Every week I sit down and write a menu plan before I go to the store so I don't have to go more than necessary and to help us save money. But this takes me what seems like forever and I'm really starting to loath the task. So when I saw this awesome idea for a menu planning board I immediately wanted to make one for our kitchen.
The menu planning board consists of clothes pins that are each assigned to a day of the week, two boxes for holding meal cards that have already been used and meal cards that have not yet been used and of course the meal cards themselves.
I started off by making the meal cards because I knew it would take the most time. I only have 30 meal cards made right now because I didn't have the time to make more but I'm keeping lists of other meals we like and I'll make more cards when I have enough saved to make the task worth the time.
The cards have the meal name on the front and an ingredients list on the back, which makes writing my weekly shopping list a breeze. The cards are color-coded - quick and easy meals, meals heavy in carbohydrates, grains and treat night (like Take Out).
After I finished the cards and laminated them I covered the board with fabric using a hot glue gun and my upholstery stapler. For the boarder I used bias tape that I had left over from another project.
The last thing I did was make the boxes. I had been wanting to make fabric boxes for organization around the house so I thought it might be a good idea to start by making them for this project. I found this tutorial and went from there. I loved these shabby little boxes because they were quick to make and didn't take much fabric at all. They would be wonderful to make with scrap fabric.
The menu planning board consists of clothes pins that are each assigned to a day of the week, two boxes for holding meal cards that have already been used and meal cards that have not yet been used and of course the meal cards themselves.
I started off by making the meal cards because I knew it would take the most time. I only have 30 meal cards made right now because I didn't have the time to make more but I'm keeping lists of other meals we like and I'll make more cards when I have enough saved to make the task worth the time.
The cards have the meal name on the front and an ingredients list on the back, which makes writing my weekly shopping list a breeze. The cards are color-coded - quick and easy meals, meals heavy in carbohydrates, grains and treat night (like Take Out).
I also included the name of the cookbook and the page the recipe is located on (if the meal requires a recipe)
After I finished the cards and laminated them I covered the board with fabric using a hot glue gun and my upholstery stapler. For the boarder I used bias tape that I had left over from another project.
The last thing I did was make the boxes. I had been wanting to make fabric boxes for organization around the house so I thought it might be a good idea to start by making them for this project. I found this tutorial and went from there. I loved these shabby little boxes because they were quick to make and didn't take much fabric at all. They would be wonderful to make with scrap fabric.
Lastly, I attached everything to the board using hot glue, tacks and velcro. (I used anything I had on hand to make everything stick to the board)
Things I would do differently next time:
- I would start by completely gluing the fabric to the board as well as using the upholstery staples. I found that the fabric sagged under the weight of the boxes.
- I wouldn't use a magnetic board because I couldn't get magnets to stick to the board through the fabric so having a magnetic board was useless anyway.
- I would make the boxes stronger and not so tall.
But other than those few things I'm very happy with the way this board turned out and am enjoying how easy mean planning and shopping for the week have become.
Until next time... xx
What a neat (and when completed) time saving idea. Thanks for sharing!
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