When it comes to cooking, I am pretty lazy. While the cooking itself it a bit of a chore, it’s the prep work I hate. I’m not only talking about the chopping/cutting/shredding/etc., I am referring to the figuring out what we’re going to eat and remembering to take meat out of the freezer to defrost. Frozen meat is the bane of my existence.
Since I am a visual person, I thought a menu planner would help solve this issue so I made one for my kitchen command centre. The project was quick and inexpensive as all of my materials came from my local dollar store.
Here’s how to do it.
Step 1: Gather your materials
- A chalkboard (size is 17” x 13”)
- Spray paint
- Decorative paper
- Die cut letters
- Mini clothespins
- Trading card plastic protective sheets
- Index cards (3” x 5”)
- Glue gun
Step 2: Prep your frame
While the multi-coloured sides were fun and flashy, I wanted something a bit more sophisticated to match the colour scheme in my kitchen. I used silver spray paint.
Step 3: Make your labels
I found flower mini clothespins and knew they would be perfect for my purpose. I cut out decorative circles from some scrapbook paper and added letters for the days of the week. I covered the labels in laminating paper (the cheap kind that requires no heat and no machine) for durability. Then I glued the labels onto the clothespins. I only decided to do Monday – Friday because Saturday and Sunday dinners aren’t as much of a challenge for us… usually because we order in J
Step 4: Make your pockets
I could have made these out of cardboard as I’ve seen done with other DIY menu boards but I wanted something that I wouldn’t have to spend time making. I decided to use the plastic protective sheets you put trading cards in. Because the opening was along the shorter edge and that opening wasn’t big enough, I sealed it up and cut along the longer edge to create a new pocket. I added some decorative paper so they look pretty.
Step 5: Glue it all together
Figure out your layout and get gluing! I placed the index cards I would be using for recipes in the appropriate places so I knew what kind of space I would be working with.
Love how this looks and I think it will be super functional for our family. I haven’t yet populated the recipe cards but my intention is to have a bunch of quick and easy recipes waiting in the pockets which I can easily slot into the different days at the beginning of the week. The recipe will be on the front while the ingredients list will be on the back which will make for easy shopping!