DIY Calendar Pin Board

I can definitely say that I am addicted to Pinterest and I love looking at all the great DIY project pins.  That being said, I have noticed that a lot of people have pinned a "command center", which consists of a desk, chair, small filing area, calendar, and usually a laptop, essentially it holds their their lives in one place.  I don't have anywhere to put one in my house, but I do have a big empty wall in my kitchen screaming for some attention.  So I decided to make my own interpretation of the command center for those who don't have the additional space for a command center.  My idea inspiration came from a pin, of course, that took a frame and used it as dry erase board, seen here:

I wanted to make a reusable calendar that mimicked this idea, but also had a cork board to hold all my important letters, my grocery list, bills and any of the things that would otherwise get lost.  So I ran out, paid maybe $12 for the materials and made my very own command center, and this is what I came up with:

My neighbor loved the idea and needed one of these bad boys for her house.  Since the frame was buy one, get one free and the cork came in a four pack, I had the extra materials to make her one too.  So after work, we had a Pinterest craft party.  Her's was a little more involved than mine, so if you want a more plain Jane one like mine, swap the fabric for ribbon to cover the edges of the cork (attach with hot glue), and nix the paint samples to draw on the calendar.

You'll need the following:

• A frame - I used a poster size that would fit on the wall I wanted to use, and they were buy one get one free!
• A sharpie
• A ruler
• A pencil
• Cork board- I found a four pack of these great squares.  
• Hot glue gun and glue
• Paint sample cards -I've made two of these now, one I used paint sample cards and the other I just hand sketched the calendar out, either way looked great.  
• A piece of Fabric (one fat quarter was more than enough for one piece of cork)

Step one: Map it out. 

I wasn't sure about the lay out.  I wanted a decent size cork board, and the squares had to be big enough to write in, so it took me a couple of tries to get the size for mine just right. I also wanted to make sure there was room at the bottom for notes, meal planning, etc.  Make sure you know what you want and that it will fit in the size frame you purchase.   The two pieces of cork together were a little too long to fit in this frame so I just used a regular pair of scissors and trimmed it down until they both fit.  

  For Brianna's, she went to Home Depot and grabbed a few of these super paint sample card to use as her days.  Pretty smart considering it took me about an hour just to measure and draw out my map.  Once it's mapped out, you need to remove the plastic or glass, depending on your frame.  I know it sounds weird but you need to be able to map it all out correctly.  For this frame, the plastic was only held on my four sticky spots.  All I did was pull slightly and it popped right off.

Next, you'll want to flip over that spiffy sheet that the frame comes with to give yourself a nice (and free) white background.  Next put your cork back in place, but DO NOT glue the cork down in this step, you just need it for spacing.  This is when you either draw out your calendar or use these cute paint sample cards.  My neighbor was able to make this really pattern for hers that can be mimicked with any color really.  We spaced out the colors evenly and then one by one glued them down with hot glue.  You might want to use a paper towel to press down on the cards because after the first three it starts to really burn the fingerprints.  

Now its time to put the glass/plastic back in the frame.  You can reattach it to the frame just the hot glue.  I added one drop to each side and then one in each of the corners.  Place the frame back over the calendar and attach the cork to the top of the glass/plastic.  My neighbor wanted to add her own flare to the cork board before we attached it to the board.  So she printed out this really cute image and we just hot glued it right to the cork.  To secure the cork, we used the double sided foam pieces that came with the cork.  You can add almost anything to it to make it your own.  My neighbor covered her cork board in her favorite fabric to give it some flare.  You can also add photos under the glass to personalize.  The very last step is to use a dry erase marker and organize your life!  Happy Crafting!!!

The DIY gift for the Geek

I always find that I have one person that is almost impossible to Christmas shop for.  This year it's my neighbor's husband.  While his wife and I are pretty close, and I have a long list of options for her, I had a huge blank space under his name.  Like my husband, he is the guy that buys everything he wants for himself.  He likes reading, but has a library, he loves movies, but has a huge collection, no particular hobby, a family man, has a huge sweet tooth and likes Star Trek.  So what do you get the man that's impossible to buy for?  A cookie jar embellished with his Star Trek quote of course!

The last time I was at my mother in law's house, I commented on her cute dog treat containers.  They were simple plastic jars with her dogs name on them.  She told me she made them herself with the Cricut machine and some crafting vinyl.  I've been wanting to try this out for myself but haven't had an opportunity (or a need) to do it for my house.  Thank you mom for the inspiration.

First things first, I needed an awesome cookie jar.  TJ Maxx has this little guy for around $8.  I bought this one specifically for the air tight, suction top.  The only bad cookie is a stale one.

Then I dusted off the old Cricut and found the vinyl I had stuffed away from a previous project.  The vinyl is typically a little on the expensive side, so if you don't already have some, I would suggest waiting for a sale.  The coupons in the craft stores tend to exclude all Cricut stuff so unless you can find a different one, this is going to be a pricy purchase.

Next I chose a gender neutral font.  Come on ladies, we all love the scrolls and the loops and all the pretty fonts but for a guy, lets just say the simpler the better!  You need to choose a skinnier font if your words are more than 3 letters long, because your words end up wrapping around the jar, which looks a little awkward.

 

The tricky part is the saying.  The saying is the most important thing about this project.  You have to find something that, not only appeals to the recipient, but that they won't mind looking at every time they get a craving for a cookie.  And heaven forbid you mix up genres or misquote anything.  Do your research!  In this instance, I know that my neighbor's husband is more of a Treky than a Star Wars guy so the dark side cookies probably wouldn't appeal to him as much as "beam me up scotty".  But I must say it's a little funny to have "live long and prosper" on a container full of some of the most fattening cookies known to man, but the humor is the best part of the present, outside of the cookies, of course.

The final step is to add their favorite cookies.  For me, I now know that Oreos (whose aren't though really?) are his favorites, courtesy of his wife.  Add a big bow on top and you're done!  Knowing my neighbor, when the cookies are gone, say three days after opening this, he will find a use for this in his office or the shed, either way, it's a thoughtful reusable gift. In my experience, it takes two packages of Oreos to get this thing semi full.  I would suggest three, and whatever doesn't fit, well I guess you will just have to enjoy the left overs. 

Happy Crafting!

My Guilty Pleasure of the Week...

I'd like to say that my music preference is pretty broad, and I typically don't like the top 100's that they play over and over and over on the radio,  but this album is by far the best I've heard from T. Swift.  Her other albums were great for nursing a broken heart or when you're 15. But this album definitely has the pizazz all her other ones were missing.  I can hit the random button and listen to this entire album from start to finish.  Its one you can clean your house to, one you can blast in the car, and one you can play in the office.  I recommend tracks 2 & 9 to start.  If you haven't bought it yet, this is worth every penny on iTunes.    Happy listening everyone!