If you’re on Pinterest, I’m sure you’ve seen a variety of menu boards out there. I have been drooling over all of these since before we moved into the house, but I made myself put it off until we were settled in. My life seems better somehow now that I have a weekly menu board.
1. The Creative Mama 2. Whipperberry 3. Oh So ChiChi 4. Heartland Paper 5. Mom Colored Glasses
Instead of copying a specific board exactly, I took inspiration from all of the boards, and made it work for my family.
The ease of the chalkboard menu has always grabbed me, but I just can’t bring myself to turn a wall in our new house into a chalkboard. To be completely honest with all of you, sometimes I can’t handle chalkboards because they can be hard to clean, or my handwriting doesn’t turn out just so. I knew going the chalkboard route wasn’t the right thing for me, but I definitely wanted to incorporate the easy aspect.
I love the menu boards that write the ingredients on each meal card. However, since I just organized my recipe binder, it’s a breeze to find what I need & I omitted that idea from my board. Instead, underneath the name of the meal, I have written where I can find the recipe {Pinterest I Love Food Board, Recipe Binder, etc.}
The menu board from Oh So ChiChi was my original inspiration for this whole crazy idea. From her fabric backing to the decorative pins – I love it all! After searching for months for that perfect fabric backer, I sort of gave up…but I found a few more simple inspiration photos that I also loved. This helped me make the decision to go the route of a streamlined, easy-to-use menu board.
This frame, if you can believe it, was originally holding a photo of my husband when he was little {circa 1990 I’m guessing}. It was a gold{ish} color and asking for attention; I could see that this frame had a beautiful future. Since our kitchen colors are red & blue with sort of a retro vibe, I painted the frame in a bright, glossy red {with my usual Rustoleum 2x Painter’s Touch}. Doesn’t it just make you happy?
I already had the scrapbook paper backing from a previous project. It had a great textured finish and I love it! The paper wasn’t quite tall enough to fill the frame, so I used a bit of trickery to make it fit. Since the sides of the paper had to be cut anyway, I taped the extra onto the top. When I cut my decorative items using my Silhouette Cameo, the border covered the evidence seamlessly.
Using some white textured scrapbook paper, I made three “envelopes” to hold my meal cards. It was so easy – I just cut out a square, folded three sides in, cut the bottom corners to reduce bulk, added double-sided tape, and voila! Now I have space for easy meals, family favorites, and recipes that are new-to-us.
In order to conserve space on my menu board, I purchased a pack of mini-clothespins from Michael’s to hold the meal cards. My original plan was to somehow spice up the clothespins – either with glitter, fabric, or paint. I’m glad that I didn’t though, because I really love the natural look they bring to my board.
I hung up the board to see how perfect it was, but it was missing something, don’t you think?
Ah – much better! Thanks to Photoshop, I whipped up a few decorative labels and attached them using double-sided tape.
Maybe one day I’ll use a decorative punch to cut out my meal cards, but for now I think my menu board is perfect in every way!
Linked To & Featured At:
The Prudent Pantry
Pretty Handy Girl
This is absolutely fantastic, Sam!
Love this! Fantastic idea as usual! Thanks for sharing at the Pomp Party! Pinning!
This is brilliant. Thank you for sharing this!
Very clever! Thank you for sharing your project at Potpourri Friday at 2805!
Brilliant and beautiful!
Thank you so much! I just checked out your site and it’s amazing…I only got through a few posts, but I am your newest BlogLovin’ follower! :-)
This is so cute! I could really use something like this.
I would love it if you would share this at the Smart Solutions linky party. You can link up here:
http://theprudentpantryblog.blogspot.com/2012/08/prudent-projects-smart-solutions-week-7.html
Have a great day!
Linked up! Thanks for hosting!
I too have been looking at all of the menu boards. I am trying to figure out what will work best for our family. I think that the organization of it would be amazing and would cut out a lot of, “What in the world are we going to have for dinner tonight?” (And, that question is often being asked by me at about 5:30!?)
That was SO me! It’s really nice because the husband looks at the board in the morning before he heads to work and takes any meat out of the freezer for that day’s dinner.
Absolutely GORGEOUS!! Hope you can link this up at my trendy tuesday party!!! http://www.sweetlittlegals.com
So cute! And so many possibilities – not just a menu board! Love it! :) Saw you on The 36th Ave and am your newest follower! xo, Reannah @Shaped by Grace
I had the same thought – keep an eye out for my new idea soon! ;-)
I have been wanting to make some sort of menu board too but I just haven’t done anything with it yet!!! Yours is absolutely darling! I love the colors, the little envelopes, and the baby clothespins:-) I pinned it for future reference!!!
Thanks!
Love it! But I question if I could ever be this organized. I try, but a week later… yeah, good intentions and all! :)
Thanks for the great idea!!
I understand! I think the key is to make sure you have a TON of recipes on there – more than you think you’ll need…that way it’s really easy and you don’t really have the option of giving up on it. {Not to mention it’s just so adorable that you’ll want to use it!}
Awesome idea! I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! Thanks for linking up at Doodles & Stitches!
This is REALLY clever!
What a fun idea! I absolutely love it! :)
http://munchtalk.blogspot.com/
Hi, I found you and your amazing menu board post via pinterest. As soon as i read it I went and got all my bits and finally i made one for our house and it is amazing. Dinner time is so much more smoother. Thanks for a great post
I’m SO glad you found it & that it’s making meal time easier!!! I’d love to see a picture…send me an e-mail! sam {at} atkinsondrive {dot} com
I absolutely love this! Thanks for sharing your idea!