Monday, March 17, 2014

Menu Board

I have seen  many menu boards on Pinterest, but I found this and decided it would make a great menu board.  I did this just after Christmas but am just now getting it posted. 
I realize after writing this that I should have taken more pictures.  I hope I have explained it well enough that it can be copied without all the pictures.

Here is what I found at Goodwill for $6.99 and knew I needed it for a menu board.  The backside has a label from Home Goods for $19.99 on it.

I like the worn edge look so I kept that the same and changed the clothes pins to smaller ones.  I also like the ledge on the bottom with a place to hold a pen or two.


I used a font I liked and kept adjusting the size and printing it until I got just the right size for the clothes pins.  When I got the right size I put a sheet of sticker paper in the printer and printed it.  This could be done on any color of paper and glued or taped to the clothes pins too.
I placed Sunday and Saturday on the board where I wanted them to be and measured the distance between the two and divided it by 6 to get the distance needed between each clothes pin.  Then I hot glued them to the board.  I thought I would have to rough-up the menu board so the clothes pins would stay on, but they are holding fine.


The letters for the word "MENU" are from a package of punch out letters I got from either JoAnn Fabrics or Micheal's Craft store many years ago.  I used double stick tape to hold them on.
For the Main Dishes envelope I took the envelope I had from a small card and opened it to be flat.  Then traced the outside edge.  I cut it out and laid it on the table.  I placed a wooden ruler on the main body of the envelope where I wanted the fold lines to be and pressed down on the ruler and lifted up on the flaps to make a straight fold line.  I used double stick tape to hold the envelope flaps in place. The top flap is not the full flap, but it is about 1" long and easily folds back over the jute twine and stays pinned in place.

I still plan a monthly menu on paper from a Word document that I created years ago.  On the paper copy I add more detail.  I don't want the same salad, fruit, and/or vegetable every time I  make a certain main dish.  The menu is behind the cards.  The shopping list is on the menu board.  I have since added another set of blank cards that hangs from the clothes pin that holds nothing in this picture.  99% of the time Sunday is leftovers, so that card stays there.  The others get removed on Sunday and usually the next week's menu is already clipped behind the current week's menu.  I try and make the upcoming month's menu the third week of the current month.


I have found that the number of cards in the Main Dishes envelope is growing.  The worst part about the menu board is trying to find the cards I need.  One thing that helps is using both sides of the card for similar dishes.  Here are the two sides of two menu cards.  I put a line in the corner to let me know there is something written on the other side.
These cards are cut from card stock and are 3" x 1 1/2"