Menu planning has grown in popularity in recent years and is a particularly favorite topic among stay-at-home and homeschooling moms. In the blogging community too, women are always eager to share how they organize meal time and save money through meal planning.
So widespread is meal planning in fact, that today’s household managers need do nothing more than find a favorite menu planning blog or two and learn all of the tips and tricks they need to know. As a bonus, most blogs also offer resources,which usually includes all of the printables needed to begin meal planning with very little effort.
In a previous post, I talked about Meal Planning for the Non-Planner. {In future posts, I will be covering additional aspects of the meal planning process as well.}
Today, I’m bringing you a simple idea for those getting started using magnetic menu boards. This is an easy one to build for those intimidated by some of the fancier designs, or who may not be as handy working with lumber and power tools.
This completely functional magnetic menu board takes no time at all to build and looks pretty cute to boot. It’s made from an ordinary dry-erase board that you can purchase for $20 or less plus some ordinary scrapbooking supplies you may already have in your craft/sewing room. You can customize it to your taste or have the children help to make it with you, as I did (that’s why it is a carnival of colors!).
Directions:
Start with a dry-erase board like this one, the kind with the calendar grid already on it (this one has a cork-board area, too, although that’s not really necessary):
Cover the magnetic white-board area with your choice of scrapbooking papers, neatly cut to the correct size. Use glue-stick, rubber cement the edges, or use double-stick tape as I did here:
Now, add lettering or decorations of your choice. I went with these puffy letter stickers found on clearance at Kohl’s, because they matched my paper perfectly:
but you can use any stickers or rub-on lettering to write whatever message you like. I wrote this on ours:
Now, using self-stick borders, grossgrain ribbons and double-stick tape, or any other method you’d like, cover up any rough edges and finish up the general design. I chose these self-adhesive borders that are so easy to stick on:
Once the design is completed, it’s time to think about your menu. Type up a list of 30 or more of your family’s favorite recipes, using free digital images or any method you like. Print them onto card stock, laminate, then cut apart.
To make it easier, you may also print out some ready-made meal labels found for free on the web. I found these at Heart of Wisdom and fell in love with many of the meal options. But I also hopped onto my computer and made up some of my own, in the same size and shape as the ones I found on the web, to add in more of the meals my family loves:
I protected the menu cards from splattering food and sticky fingers by covering them with Avery self-adhesive laminating sheets:
and then I used a good pair of sharp scissors to cut them all apart:
For magnets, I chose a coil of adhesive magnetic strip, purchased at my craft store for $2.99. I cut little sections of magnet to stick on the backs of each menu item, but individual magnets and drops of glue would probably work just as well:
Finally, use a dry-erase marker to enter the month at the top and place menu cards in the order in which you plan to serve them up. I added “Leftover Night” and “Clean out the fridge” cards here and there, and I also added a “Mystery dinner” night just for fun:
I also added an extra strip of magnetic tape to one of the edges of the board to hold the unused menu cards as they wait their turn:
If you make one of these, or have any other easy magnetic menu board idea of your own, SHARE a link in the comments so that my readers can check yours out.
Bon Appetit!
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Very nice idea! Great for a large family too – when momma is busy with the babies, older kids can get dinner going. Plus, this would ensure no food going to waste from being forgotten! 🙂
Blessings
Melissa
Thanks for weighing and pointing out the money-saving aspect to meal planning =)
Marie-Claire
Thanks for the tutorial. We can’t wait to make on this week. This will be a great tool for us to put in our kitchen as our tweens are beginning to help with meals. They will be able to see what is on the menu & be able to retrieve the items needed for the meal they are responsible for preparing.
My son would enjoy reading “Scout: The Secret of the Swamp”. He hopes to enter the Air Force upon completion of high school. This year we are looking the possibility of him participating in Junior ROTC. 🙂
Thanks for the opportunity to enter your giveaway ~ Beth
Terrific! Send us a photo if you like – love to see how it turned out =)
A great idea! Looks like a fun way to plan meals.
Glad you like the concept! Feel free to add a link to your photo here if you end up making one – would love to see it 🙂
Beautiful planner! I am one half of a mompreneur team who actually sell a magnetic menu planner. (sticktoitplanner.com) We know not all moms have the time or energy to make their own, so we offer an affordable alternative. I love perusing the internet though and finding all the creative home made versions out there. Well done! 🙂
Appreciate you stopping by! What a terrific splash page on your site! I’ll be sure to share your link as well. Best wishes, Marie-Claire
I’ve been trying to find ready made meal labels-you say you’ve found others (aside from the Heart of Wisdom ones)? What search term did you use because I’ve been searching for what seems like all night and can’t find one single other example! This would be a huge help if I could find one, I”d really prefer to use pictures, not just a list of names and it would take forever to either photograph our meals each night or to search for free pictures to represent each dinner.
I think I searched on magnetic boards, but can’t recall! Yes, I printed some out of ours out, however I also created a bunch of my own for meals that my family really enjoys. I used clip art images and MS Office to draw them, then just cut them out. Easy 🙂 Org Junkie, Laura, has some great sites with printables here: http://orgjunkie.com/menu-plan-monday-guidelines/menu-planning-resources that you can try. She also has other magnetic boards features there, too. I hope you find this helpful! Thanks so much for stopping
What a fun idea! Thanks for sharing at Wow Me Wednesday!
This idea is so much better than my normal list making!
What a fun idea! This is especially nice when you have a some core menu items you make over and over. I try new recipes often, so it’d probably be easy enough to leave a blank one where I can write with a wet erase marker what I’ll be making. It’d be fun to look at with pictures for the things that we make on a regular basis. Thanks for sharing!
Glad you found the tutorial helpful & thanks so much for passing it on!
Marie-Claire