organization

This year, it seems like our schedule has gotten much crazier with after school activities, church events, and family activities. 

To try and keep track of it all -- and make the rest of the family aware of what's going on (instead of the calendar just being in MY head) -- I've been printing a weekly calendar on computer paper and writing in our activities for the week and pre-planning our dinner menus.  Then I post it on the refrigerator, which is DEFINITELY the hub of our house. :) 

Well, as I'm sure you know, plans and schedules change! So, I did a lot of scratching out, erasing, and rewriting the same things for the next week.  But, aside from the scratch outs, the weekly calendar posted on the refrigerator was definitely working for us.  Not only did I know exactly what needed to be done to prepare for dinner every day, but I could plan out meals based on the carpool and activity schedule, to make everything a little easier on us all.  The system worked....I just needed a more permanent solution that looked nicer and was easier to adjust as our schedule and plans changed.

Enter -- a Dry Erase Board version of my weekly calendar!  Zazzle.com intoduced dry erase boards as a new product not long ago, and I've been wanting to try them out. 

I designed a basic weekly calendar onto two different sizes of dry erase boards (medium & large). I wasn't sure if the medium version (8" x 12") would be big enough to write all our activities on it, so I ordered both sizes to try them out.  The large version is 16" x 22" and would be great for large families with lots going on every week!

Customization:

I ordered the medium sized version with the basic khaki background, but I got creative with the large one to try out some color matching with our new Sherwin William's paint swatch.  I used the hexidecimal value number for our paint color (Worldly Gray #CEC8BB) and just pasted that into the background color.  Viola - a perfectly matched piece of decor!

Here's how you do that...

How to Change the Background Color:

Click on the "customize it" button for the product.

Click on "edit" and then "background color" from the drop-down menu.

Next, choose a color from the color pallette or click on Advanced to enter your own hexidecimal number.

Enter the six digit hexidecimal number for your color of choice (which I found for my paint color at the Sherwin Williams web site).

As you can see, it's not exactly the same color as our walls, but it's pretty darn close! This would be such a cool way to perfectly integrate this dry erase board into your own decor.

Quality:

As far as the quality of Zazzle's dry erase boards, I was overall very pleased. The design printed all the way to the corners, and there is no border or frame added to the board. It comes with a black fine tip dry erase marker that clips right to the front of the board.

The slick finish on the top of the board makes it easy to write on (and easy to wipe off with a paper towel), which is exactly what I was looking for.

It's a pretty low-profile board, only about 3/16" thick.

Mounting Options:

My only disappointment was that the included "mounting equipment" was just double-stick foam tape in three strips on the back of the board. 

I'm sure they stick very well, but I'm *not* confident that they remove easily without ruining whatever it was stuck to, and wasn't about to stick it to my newly painted walls or refrigerator. 

Instead, I glued four magnets to the back of the board so it would not-as-permanently stick to my refrigerator. :)

The 16" x 22" version would be pretty easy to put into an open-back frame (which you can have made at any framing shop).  Or, you could use something like these if you wanted to mount it to a wall:

Size:

After trying out the different sizes for a few weeks, I decided that the medium version was a good size for our family's activities, and it fits nicely on our refrigerator without being too overwhelming.

Price:

At regular price, the large version of this (de)Sign is about $40 plus shipping and the medium version is only about $20 plus shipping.   Plus, Zazzle offers coupons regularly, so this could really be an inexpensive family organization tool.

Conclusion:

I love it! I'm so happy with how my dry erase board has worked out.  And now I can stop wasting printer paper on my weekly calendar scribbles. :)

• Would this calendar and dinner menu dry erase board be helpful in your house?
• What size would you get?
• Would you change the colors? 

If you like this, you can buy it and customize your own here:

Or check out all of Zazzle's dry erase boards from tons of artists!

My new retail job requires rather excessive accessorizing (for me anyway), so it was a good excuse for me to organize the jumbled mess that my jewelry box had become. 

I took everything out, got rid of a couple of things, and put the smaller pieces (rings, small earrings & bracelets) back into the jewelry box on my dresser. 

Then...I needed a visually accessible (and jumble-free) solution for my larger earrings & necklaces.  And of course I wanted it NOW, so I looked for stuff I had on hand.  After a trip to the garage and digging through my craft stash of stuff, here's what I ended up with:

My solution: an old frame, some scrap fabric, black wire, duct tape and a few nails!  It was about a 15 minute project.

1. Find a wooden frame with a mat-board backing.
2. Remove the glass and set it aside (surely there will be a need for it some day!)
3. Wrap the mat-board backing with fabric, attaching with duct tape to the back of the mat-board.
4. Spiral wrap the fabric-covered mat-board with wire (I used heavier wire to be sure that it would hold up well).
5. Twist the wire to itself on the backside to secure it and put a strip of duct tape over it to keep it in place.
6. Insert the mat-board back into the frame.
7. Add nails to the wooden frame at the top & middle of the sides (for neclaces).
8. Find a convenient place to hang it up & add your jewelry!

I put mine in my closet, next to the full length mirror.

I've been reorganizing some things in my office the last few days, bought some fabric drawers to hide some clutter, finished some decorating stuff, and it finally looks more like what I had in mind when I first got my Expedit shelves from IKEA.  It had been getting more and more cluttered with junk over the past few months and needed some rearranging!

Now that's it's cleaned up and looks a little nicer, I thought it would be a good time to do a video tour and show what my office looks like, where I store things, and give you a look around:

(click photo for larger version)

Or...you can click here for a labeled image telling where I store different things.

And, if you're REALLY interested in taking a look around, here's the link to an 11 minute video tour of all the goods: 

Andrea's Scrap Room Video Tour

Enjoy!  I definitely do.  It's been a great place to work and create, right in the middle of our house, where I can still be involved with everything else that's going on....