Here we go ...
This Meal Planning Board (originally inspired by Charity over at All Things Beautiful) is part of my Kitchen Command Center and is probably one of my favorite projects so far! It actually inspires me to cook and get a little more adventurous with our meals ... plus, it lets my husband get in on the action and clip-up a few meals that he'd like during the week. Now don't be intimidated by all of the parts and pieces to this Meal Planning Board ... it's REALLY easy, I promise! I whipped this baby up in a little over an hour ... even with the "help" of a set of 3-year old toddler hands ... that includes making the the decorative clothespins and push-pins too!
Meal Planning Board ~ Tutorial
Let's get started ...
Supplies
Large Picture Frame
Cork Squares
Cute Fabric
Felt
Felt Scraps
Decorative Clothespins (tutorial here)
Decorative Push Pins (tutorial here)
Lettering
Scissors/Rotary Cutter/Glue
Grab your frame and toss the glass (or save it for another project).You'll just be using the frame and the frame backing.
Cut your cork to the size of the backing.I used two pieces of 12x12 squares and cut them to size.
Glue your cork to the frame backing.
Cut your fabric and felt slightly larger than the frame backing. Lay your fabric face down, then your felt, then your corked backing.
Wrap the fabric/felt layers around the board and glue to secure.
Place in your frame.
Flip it over and you have a cute and slightly cushioned fabric board! The felt helps make the board a little "cushy" (is that a word?) and gives it a more finished look.
Ok, get those the Decorative Clothespins ready! You can check-out my tutorial here. I used my Sizzix machine to cut the felt circles and the letters. You can absolutely use stickers or other pre-made embellishments for this too!
Space out your clothespins and simply push them into place! I started with Wednesday's clothespin in the center, then Sun on one edge and Sat on the far edge ... then it was simply dividing the remaining space.
Ooh .. they look like little clothespins soldiers all lined up in a row! This makes me smile.
Now cut those felt scraps into rectangles so you can create storage pockets for all of your meal choices. I chose to make 3 categories of meals and therefore needed 3 pockets. Again, I used my Sizzix to make iron-on fabric letters, but you can use stickers too!
Grab your decorative push-pins. You can find my tutorial here. You'll need 4 push-pins for each pocket. Pin your bottom corners. Before pinning the tops, make sure you leave a little extra room so there is space to slide your meal notes.
Simply push-in the pins!
Ooh! A cute little row of menu pockets! I made pockets for our "favorite", "fast", and "new" meals and so far it's been a good fit for the way our meals work here.
You can add a little row of glue along the bottom of the pocket to prevent the meal cards from slipping out the bottom.
Now you're ready to start planning your meals! I simply cut strips of regular printer paper and wrote out our meals by hand.
The finished product!
The Meal Planning Board hanging proudly at the top of our Kitchen Command Center!
