  I have a job, I have a roof over my head that isn't in an upside down mortgage, and I have a healthy family.  Today I received a lot of bad news at work...something that reminded me to be thankful, and to show gratitude for what I have in my life.  I don't live in a mansion or drive a big fancy car, but I do have a true friend for a husband, a loving extended family and great friends to laugh with.  I think we all need to be reminded, especially in these times of economic strife, to be thankful for the things that are truly important.  We don't need designer clothing, leather furniture or a granite counter top to be happy....we need love, support and laughter.  I pray for all that need more of those three things in their lives, rather than pray for material things that do nothing but eat up our savings and only enhance our outer lives.  Have a loving, supportive and laugh filled day.

An Experiment in Gratitude

I have decided to embark on An Experiment in Gratitude...a 30 day journaling about the things I am grateful for in my life.  I found out about it at http://anexperimentingratitude.com/theexperiment/

The Experiment is totally for you if:

• You really are fed up with feeling like you’re wasting your life away feeling totally crappy (frustrated, angry, pissy) about it all.
• If you know, at least intellectually, that there is more & that it’s available even to you (IT IS!).
• If you’re open to the power of gratitude to effect change in your life.
• If you’re willing to put in the little bit of time and effort that it does take.

So I am DOING it!!!  I'll tell you about my results in 30 days!

See ya!

How to cut glass bottles...off of Do It Yourself and Save web site.

This is cool...we've been trying to think of ways to recycle our wine bottles other than turning them over to the recycling place....

How to Cut Glass Bottles

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Finally cut my guarana bottles!

I’ve been saving a collection of Bawls guarana bottles for the day I can figure out how to cut the necks off and use them for something spectacular. The cobalt blue color of the glass is exquisite, and I know I can figure out some way to make a light fixture, drinking glasses, vases, etc.
But first, I have to cut the bottles, right? Myself, of course.
This weekend I tackled the job after looking on the Internet for glass-cutting ideas that I hadn’t already tried. I’d tried the string with alcohol method of bottle cutting, but always got a jagged edge.
Here is what I finally did. Actually, here are two ways I succeeded in cutting off the necks of my guarana bottles cleanly and cheaply and self-ly.
The first way was to use a tile saw. Plain and simple. I taped off where I was going to cut, but as it turned out that didn’t make any difference. The key was to clamp the guide down so all the bottles would be cut at the same place on the neck. Then turned on the saw and SLOWLY sawed through the glass bottles, rotating them as I sawed.
The cut is fairly clean. It does need a bit of sanding, and I wouldn’t use these glasses for drinking, but I will make something spectacular out of them. None of the bottles broke or cracked with this method. So if you’re looking for an almost-clean, but sure way to cut a glass bottle, the tile saw is your answer.

Easiest Way to Cut Glass Bottles

The next method was easier, cheaper, and cleaner, but not as certain in results. Some of the bottles cracked and had to be tossed, but most of the bottles had a perfect cut. As you’ll see in this video, I used a cheap glass cutter (about $3) from Ace Hardware, taped it to a cake pan, and used it to score a line around the neck of the bottle where I wanted it cut. Then I poured boiling water on the scored line, ran cold water over it and, voila, the neck simply broke off. You can’t get simpler than that!

http://www.diypics.com/how-to-cut-glass-bottles/

Here's the original link: