Meal Planner Board

Well HAPPY THURSDAY!!!!

I'm having the BEST day today!!  We woke up this morning to this beautiful sight:

Isn't it pretty?  On the one hand I was sad to see the snow again (it was 95% melted inour yard yesterday) but it's just so darned pretty!  On top of that I didn't have to drive anywhere (and let's face it - it's all about ME! *lol*)  The major downside in MY world is that I havea pup who LOVES the snow and everytime I let him out he brings about 100 little snowballs in stuck to his fur ... which then get deposited throughout the house ... which I then keep stepping in ... and I don't like wet socks!  ... but I digress ...

The snow was POURING down from the sky so I made an executive decision that we were having a SNOW DAY!  The girls only have half a day of school on Thursdays so I thought "What's the point?!"  They were thrilled ... and I later found out that most of those who DID attempt to get their kids to school ended up getting stuck or couldn't even get their garage doors open.  So .... it was a good decision all 'round.  Things just kept getting better (well, for me ... Craig ended up back at home after being on the road for an hour ... Gretzsky Road was closed so he had to abort!).  The snow didn't keep the couriers away today ... our new iPad3 arrived ... and then my stamping order ... and I also found out my new coffee maker is on-route as we speak.  WAIT!  It gets even better!  The kids decided to quit fighting like cats and dogs and settled in to watch a few hours of TV in the basement.  That allowed me to finish off the project I was telling you about.  I just LOVE it!!!  Check it out:

It's a Meal Planner!  Isn't it fun?!  My friend Helen (hi Helen!) had shared a Pinterest post with me a few months back showing a picture frame that had been turned into a meal planner.  I loved the idea but had my own ideas for the actual execution of the final product.  Ta Da!  This is 100% my version!  (*sniff* - I'm so proud ...).
I am offering this as a class ... and as a kit to go (for my local customers).  To come to the class the cost is $25.00 - that includes all materials EXCEPT the board itself.  You come to the class, stamp and assemble everything yourself.  The kit-to-go costs $35.00 and includes all the pre-stamped and pre-punched supplies EXCEPT the board itself.  If you want to buy a completed board the cost is $55.00

Here are some details about the project:

I purchased a cork board at my local big box store for about $10 (I'm sure you can find them cheaper elsewhere if you look hard enough.  The board itself is about 16" x 20".  I used (4) sheets of So Saffron to cover the cork (I used sticky strip to attach it).  I then punched out the MTWTFSS letter in black with my Big Shot Alphabet dies.  I made little pockets for the recipe cards to sit in by cutting Very Vanilla envelopes at 3" and taping them to the board (oh - I used 2-way glue to attach the letters). 

See the little chef in the corner?  He is a coil notebook to use to make my shopping list each week!  Aren't I clever?  Check it out:

 I had a bunch of "Mead" 4x6 coil notebooks in my stash of supplies so I took the coil out - cut some vanilla paper to 4x6 then lined it up with the front cover and traced the little holes.  I took my Crop-a-dile and punched the holes with the small holed punch.  Then I re-threaded the coil.  Voila! (hee hee ... that's the name of the retired stamp set I used ... Voila .. hee hee)
Now for the recipe cards:  These are discontinued but still available on the Clearance Rack through Stmapin' Up!  I LOVE these .. and bought 3 of them at full price way-back-when.  My plan was/is to write out all my favorite recipes and give them to my girls when they get married ... one of those major projects on my to-do list!

Here is the recipe card box closed:

You get 8 dividers and lots of die cuts to stick to your recipe cards:

The recipe cards are double sided:

And then the box opens and you can place the recipe you are working on in the front and the box acts as a stand.  LOVE this kit!

Clost up of a card and some stickers:

I used my retired "Voila to go" set to stamp the images for the front of the envelopes - I used black Staz-on and then colored them with Certainly Celery and So Saffron markers.  I punched them with the 1 1/4" circle punch, then 1 3/8" circle for the celery mat and then a 1 3/4" circle punch for the black mat.  I used a dimensional to pop it up ... and attached some celery satin ribbon to the back of each circle with a mini glue dot.

That's it!  It took me about 4 hours from start to finish.  The only flaw ..... I made it upside down *lol*  If you look at the first picture again you can see a white logo in the top left hand corner of the frame.  That should be in the bottom right hand corner.  The mounting brackets for the board are now on the bottom, not the top ... so I can't hang the darned thing *lol*  Oh well ... I'm sure Craig will be able to figure something out for me!

So that's my snow day for you.  It's now 3:41 and I suppose I should try to take the dog for a walk.  ... then again ... he IS sleeping ... and don't they say to let sleeping dogs lie? ....

Hope you're having a fun day too :)


Tam