What's for dinner?

Most annoying question in the world.  UGH - I don't freaking know what's for dinner, what's in the pantry?  What's in the fridge?  Can we just go to McDonald's?

That's what Dave and I go through frequently.  He's not always asking the question - sometimes it's me.  Either way, it's freaking annoying.

Pinterest has saved us from this repetitive, futile conversation.  Peep this, from Little Birdie Secrets:

Menu planning is genius - I know it's nothing new, but we have never done it.  We go to the grocery store a little a time, rarely thinking about actual meals.  We go when we need milk or turkey or beans, but don't compose meals while we're there or think more than 3 hours in the future.  This will help us...hopefully.

Dry erase boards are awesome for writing things down temporarily without wasting post-its, but until recently they only came in white - BORING.  Check out Bonnie's new blue one, which is tres playful and fashionable:

I didn't do much shopping around to find a cute board because I assumed my OCD would kick in and I wouldn't find one that was just right.  Does that happen to you?  Analysis paralysis over the silliest little things?  Guilty.

I decided to make one instead, so I could be sure that I was in love with all the elements and would love this thing for the long haul - no yard sale fate for this guy.

Off to Michael's to get my materials!  I initially thought I'd pick up a heavy-duty record frame like the ones Dave uses in the office for his Beatles record collection.  But when I got there and saw/felt them, I decided they were too heavy and figured that whatever mechanism I used to hang the board would need to be sturdy enough to hold the weight and respond to movement from writing and erasing.

Then I saw these guys - they're also record frames (12x12) but the frame is plastic and they were much lighter.  They also had a flatter back so I could attach said hanging mechanism.  They were $6.99 each, so I picked up 2...then I wandered over to the scrapbooking section to get some stickers - either days of the week or letters.  But once I got there I realized I'd have to buy so many packs for the amount of d's, a's, and y's for 5 days of the week I scrapped that plan and decided to use some stamps I have in my ridiculous stamp collection.

What kind of paper?  I was looking for something neutral, but with a subtle print.  I wanted it to have personality but not draw attention.

Perfect!  It's a little green, a little beige, and a lot subtle and neutral.  That's all I used for this project:

• 12x12 record frame (I bought 2 in case I messed up and broke the glass or something) - $6.99 each
• 12x12 piece of scrapbook paper (I bought 2 in case I messed up) - $.59 each
• letter stamps or stickers in whatever font you like (EXCEPT COMIC SANS - UGH) - already owned
• stamp pad - already owned
• industrial strength velcro - $3.49 for 4 sheets
• Total - $11.07 - pretty darn good price for a DIY one of a kind dry erase board!  It would be more expensive if you don't already have something to use for the letters, but still so worth the cost!

Now for the construction and assembly.  SO EASY!  I started by stamping the letters onto the paper - pretty straight-forward:

I only did Monday through Friday since we usually eat out on the weekends and/or are so lazy that we order from somewhere that delivers.  Since the paper I bought had a red border on one edge I cut a strip of plain beige paper and added a header at the top of the menu board before putting it in the frame:

The frame is pretty flexible plastic and I just bent a corner back until the glass popped out.  Then I slid the menu sheet in behind the glass and popped it back into place.  Then I attached some velcro for hanging:

Time for hanging on the pantry door!

The blue marker didn't exactly work, but you'll see in a minute that it wasn't a fail project :)

With the extra frame and scrapbook paper (since I didn't screw up anything when assembling the menu board), I made a memo board for the front door.  Dave is always asking me if I need anything when he's going out or what's going on this weekend, so we need a place to keep notes like that in a prominent place.  We had a dry erase board there before, but it was too small. 12x12 is a much better size!

So here's our new memo board - see how well the black marker works?

pardon the picture quality - iphone camera is awesome outdoors, sucky indoors

So for another $7.58 I made a memo board too!  A two-fer project! :)

They have some flaws, but most handmade things do, and I think it gives them character ;)