At the end of last year, I found that I was completely out of the control. And when I say out of control, I mean my handle on organizing our family calendar. Organizing my own life is hard enough, but with all the end of year school activities, holiday traditions, and keeping up with McKinley's tennis and drum practicing at home, I was falling behind. I have a paper calendar that keeps me somewhat in the know, but I needed something more. So, I decided to create a dry erase calendar for the family and a chore chart for McKinley so that everyone was on the same page and McKinley was keeping up with his own practice schedule to earn his daily 30 minute screen time reward.
We've all seen the dry erase calendars at our craft stores, but they are fairly pricey. Even with a coupon or store sale, they were a little outside my wallet spend. And then I decided that it was truly something I could make on my own and with very little out of pocket cost. I hit up my local thrift store for some expensive frames, found free calendar graphics online and had them printed at Costco, and used paint that I already had sitting on a shelf in the garage. I was set! Here's how you do it!
First off, find the size frame that works best for your space and your needs. I knew I wanted to have a calendar and room for a notes section off to the side. It would allow me to jot down grocery items that I ran out of and could pick up next time I was at the grocery store. A list of things that needed to get done that month, like have McKinley fill out his Valentine's for the class party, and for me to get all the room party things together. The calendar would be housed in the kitchen, on a small wall tucked out of the way, but still visible to the family. A 16X20 frame as perfect! And I found two, with a 20% off coupon, and got them both for under $15.
Next, I took apart both frames, dusted them off, sanded them down to get the varnish and other paint off around the edges, and dusted it off again. You need to make sure you get all of the residual dust and debris off the frame so you don't pick it up when painting. Pick complimentary colors to the room you chose. I picked a soft glossy gray for our kitchen since the walls are navy and white. I wanted it to blend in, but pop against the white walls and the navy would be too close in color. I applied two coats of paint, allowing time to dry in between. If you feel the need to add a coat of clear for protection, go for it. Make sure it's in the same finish as the paint. Glossy for glossy. Matte for matte.
When deciding on the design of the calendar, the web has plenty of free graphics to chose from. My dad helped me with this. He was able to use Photoshop to erase the dates from the calendar, as this is a dry erase and I will write in the dates every month, and then added the note section to the side. This option is great if you want to truly make it your own. You can purchase some great ones from Etsy if you don't want to go the Photoshop route. I found some really nice designs when I first started looking. After the calendar was modified, we sent it off to Costco to have it printed. We spent $7! So far, I have $20 in the calendar!
Do you know what the best surface is for dry erase? Glass! And guess what? Frames come with glass! So, no need to go out and buy a fancy, cut to fit surface for your calendar. You can use the glass that came with the frame! Savings again! Now, if you are thinking little hands will be using this calendar (or chore chart), use a Plexiglas for safety. You can get those at your local hardware store. It will work just fine, it just may not clean off as easily or leave residual ink. I tested my dry erase markers on an old piece of glass I removed from a frame years ago and it worked like charm!! I was good to go.
Put it all together. Clean your glass really well, but don't be like me and cut your finger on the edge of the glass! It hurts and it bleeds! A lot! Then assemble it all back the way it came! One of my frames needed a back, it didn't have one when I took it apart, so we used matte board and to hold it in place. These are common clips that you can get at the hardware store or the frame section of your craft store.
This last part is optional. I decided to add a small wire basket to hold all the things I would need for the calendar. Find the center, we did all the math, and then screw it into place!
I found the little galvanized bucket and it's perfect for holding all the pens, and there is enough room inside the basket for the eraser and sticky notes for any additional notes or updates you want to add to the calendar throughout the month!
And there it is! The DIY Dry Erase Calendar!! I love how it turned out! I love that it cost me roughly $20! I love that it fits perfectly in the kitchen! And I love that it's keeping the family organized!
Will you make a dry erase calendar for the family? It's super easy!! It's minimal materials, and honestly, it's took my less than a week to finish it all! And you gotta love a project that is under $20! Head here to check out the Better Kansas City segment featuring the DIY project!
XO,
Andrea
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