Hello! It’s Laura, Sarah’s stubborn little sister who has previously refused to guest post on this blog. What can I say? I’m a pill! But all of the positive feedback on my son’s nursery finally made me cave.
One thing I have been working on lately is trying to use up what I have in my fridge more effectively by actually planning out my meals. What a novel idea, right? 😉 I hate how much money I waste on food that goes bad. I wanted a visual planner for my kitchen and was drawn to the paint chip calendars floating around Pinterest, but none of them really “spoke” to me.
I walked into Lowe’s and immediately found my inspiration. The HGTV color paint chips are such a cool shape. Square on one end and pointed on the other. I chose three colors, walked next door to IKEA and found a perfect frame, and voila! My plan took form.
I started by making a template and cutting the paint chips so that both ends had the same point. You could keep them square but I wanted a more symmetrical look. (It says real template because I made a bunch of bad ones first – obviously.)
Once you have them all cut up, start lining those babies up until you find a pattern you like.
I knew that I only wanted two weeks. Who the heck plans out a month of meals? Not this girl! And I wanted space at the bottom to write “other” stuff – breakfast ideas, leftovers to eat up, etc. So I needed enough to make two rows of “arrows” and then skinny headers for the days of the week. So cut out seven of those too. (Wow – please disregard my veiny Grandma hands – yikes!)
Then came the lining up. I used my cutting mat and ruler to help me grid everything out. I am a little uptight about stuff like that, but you could always eyeball it if that works for you.
One word of caution: don’t use tape to secure the tops of the paint chips once you line them up perfectly with the plan to lift from the bottom and glue stick them down. Much anger, frustration, possibly some swearing, and another trip to Lowe’s will result as it lifts off the color.
Glue everything down, pop it in the frame, and start writing on the glass with a dry erase marker.
Then hang that beauty on the wall and enjoy! I am loving mine.
Laura Webb
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Carmia says
May 18, 2015 at 1:54 amLOVE this idea, and the colours are great, too!
Stacey says
May 18, 2015 at 10:43 amThat’s so nifty! I write up my menu plan, but I leave it on my phone. I’ve been thinking of making some kind of a board so that I can see it. How did you make your trash labels?
Sarah Westover McKenna says
May 18, 2015 at 9:50 pmVinyl and a cricut die cutting machine!
Evija says
May 22, 2015 at 3:37 amThank you for joining our Oh My Heartsie Girl Wordless Wednesday Link Party.. Love this idea, thank you for sharing! Have a great day, co-host Evija @Fromevijawithlove
Vickie@Vickie's Kitchen and Garden says
May 22, 2015 at 5:17 pmSuch a great menu plan idea. Thanks for sharing at the #HomeMattersParty
Tammy @ creativekkids says
May 25, 2015 at 6:45 amWhat a terrific idea. It is so pretty too! Thank you for linking up to the Bloggers Brags Pinterest Party. I am finally getting around to pinning your post to the Bloggers Brags Pinterest Board.
Dana says
October 6, 2015 at 10:51 amThis is great!
How did you find a piece of white paper/card stock big enough for your background? I saw the frame’s mat is black and I’d like to make a white one like yours. I have white card stock, but can’t find anything larger than 12″x12″.
Thank you!
Sarah Westover McKenna says
October 8, 2015 at 10:19 amThe mat is white on the other side!!!