There are five of us around here, and needless to say we go through a lot of dishes. We are lucky enough to have a dishwasher, thankfully! I’m working on teaching my kids to do their own dishes. Rather than just dumping them in the sink, I’m trying to help them learn to rinse them, and put them correctly in the dishwasher. You would think this was a simple thing… but really, it’s been a little bit frustrating!  One of the biggest issues is that nobody ever seems to know whether the dishes in the dishwasher are clean or dirty. It’s baffling really!  I hear the same thing multiple times a day… “Are the dishes clean, or dirty?” I decided there had to be a better way. I would make my own Dishwasher clean or dirty signs.  Nothing that being a little bit crafty can’t fix!

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You can buy clean or dirty dishwasher magnets like these:

Image source: Amazon.com

But I had one problem with those… my dishwasher surface is not very magnetic. Magnets kind of stick, but not very well so any magnets we tried to place on them just ended up sliding to the floor every time. Here’s my solution:

What you will need to make your own Clean or Dirty Dishwasher Signs:

• (2) Wide Mouth Mason Jar Lids
• Multi Surface Acrylic Craft Paint  (I used Deep Turquoise, and Waterfront)
• Free Clean or Dirty Printable file
• Ribbon
• E6000 Glue
• Command Hook
• Colored pencils or markers
• Mod Podge
• Paintbrush
• Scissors

Step one:

Paint the mason jar lids. I used Americana Multi-Surface Acrylic paint in two shades of pretty turquoise/aqua. I wanted the color to be slightly different for each side, clean and dirty. But I wanted them both to still match my Kitchen color scheme. The best part about making your own is that you can customize it any way you want to fit with your personal likes and style!

Each lid required two coats. Let them dry completely.

Step Two:

Print this free printable (free for your personal use only please) by clicking the pdf file below. I designed this printable for a wide mouth jar lid, but if you only have regular lids it will fit too, just not quite as perfectly.

dishwasher-dirty-clean-signs

Step three:

Cut out and color the signs.

Step four:

Using mod podge, glue the clean and dirty signs to the mason jar lid centers. A thin layer of mod podge covering the center of the lid, and another coat over the entire lid after you’ve placed your cutout down.

Step five:

Now, if you’re lucky enough to have a magnetic dishwasher but just wanted a cute personalized sign, you could just glue a few small magnets between the lids and call it a day! Since my dishwasher is not magnetic enough, I glued the two lids back to back with a ribbon loop tucked between them.

Hang the ribbon loop from a handy dandy command hook that you’ve placed on the dishwasher!  I love these little command hooks. They will seriously hang just about anything! I don’t put nails through my walls anymore, I use command strips! And the hooks come in sizes big enough to hold up a backpack full of school stuff. It’s pretty neat.  You don’t need one of those big hooks for this, just a small one.  *Pro Tip: If you can’t find a command hook in the color you want, spray paint it before you hang it! 

Now my kids don’t ask anymore whether or not the dishes are clean or dirty. They already know!  And I was able to do it in a way that didn’t look yucky in my kitchen too. Win Win!