Hello, Hello! On Monday, I showed you my Magnetic Menu Board and explained how it works! If you missed it, you can read it here! As promised, I am back today to show you how I made it!
I started here:
and ended here:
Here’s what you need to create your own Magnetic Menu Board:
- A magnetic and dry-erase calendar
- 2 packages of magnetic sheets (you can find these anywhere from Walmart to Amazon…mine are from Staples and are glossy, which give the magnets a nice and professional look!)
- 6 books filled with clear plastic page protectors (mine are from the Y100 Store in Okinawa – yes, I stocked up before I left years ago! – but any binders or similar-type books would work!)
- Magnetic Menu Board Editable and Changeable Templates
- Other supplies:
- Scissors
- Clear packaging tape
- Recipes – you’re on your own for that one!
- Small craft storage box to hold magnets (similar)
- Magazine file for storing recipe books
- Vinyl for labeling magnet box
Unfortunately, the first step is the most “not fun” and time consuming! If they are not already done so, you must first organize and/or sorted your recipes!
Before this project, I was already printing (or copying) recipes (from emails, online, or cookbooks) that make it into our regular rotation and then store them in handy books.As I said in my original post, my recipes were already somewhat organized…I just expanded my system. Instead of “Favorites,” “Classics,” “To Try,” and “Desserts,” I instead organized my recipes by main protein source, and then lumped my sides/salads and desserts into categories of their own. Here are my 6 categories!
- Poultry
- Seafood
- Beef/Pork
- Vegetarian
- Sides/Salads
- Desserts
Once my recipes were organized, I could begin making my magnetic labels.
You can make similar templates using Illustrator, Canva, Word, PowerPoint, Excel etc!Ispecifically sized my labels to take up only half of a square on my calendar(the width was also dictated by the calendar box widths.) To do this, simply measure the height and width of a “day” on your calendar and use that as a starting point. My boxes are 2.5″ wide by 0.75″ tall. You may want to print a test to make sure the come out the size you want! I then copied and pasted the box as many times as I could.
Because I had 6 categories, I needed a color scheme. In preparation for our next move, I have been looking at a lot of different color schemes for our next house, and am pretty sure this is the one! (I know, I’m ridiculous already picking out ideas for our next home!)
Anyway, I used these colors for my labels and had a sheet for each color:
Using the text function, I simply added the title of each recipe to the appropriate color sheet!
I also made a sheet with 6 blank labels of each color in order to have extras!
Next, I made my sides and symbols sheet. You can see all these labels explained here!
Lastly, I made “key” magnets (so I could always remember what each color stood for) and month magnets to match!
With everything all typed up and ready to go (make sure you proofread!), I printed out all my labels onto those magnetic sheets!
Here is how my recipe labels looked all printed out before cutting!
Using a plain ol’ scissors, I cut out each label (btw – these cut BEAUTIFULLY! I was SO worried, but they cut just like paper!)
I then added my “key” magnets and setup my board for February…learn how to set it uphere!
And then organized my remaining magnets in a little craft box:
I used my cricut to make a matching vinyl label for the top of the box!
With the menu board and magnets done, it was time to turn my attention toward my recipe books. In addition to my labels, I also made a template for my spines…these I printed on card stock!
I cut out each spine…
And mounted each spine onto the notebooks using the clear packaging tape (use extra for re-enforcement!)
Once all six were done, I had pretty spines that coordinated with my magnets!
I loaded my books into a magazine file and now have everything sitting nice and tidy on my counter!
Get the Magnetic Menu Board Templates!
Creating your own Magnetic Menu Board is now quicker and easier than ever! I’ve created three fully editable/changeable sets of templates…all you have to do is set your categories, type in your recipes, print and assemble! SHOP HERE!
The video tutorial below shows how quick and easy it is to make the ultimate meal planning system perfectly tailored to your needs!
This project took me less than 1 nap to complete (ha…I measure my project length in nap time now!) ONCE all my recipes were organized and sorted – that’s the time-consuming part! It came together so quick and easy thanks to the magnetic sheets, and I’m telling you friends, this system really works great!Hope you enjoyed the tutorial! Next week, I am sharing the beginnings of my newest project…a “tween” girl’s bedroom makeover!!! Can’t wait!Have a great weekend.
See You Soon!
Megan
