Making Progress // DIY Chalkboard Calendar

I’m blaming it on the warm weather and “spring cleaning” for my recent productivity and finally starting to unpack the rest of our boxes; most of which had a lot of our home decor stuff. Four months in our new house and in just the last few weeks I feel like we’ve made some real progress to make it look like we actually live here!
After living in our house for awhile and giving it much thought (I’m talking many nights in bed before going to sleep) I’m starting to get a sense of the things I want to do for each room. I still wouldn’t say it’s all exactly how I want it, but I’ve been surprised at how putting up a few things really brings out who we are and makes me feel more comfortable in my house. Plus I had a good reminiscing moment while pulling out all our pictures that have been boxed up. I already need to replace most of them with updated pictures of the girls!
So today I’m giving you a peak at our dining room. It’s right off the kitchen and connects with the living room and the family room so it’s a place we’re in a lot!
Right now I’m going through each room and decorating it using mostly things we have on hand and then making a list of things the room still needs that we’ll need to start saving for. Rugs are at the top of the list for pretty much all of the rooms on our main floor as is the case for the dining room. Anyone have some good suggestions on rugs for a dining room? I need to find something that will hold up with kids and the huge mess they seem to make under their chairs at meal times!
Other than a rug the thing on my list was some sort of a calendar. I made one for our last place out of an old window frame, but it doesn’t fit anywhere in our house where it would be convenient. While I was at Hobby Lobby I happened upon a chalkboard that was 23×35 inches for only $8.50 after getting it 40% off. 
At first I thought about taping off the lines for the whole calendar and painting it (I ALWAYS think of the hardest way first) and then I discovered paint pens. Pretty much the best thing invented and I’m just learning about them! I’m probably way behind on the times here. I made another trip to Hobby Lobby for mine. This is the one I got and I had just enough to draw out the whole calendar. I also gave the wood frame a coat of white paint that I had on hand as well.
I’m loving finally being able to see our month happenings at a glance, especially with Eric traveling for work. I never seem to remember his schedule and always think he’s going to be home one week when he is scheduled to fly out. This will keep that all sorted out.
Oh and lets talk about how I had to actually turn on our fan today because it was so warm outside! The problem was I couldn’t figure out how to turn it off for the pictures. The chain was stuck and every time I tried to reach higher my hand would get whacked by the fan. Tomorrow’s fix-it project I guess.

-HANNA

Linked To:
http://www.craft-o-maniac.com/2014/03/craft-o-maniac-monday-link-party-13.html
http://carriethishome.com/2014/03/frugal-crafty-home-blog-hop-69/
http://www.abrightandbeautifullife.com/making-monday-34/

12 thoughts on “Making Progress // DIY Chalkboard Calendar

  • Commented 10 years ago

    Love this project and LOVE seeing my bridal shower and wedding on there! Thanks again for coming and for everything you helped with! It was so great seeing you! Send your kids to grandma’s and you and Eric come vacation in Hawaii!

  • Commented 10 years ago

    I love it! What a cute way to stay organized! I am the type of person that has to look at the calendar everyday to keep my schedule straight! Thanks for sharing this at the Frugal Crafty Home Blog Hop!

  • Commented 10 years ago

    Agreed! It’s funny that it has taken me this long to come up with something so simple! It’s just a shame I don’t have better hand writing lol.

  • Commented 10 years ago

    Thanks Olivia for commenting! Those are all reasons why I love this calendar and the fact it took an hour to complete!

  • Commented 10 years ago

    I really need to do this. I’m always wishing that I had a big calendar to keep track of things. Thanks for sharing!

  • Commented 10 years ago

    What a great idea! re-usable and stylish, and no worries if the date changes. Definitely adding to my To Do list for our new house!

  • Commented 10 years ago

    Thanks Amy! You will love the paint pens! I already have like 4 other projects in mind that I could use them for.

  • Commented 10 years ago

    Haha that sounds like exactly what I would do! Thanks for the tip Sarah! I’m going to check out some options online right now 🙂

  • Commented 10 years ago

    Thanks Desaree! I actually bought some of those chalk pens that I got at hobby lobby too. It was my first time trying them but I already LOVE them!

  • Commented 10 years ago

    This looks so professional and clean, like it already came that way! I’ll have to get into using paint pens!

  • Commented 10 years ago

    Very cute! My sister in law had shag rugs in her dining area while her kids were small and it hid a lot of the mess. It worked for her because it kept the small crumbs out of sight and she’d make a point to shake it out about once a week. It was kind of simultaneously gross and awesome haha.

  • Commented 10 years ago

    I love this what a great idea! Do you just use normal chalk to write out events?

Leave a reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.