DIY Magnetic Dry Erase Command Center

I have tried several different things as far as "command center" goes.  The best I've come up with is this 8 week meal plan.  I made it when my husband started working night shifts at the hospital.  It helped us both remember what nights he was working & helped me plan meals I could fix between me getting home from work and him leaving for work.  Now, it still helpful looking ahead and trying to figure out grocery shopping.  I can plan weeks in advance (and as you can see with the smiley face stamps, I've been pretty good at sticking to it).  Less food is wasted, we eat healthier, we eat a larger variety of foods, and we eat as a family.  It's pretty much been a good thing all around.

Anyway, we've kept it on our fridge and it is the best place.  I've got my daily planner just around the corner with other things, but for the most part this meal plan is our go-to.  Well, I decided I wanted to spiff it up a bit and help  lean up the fridge a bit.  So I did.

I went to Ikea and bought this super cute (and cheap) frame....

And I had these little clothespins (I don't remember where I got them, but the package said $1).  And some mounting tape

(magnets were not strong enough to hold the entire board)

I originally tried to use tacky glue to attached the magnets to the back of the frame and the clothespins to the front, but it did not stick...grrr...   Then I tried wood glue, then gorilla glue.  Nothing!  GRRR!!  I realized the frame surface was too smooth so I ended up sanding where the clothespins were supposed to go.  As for the magnets.  I wanted the entire board to be magnetic.  It wasn't.  I also wanted it to be dry erase.  It (unofficially) was.  But how to do both.  The plastic insert of the frame worked for the dry erase, but was not magnetic.  After searching and almost an hour at The Home Depot, I ended up with a small piece of sheet metal for $5.  

Luckily I had tin snippers at home so I measured it out and snipped away.  I placed the clear plastic down first (like you would as usual), then instead of a picture, I put the sheet metal, then the cardboard.  Then, I glued (with tacky glue) the magnets to the cardboard.  I used gorilla glue to glue the clothespins to the front of the frame.  And yay, with the sanding, they actually held!  Hallelujah! 

I loved how it turned out...and it was super cheap (although time intensive for trial-and-error). Now we have a place we can both go to for notes, chores, schedule, etc.

Happy Craftin'

Total Cost: $10

Total Time: 4+ hours (because of trial and error)

Easy Easter [or any season] sign

I'm trying to establish my seasonal decorations.  Some holidays I absolutely love (Christmas), but others are struggling.  I've slowly gotten rid of my college decorations and have started adding more refined, adult decorations.

I bought some flowers at Michael's while they were having a 60% off spring stem sale so I spent about $10 on those and I already had the vases (Ikea).


The sign.  I wanted something significant, something that could stand alone and make a statement.  I found an extra piece of plywood sitting around and went to work.

Materials Needed:
Wood (I used extra plywood, it's soft enough to trace on)
Paint (acrylic paint, whatever colors you like)
Paintbrushes (I used foam paint brush and a small paintbrush for the letters)


1-I found a font I like and a saying I wanted.  I printed it off the size I liked [the font is "AlwaysHere" and the font is somewhere around 200, I did "He Is" just a tad smaller than "Risen"]

2-I painted my wood the color I liked.  Simple acrylic paint found at Wal-Mart for 50 cents!

I used "Key West"

3-I placed my letters on the wood once the paint was dry and  traced over them with a gaming stylus

4-Then I retraced them just on the wood to make a deeper groove

5-I took a small paintbrush and painted the letters white.  Again, simple acrylic paint.

6- Once it was dry...done!   That simple.  Took maybe an hour (with interruptions from the littles)

And there you have it.  Simple.  Bold.  Elegant.  I love it!

Happy Spring everyone!


Total Cost:  $10
Flowers: $9 (on sale)
Vases: Already had
Wood: Already had
Paint: $.50

Total Time: 1 hour

$10 Christmas Manger

It was between Elf on the Shelf and The Giving Manger.  I decided I liked the idea behind the Giving Manger better, more service and Christ centered.

I liked how The Giving Manger had the cute book and it came with everything, but I couldn't justify spending $40 on that small of a manger.  I wanted it to be a focal point in my home, almost a centerpiece, since really, that is what Christmas really is about...Christ.

So , I thought about how I could ... make my own ... for cheaper.  I have a ton of those crates and thought I could make one out of those...Walmart didn't have any so I headed over to Michael's and used a coupon.  I got the crate for $8 something.

I was ready to get started:

Step 1-remove slats from sides and bottom

Step 2-remove nails

Step 3-pound in excess nails

Step 4-sand, measure

Step 5-nail together

I used these small nails I had on hand

I left one slat width at the top (about 2"), then started nailing together one side, then the next

One side I put the vertical slates on the edges, the other side I placed them on the inside (so if folded, they would fold together) 

This is of both sides, with the extra space at the top.  The top side has the vertical boards on the edge, while the bottom side has the vertical boards on the inside...kinda hard to see, but hopefully that makes sense)

Step 6-trace sides & cut (using a midor saw)

I looked at who wide I wanted my opening and traced on the end/side board  

Using a midor saw, cut along the lines 

Use wood glue to attach the ends to the sides

Let it dry...

Now I had to figure out what to use for "hay" and since I have a three-year-old boy, I didn't want to use actual hay.  I decided raffia was a good alternative.  Once again, I headed to Michael's and bought a bag of raffia with another coupon, $2.50.  I pulled it all out and cut it into about 2 foot pieces.

Now it's in a bag and every time my son does a good deed for someone else (or makes his bed, or puts away his toys or does something helpful), I let him put a piece of "straw" (aka hay) in the manger.

I know it's not perfect, but I like the rustic feel to it and it's the perfect size for my living room table.  I really like how it turned out, and it helps my family remember Christmas is about giving and not getting.

Merry Christmas!

New kitchen table

We've had this table since we got married.  It's been an amazing table, but alas, it was time to move one and get something a little bigger...

We found a table on KSL for just over $100.  It was a solid wood table with 4 chairs and a bench.  The stain was rubbing off and in some places, it was completely gone.  Some of the chairs were wobbly, but we didn't mind any of that.  Our goal was to sand it and put a new stain on it. 

I'm such a ditz and completely forgot to take a picture of the table, but here are the chairs that came with it.

We sold the chairs, but kept the bench.  We found 4 new chairs at the Overstock warehouse in West Valley and thought they would look a lot better:

They were a lot more simple and had the clean, straight lines I was going for.  I really liked them, but we knew we were going to sand them down too.  Dark brown was not the color we were going for.

Well, my husband got to work on the awesome table top & bench.  He started sanding and sanding and sanding!

Here you can see the original base of the table...too ornate and just not my style

Originally we bought a stain at Sherwin Williams that looked like it would be great.  We were going for the beach wood/drift wood look.  Needless to say, I almost cried when we stained the bench and it looked peach!  Gratefully we had only done the bench and could sand it off, so we did!

My husband, being the smart man he is jumped in the car and drove to the nearest hardware store.  He talked to the guys there and came home with a tiny thing of dark grey paint.  I was confused at first, but when he started working, I was so happy with what it looked like.  Essentially, we "white washed" the table, but instead of using white paint, we did grey.  All we had to do was add a little grey paint to some water and brush it on.  We'd let it sit for about 10 minutes, then wipe off the excess.  It was a long process, but I absolutely love how it turned out!!!

Then, he is even more amazing and made new bases for the table and the bench!  We liked the "x" farm table look.  He found a couple sites and figured it out on his own.  It was NOT easy, but we eventually got it to look the way we want and I couldn't be happier!  It's not the same table at all!!!!

aren't they awesome??

the finished product!  Love how it turned out!

Well, we still had those dark brown chairs.  My husband rented a paint sprayer for some other projects he was working on and sprayed the chairs at the same time.  Then, my awesome mother-in-law has a lot of talented friends and so we had cushions made!

Again, absolutely LOVE how everything turned out.  It adds so much light into our kitchen, the table, chairs & bench are just what we wanted!  I'm loving the colors and the table.  It's definitely bigger than the last table, but that's good considering our family is growing!

Happy crafting!