A dear friend recently bought me a counter-top chalkboard for my kitchen. Last week I decided to use it for something other than a distraction for the kids while I was cooking, and I actually wrote down our dinner “Menu” for the week to display for all to see. It sat on the counter throughout the week as a constant reminder of what I had planned for meals, and I found that it helped tremendously to keep me on-schedule and get everyone fed with something besides hastily reheated mac & cheese and some frozen peas. With a new school year just around the corner and, because I love this chalkboard so much, I decided that, in my never-ending quest to keep this house organized, I needed more chalkboards. MORE CHALKBOARDS!!! And thus my project for today was inspired.
Between wedding edits this week, I bought a roll of removable chalkboard sticky stuff for the walls and traced out a cool shape that I like. I made 2 chalkboards for the refrigerator – one with our weekly schedule of extra-curricular kid activities and the other with our endless shopping lists. The weekly schedule also has a place for sticky notes to designate whether or not it’s our week to drive carpool and what time the soccer games on Saturday mornings are taking place. (Prior to this point, sticky notes were the main thing that held my life together, so it seemed appropriate that I find some way to incorporate them into my chalkboard organizer.)
This year is full-time school with required uniforms that vary depending on the day of the week. (I swear the point of this whole uniform exercise is simply to make parent’s heads explode.) So I also made some for the kid’s rooms. My oldest has 2 on her wall – one to remind her of the routine things she needs to do each morning, and the other to remind us parents what clothes to set out for her the night before. Even the baby gets a chalkboard reminder for her wall so that regardless of who gets her up or puts her to bed, we’re all doing it consistently.
The supplies ran me about $25 on Amazon. And really, that’s just because I sprang for the awesome neon liquid chalk markers. (I’m an art supply junky, so I couldn’t resist!) The best part is that when the schedule changes – which it inevitably will in 6 weeks – all I have to do is wipe them off and start again.
Now… if I can just find my car keys…
Dean says
I love lists and the thought of being organized! I only wish my family would love them too! Great ideas and good luck!