Menu Chalkboard

With baby #4 on the way, I'm trying to get as organized as possible. Part of that plan is to make feeding my family easier. My goal is to have a monthly menu and then 3 months of supplies for those meals in my pantry (at least all the non-perishable parts!). Hopefully, this will make grocery shopping a lot smoother too. After all, one more child makes getting to the grocery store all the more challenging! I'll post more on that as it progresses.

But for now, I have a little craft to share with you that I'll be using to post weekly meals for my family.

I started with this cute cut-out of an apple that my sister made for me. She sketched it on a scrap piece of MDF board and used her jig-saw to cut it out.

I lightly sanded any bumps on the edge and then painted with chalkboard paint. There was lots of gunk that had settled to the bottom of the can which took a TON of stirring to mix it all in!

I then carefully painted two coats, because painting 2 or 3 light coats are ALWAYS better than one gloopy coat! Also, I was careful to only paint in one direction (I did up and down) to keep the grain consistent. It makes the surface much easier to write on.

Because I actually planned on writing on this chalkboard, I needed to prep it. Using the side of a piece of chalk, I just rubbed chalk all over the writing surface.

Then, using a chalk eraser (NOT A WET CLOTH) I wiped off the extra dust. And there was a LOT of dust!

Although it takes away the crisp blackness of the board, if this prep step is skipped--you will not be able to erase anything you write very well. Trust me. I've learned the hard way!

Did I mention it makes a LOT of dust?

Next time I'll put a plastic drop-cloth down before I prep it! Cean-up would have been SO MUCH EASIER if I could have just gathered up the plastic and shaken it off outside!

Here it is . . . all ready for a meal plan!

I think it needs a little color--maybe some ribbon around the top or outside edge. What do you think?