Well, the countdown is on…2 more weeks until Thanksgiving. Two more weeks until Black Friday. Wait…stores aren’t even waiting until Friday anymore. They’re barely waiting until after we swallow that last bite of pumpkin pie. I have mixed feelings about that. The shopper in me is very excited. I’ve got my eye on a wireless printer. The mom/wife in me is feeling badly for the employees who don’t really get to celebrate the holiday with their family.
The commercialism of the holidays is not what this article is about though. I just got sidetracked. I am very excited to share an original (not taken from Pinterest) DIY project that my hubby came up with the other day. It stems from another DIY project he is working on.
After a trip to Lowe’s to pick up supplies for his project, he showed me the white panel board he got. He’s making a hunting blind with it (really long story…I won’t go into the details). Anyway, he’s been researching how to make this and he mentioned that some people say you can use the white panel board to make a dry erase marker board.
White panel board is a large sheet of…well…panel board. It’s really hard to describe, now that I’m sitting here trying to! It’s white on one side and very smooth. The other side is brown. It’s made out of some kind of pressed wood or saw dust…I don’t know. I do know you can cut it with a saw and drill holes in it.
Anyway, when he said it might be able to be turned into a dry erase marker board, I got very excited. I don’t know what it is about marker boards, but I LOVE THEM. Seriously. I had a small one in my kitchen where I would jot down my “To Do” list for the week. No matter how insignificant it was, I wrote it down on the board. I felt very accomplished when I could erase a task that I had completed.
Not only do I love dry erase marker boards for organizing my schedule, I couldn’t help but think that I could use a large one for our homeschooling. I have visions of helping my daughter learn how to read while we write sight words on the board. I see myself working out long division problems on it with my son. Every homeschooler needs a gigantic dry erase marker board in their kitchen, right?
So, we made the trek to Lowe’s this afternoon. Our store had 2 different sizes. One was about 32 inches by 48 inches and cost about $9. Not too bad. Then, we discovered a huge sheet…4′ X 8′ for $13. For $4 more, you get…well…at lot more board. Now, I don’t need a 4′ X 8′ dry erase marker board (at least that’s what my hubby says), but Lowe’s will cut any board for you, in the length you want/need. For free! So, I got my marker board and my hubby got extra pieces of the white panel board…win/win!!
To hang the board, we used some 3M Command strips. The kind we ended up getting are supposed to hold 16 pounds. The board isn’t close to weighing 16 pounds, but we wanted to make sure it was good and sturdy. The strips came in 4 pairs and are basically like plastic velcro. So far, so good. It hasn’t fallen…yet. If the strips don’t work, we’ll just screw it to the wall. Not as aesthetically pleasing, but definitely functional.
Here is the finished project…
Of course, the kiddos had to make their mark on the board. I plan on having a few things on the board all the time. Our weekly schedule, the day of the week and what we’re having for dinner that evening (because I’m getting a little tired of answering that question at 10:00 a.m. And then at 11. And then at 12. And then at…well, you get the picture), and count downs of special days – like when grandparents come to visit.
You could dress the board up a little, if you wanted to. Maybe one of these days we’ll get some trim pieces and frame it like a mirror or picture. I was just a little excited to get it hung up and didn’t really want to take the time to do that (plus I didn’t want to sink that much money into the project).
I’m trying to calculate our cost in this project. We bought the larger sheet of white panel board and this piece was about 1/3 of it, so I would estimate that part cost about $4. The 3M Command Strips were also about $4. So, for $8, I have a huge dry erase marker board. I think I paid that much for the tiny one I had before! It took a total of about 5 minutes (if that long) to hang the board. Not too bad! I love instant gratification DIY projects!!!!!!!
Will this make me more organized? Will this keep me on schedule? I have no idea! I definitely feel like I’ve “got it all together”. Maybe I’ll fake it until I actually become organized!
Seriously…how cute is this??
Happy Weekend!! Have a good one!
Mommy Matters 