Every week, I make a menu for the upcoming week's meals. I make my grocery list based on those meals and then post what the choices are for the week. It's a great way to stay on budget and be organized at the same time. I've always used a chalkboard to post the menu for my family, but thought it would be really fun to make a board using the vintage plaster pin letters I found recently at an estate sale, rather than writing it out each week. And, a bonus is that I moved the chalkboard to the front porch for messages and greetings. I love how tidy the new menu board looks.
To make it, I purchased a new cork board
and a tiny can of spray paint. I also went to my fabric stash and selected a fabric that I liked for this project.
I spray painted the frame (covering the inner corkboard with newspaper first). After the paint dried, I cut the fabric about 1/4" bigger than the cork, all around, and pushed it under the painted frame. I used my stovetop scraper to push the fabric under the frame, but a thin, dull knife would work well too. I made sure all edges were snugly tucked under the frame.
And now, we're all set!
Just found this post, thanks to your recent facebook posting of your gorgeous house! Thanks for sharing, and I made sure to tweet!
@hollisampson
Posted by: Holli Sampson | January 13, 2010 at 02:09 PM
I Love your Blog! So many inspiring ideas...I am going to add you to my blogroll! This board looks great! Love the colors! Daisy~
Posted by: Daisy | August 29, 2009 at 06:00 AM
love it! I need to make a menu for the week! haha! love the board too. was thinking of painting my cabinets with chalkboard paint so I could write on them.
Posted by: Rachel | August 26, 2009 at 09:01 AM
oh, how i wish I had vintage plaster pin letters. sigh! that is sooo fantastic.
Posted by: pamela | August 06, 2009 at 09:48 PM
Oh my gosh - how fantastic is that?
Love your blog!
Posted by: Kristen | August 05, 2009 at 12:16 PM
For some reason, pink & red together always makes me feel happy. I always wanted to wear those colors together as a child, and my mother would promptly make me change my clothes if I did in fact dress that way. Oh well! I'm glad it's acceptable now because it's just so darn cheery! :D
Posted by: Kristena | August 03, 2009 at 02:52 PM
What time is dinner at your house? hahahah....
I used to be that organized. What happened?!!
Posted by: Nancy | August 01, 2009 at 09:26 PM
Fantastic idea!! It looks great, too! Thanks for sharing, and for the easy directions and great pictures so that we can make one as well! You rock!! :)
Posted by: Maryann Gastaldo | July 31, 2009 at 03:27 AM
I always write our menu out on a pad of paper that lists the days of the week but this is a really sweet idea. Very cute! I love have the menu out ahead of time as it takes away the "ugh! What do I make for dinner tonight" stress.
Posted by: Lisa | July 30, 2009 at 07:19 PM
I just love your letters! And the board turned out so cute, I just love red and pink together! I have three chalkboards in my kitchen and haven't yet used it for the weeks menu. Thanks for the great ideas!
Posted by: Katie Trott | July 30, 2009 at 01:51 PM
THAT is TOO CUTE!!! You can send me all your leftover letters!!! ;) lol, jk!
VeRy CrEaTiVe!!! Love it!
Posted by: Emilee | July 29, 2009 at 09:48 PM
Love it! Your blog is just great. Hope you don't mind that I added you to my fav blogs on my blog :) Thanks again for sharing, love the menu idea.. My kids have been asking me to do this for some time..I think I may have to do this.
Mechelle
Posted by: Mechelle | July 29, 2009 at 09:06 PM
Lynn, it's true! Very very simple. (our specialty) : )
TinkerVerve, luckily there's a ton of letters! Hopefully I won;t have to make a menu around the letters. that would be bad!
Mindy, YES! Very fishy! Colin just returned from an Alaskan fishing trip so we have a big freezer FULL!
xo, Serena
Posted by: Serena Thompson | July 29, 2009 at 06:32 PM
Wow, a cute cute project I think even I could make!Such a simple idea but I never would have thought of it. Thanks!
Posted by: Lynn | July 29, 2009 at 06:25 PM
it will be interesting when you realize that you're choosing menu items based on the available letters~ ;-)
Posted by: TinkerVerve | July 29, 2009 at 06:01 PM
Y'all sure are fishy people. ha! The board is great! ~Mindy
Posted by: Mindy | July 29, 2009 at 05:16 PM
Cutest idea EVER!
Posted by: sasha | July 29, 2009 at 01:44 PM
I am echoing everybody else, but I LOVE THIS! LOVE IT! I am so dang impressed!
Posted by: Sonya | July 29, 2009 at 11:33 AM
I love this! What a great estate sale find! I just wanted to tell you that I love your book. I made a recipe every day for a week from the cookbook and loved everyone I made. It's great. I don't think I've loved a cookbook this much since The Barefoot Contessa.
Posted by: Becca | July 29, 2009 at 10:06 AM
LOVE THIS!!! We just repainted our kitchen and I was wanting to do something to make our bulletin board "prettier". Looks like I found a GREAT idea!!
Thank you!
His,
Mrs. U
Posted by: Mrs. U | July 29, 2009 at 09:51 AM
This is hands down my favorite project of yours! I knew you were going to do something magical with those nifty letters! Brilliant!
Posted by: Kim G. | July 29, 2009 at 08:45 AM
Thanks for the sweet comments. :)
Kris, the letters are the old stick-pin type, that have pins on the back of each one. I blogged about them here:
http://thefarmchicks.typepad.com/farmchicks/2009/07/better-with-letters.html
Take care,
Serena
Posted by: Serena Thompson | July 29, 2009 at 07:57 AM
Oh my --- this is just too cute of an idea!! What a fun addition to the kitchen.
Posted by: Monica | July 29, 2009 at 07:42 AM
Aack! That is cute! Are you saying my sticky note on the fridge isn't quite up to par?
Posted by: Alison | July 29, 2009 at 07:25 AM
Love it! How do those letters stick though? Love your blog, and love your book. I haven't used my stencil yet, but I will!!!
Posted by: Kris Grover | July 29, 2009 at 07:22 AM
That, just could not be cuter!
m ^..^
Posted by: m | July 29, 2009 at 06:47 AM
So cute! I love the way those letters look on the red fabric. Fantastic! I'm just a wee bit jealous, actually. ;)
*Tricia
Posted by: Tricia | July 29, 2009 at 06:26 AM