Whether your kids are in school or not, it always seems like we all get a little more organized in the fall.
However, I don’t know what is up with this fall, but I’m still trying to get my life together. We missed Greyson’s 1st day of pre-school pictures for crying out loud! What mom does that?! Ugh. At least dad snagged one of the 1st week.
But the one thing that I am on top of this year is meal preppin’! #priorities. Momma’s gotta eat!
Today I want to share with you six, fun DIY ideas for you to create for either your menu boards or just communication boards for your family. I did all of these with materials I had at home.
1. Framed Chalkboard
I love me my chalkboard paint. I feel like I’ve been painting everything with chalkboard paint. It’s so easy and a lot of fun.
With this I took a scrap piece of plywood we had at home, painted it with black chalkboard paint and framed out the edges. We actually had an old fence we tore down from our first home that I kept a lot of the scrap pieces from and used for this. But you can also take any type of wood and paint, stain or distress it and cut out a frame. All you have to do is cut 45 degree angles and nail gun together. Then nail onto the frame. For this board, I wrote out a menu board with the days of the week, Target run, leftovers and errands list. Activities would be another good list to have on there because I’m just now learning about how those are about to take over our lives.
2. Chalkboard Cutting Board
Here’s another fun example of using chalkboard paint. If you have an old cutting board, take some painters tape and put a line across the top 1/4 and paint the bottom 3/4 with chalkboard paint. And there you can display your dinner menu for every night of the week. Prop it up against the backsplash and you also have some fun and stylish kitchen decor.
And then if you’re hosting a fun party you can also prop it down and use it as a serving tray. I am a big wine-o so whenever I have people come over you bet my meal consists of wine and cheese. I love using this board to display cheeses and can write with chalk what the cheeses are.
3. Wallpaper Picture Frame
Everyone is loving wallpaper right now! But for some of us we’re a little scared to do an entire wall. If you want to find a way to use some of those fun prints, use them within your menu boards. Take some old frames, big or small, take out the photo and put in some wallpaper. Prop it up on your countertop with a magic erase marker and there you can make your grocery list or menu board.
4. Barnwood
Love the modern farmhouse feel we’re doing in a lot of homes right now. And here’s a fun way to incorporate that look! Take an old board, stain it, and once dry, sand it. Or better yet- get some free samples from a supplier and they do it all for you. Then with a chalkboard pen, write the days of the week and hammer some nails below to hang the chalkboard labels on.
I love labeling everything! From storage containers to items in our fridge to entertaining to menu boards- I can’t get enough. Make some of these babies and I promise you’ll be using them all the time.
Tutorial:
Materials:
- Mini rectangular boards (we buy ours at Michael’s)
- Chalkboard Paint
- Clothes Pins or Hemp String
- Burlap
- Glue
Paint the already cut boards with three coats of chalkboard paint. Glue the clothespins or burlap onto the back of boards. Punch a hole in the top of the chalkboards if you’re using the hemp to tie onto the crates.
5. Decorative Trim Piece
Decorative trim pieces can be used for so many fun things! To hang coats, backpacks, keys, you name it! You can find these at any of your local hardware stores or I see a ton of them at antique and flee market shows. If you get them from a hardware store, all you need to do it paint, stain and distress them. This is another fun way to hang your meals for the week with some menu tags. Then all you need to do is screw in a hook to hang your items on.
I got these tags from Target in the dollar section. Whenever I’m at Target and see gift tags for under $1, I always buy them whether I need them or not. Because I know I’ll always use them for presents or some other fun craft like this.
6. Close Pin Boards
And lastly, glued close-pins on a stained board. This board was actually a scrap piece from the Costco playground set we put together for Greyson. I just stained it and glued baby close pins onto the board.
No matter how far technology has advanced and how much I love Pinterest to find recipes, I love my handwritten recipe cards. Especially when the recipes come from my family. I love having it in their handwriting. So I am constantly pulling them out and using them for my weekly recipes. If you’re with me, this is a fun way to lay out the meals for the week. Or even if you are a Pinterest girl, you can clip a little card onto here as well. And then when you aren’t using them for recipes you can clip pictures up during your unplanned weeks.
And having these recipe cards is also is a great way for some more fun kitchen decor. One of the pieces we have for our decor is a framed handwritten recipe written out by my dad. So every single day I’m a little bit inspired to make a mean meal like he always did. Or just eat scotcharoo bars. ha!
Happy meal prepping organizing time! Can’t wait to see what you guys create. Now to stay organized…. haha!
