Pinterest Party & Link-up (vol 40): Planner Edition – A Look at My (Erin Condren) Planner

By bobbi
October 6, 2015
12 Comments

The 31 Day of Writing Challenge continues. It’s Day 6 of my 31 Days of Gratitude 2015. Second, it is the first Tuesday of the month so today is our Pinterest Party – Planner’s Edition!

Join me for a Pinterest Party every first Tuesday of the month as we link up and pin it, create it, and inspire others to do the same. Recipes and crafty ideas are encouraged but think outside the box too. Think organizing ideas, birthday themes, a cute outfit, a new hairstyle, marriage tips, life inspiration, traveling destinations, a great quote – anything you’d post to Pinterest.

Show us how you didn’t just pin it but brought it to life!

Not on Pinterest? No problem. Link-up your own creation to inspire us so we can pin in to our own boards. Don’t have a post ready? The link-up will be open for a month so there’s still time. Plus, feel free to link up a new post or an older post that hasn’t had much traffic lately. 🙂 (If you want to grab the button, scroll to the bottom.)

This month is a special Pinterest Party because it is the PLANNER EDITION! Whether you are a planner addict (raises hand) or a newbie just starting to plan, we want to hear from you! If you are a blogger, add the link to your planner post. If you aren’t a blogger let us know in the comments what kind of planner you are using and what you love most about it. 🙂

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Here is a look at my planner…

Maybe it is because I am getting older but I have been thinking a lot about how precious our time on earth is and how quickly the days can escape us. The busyness of family life can make it easy for days, weeks, even months fly by and we find ourselves asking, “How is it already a new month??” The hours of my life are precious. I can show my gratitude for each new day by using those hours wisely.

The hours of my life are precious. I can show my gratitude for each new day by using those hours wisely.

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That is not always easy for me to do. I am often guilty of wasting too much time. I am all for having down time, play time and me-time but I want to make sure I am getting all my priorities done first and not letting them fall through the cracks while I get sucked into a rabbit hole of social media or Netflix binging.

One way I combat this is through my planner. If you know me, then you also know that I love making lists and if I don’t write it down, I won’t remember it five minutes later. Literally.

In 2013, I was using a Martha Steward Discbound planner (which is sadly no longer available for purchase) and I loved everything about it except that it was too big to carry around with me everywhere. Because I spend a lot of time out of the house, I needed something that was more portable.

In 2014, I switched to a new Erin Condren planner. I thought I would hate a spiral planner since I couldn’t add to it the same way as a binder or discbound but it has not been a problem at all. I loved the layout and portability so much that this is my second year with an Erin Condren Life Planner.

I prefer my planners to run like the school year from September to August so in September I set up my new planner. (It was like Christmas for me.) 😉

I love that EC Planners come with removable covers and I can change them according to season (or my mood.) Last year I had the Favorite Things cover.

This year I went with the “life in little squares” cover using some of my favorite Instagram photos.

Another draw of the EC Planners is all the colors. I don’t like planners with plain black and white pages. I like bright colors that make me want to actually use the planner.

In my monthly spread, I use washi tape to make color coded small squares. Blue are doctor appointments and speech therapy. Green is school related. Red is an event I need to attend or drive the kids to. Orange is a family birthday.

I write the definite items in ink and possible dates and notes in pencil. However, one thing I did not like about using markers or pens is that if I made a mistake, I couldn’t erase it like a pencil. Well, until now! I finally found a solution but I’ll get into that in a bit when I talk about favorite tools.

The weekly page is where people can really go to town to decorate and fill the boxes with all sorts of decor. Me? I seriously just need a space for my To Do lists. It probably looks a little more like a bullet journal but it works for me.

This is how the weekly page looked last year. The three boxes were labeled as Morning, Day and Night.

This year the calendar is still divided up into three sections but it is no longer labeled as – Morning, Day and Night. Instead it is blank, which I love since my top box is for places I have to be that day. The middle box is for things I really need to try and do that day. The last box is for things I should do but it’s okay if I wait until later.

This year you also have the option of ordering a planner with your days going horizontally instead of vertically.

The new EC planners also no longer have that little circle decor going down the side or the mini calendar in the top left corner (which I never really used) and instead it is a spot for your own weekly quote of inspiration. I use a little washi and a sticker or two for decor and that is enough for me.

In the last bottom section I keep track of my dinner menu and posts that I will publish on the blog that day. The right side column is for goals and notes.

Other differences from last year’s layout:

There is no longer a quote at the top of each monthly calendar. Instead there is a lined sheet for notes and a full inspirational quote page at the beginning of each month.

Hey, that’s pretty darn close to my blog’s tag line! 😉

The front of the planner also has a new goal section, which I love.

As readers of my blog know, for the last year I have been really big on making goals. I have my larger yearly goals and smaller monthly goals that help me make progress in smaller steps. I added into my planner my yearly goals in the 5 areas of my being – as a Daughter of God, a Wife, a Mom, a Homemaker and a Woman. The sixth box has one of my favorite quotes. “Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire.” – St. Catherine of Sienna.

I wanted to put my monthly goals on the second page but there was only the one sheet of paper. So I made a color copy and added it to my planner with EC coil clips. This way, each month I can add my smaller monthly goals to my planner. That is so helpful to me.

The back of the planner still has lined, decorative blank (and now) graph pages.

The one thing I don’t like is that there are less pages than there were in last year’s version. Yet, the spiral ring is larger. It’s not so much larger that it is a deal breaker but I would have liked more sheets to go with it. On the plus side, the larger (and sturdy) spiral let’s you add more of your own sheets with the coils

These two photos are from last year’s model but they are basically the same.

A Look Ahead calendar.

Stickers – both pre-labeled and blank.
There is still a pocket for papers, a perpetual calendar to keep the dates of birthdays and dates to remember and a few free goodies in a pocketed pouch.
As an extra, I purchased a pen loop and a separate tablet that sticks to the back of the planner. I use these for notes to school or my own scribblings.

I also had an EC gift card so I added a couple extra items.

Post-it notes that pop into the planner. (I love me some post its!)

Coil clips to add your own pages to the planner and decorative stickers.

Favorite Planner Tools

The green is the thicker line (I don’t know the exact size since the description isn’t in English. The pink line is .7 thick.

Erasable Markers

As I already mentioned, my new favorite planner tool are these erasable markers/pens. I first saw these markers on a Periscope by Tina of Zoo Cuties. At first I bought the smaller Pilot Frixion Colors Erasable Marker – 12 Color set because they were less expensive and I wasn’t sure if I would like them or not. I kept envisioning those erasable ball point pens that were popular when I was in grade school – the were smudgy and made a mess. However, these Frixion pens did not smudge at all. The only way they erases is with the special eraser at the top of the pen or you could purchase an eraser separately.

I loved the pens but I didn’t check the size and they wrote a little thick for the small boxes of the calendar. I went back to Amazon and purchased the Pilot Frixion Erasable Gel Ink Pens, 0.7mm, Assorted Colors, 24/Pack. Although it was more expensive I knew it would be worth it because they were exactly what I was looking for.

The next time I place an Amazon order I’m going to get the Pilot Frixion Ball Knock 4-Color Gel Ink Multi-Pen for my purse or to hook onto my planner. 😉

Charms

Photo Credit: Tiny Saints

There are tons of charms and elastic bands you can get for your planner. Someone asked me where I got the St. Anne charm on my planner. It is from Tiny Saints. Since St. Anne is my patron saint (for non-Catholics, that’s basically someone in heaven I especially like to ask to pray for me), the patron of moms and my middle name namesake, I thought it only fitting. There are lots of other saint charms to choose from as well.

Planning Tote

During the day if I am not within reach of my planner then I’ll write a note on my iPhone (which is usually in my pocket.) A lot of people like to review their planners in the morning but I am a night owl and prefer to review my planner the night before each day. That is when I’ll write down any notes from my phone into my master paper planner.

Some people like to just keep a digital planner and always have it with them on their phone. I tried that but I am a paper girl. I need to feel the physical touch of pen and paper. It’s what works for me.

To hold all key planning supplies, I use this cute little square tote I found at the Target dollar section for $3. I went back later to get another but they were sold out. I’m glad I at least got this one. In the evening I grab it along with my LapDesk (similar to this one) and sit on the couch with Brian after the kids go to bed. He’ll read a little while I update my planner then we’ll watch a movie or TV show. It helps me unwind and regroup for the next day.

Washi Storage

I have 5 rolls of washi that I use all the time in my planner tote (and duplicates in my traveling office). For all my other rolls of washi, I found this flat 12 x 12 cardboard box at Michael’s.

I cut empty paper towel tubes in half and lined up the washi on top to keep them from rolling around. It may not be glamorous but it works great.

Oldies but Goodies

Lastly, I still use my EC planner pouch. (Pictured here with last years planner.)

Along with my planner I am still using my traveling office. 🙂

Other Planner Option

I’ve been using the Erin Condren planner for two years now and I still love it but that’s just me. There are so many styles to choose from.

Create 365 Happy Planner

If you like the style of the Erin Condren but it’s out of your budget, then try a Plumb Planner or a Create 365 Happy Planner.

Photo Credit: MochiThings.com

Or maybe all this planner decor and colors is overload to your sense and you like your planner to be streamlined. My sister BCM (who for years was the clean Felix to my very messy Oscar) likes her planners plain and simple. She purchased the Medium Monthly Planner from MochiThings. It suits her perfectly and is beautiful in its simplicity.

Traveler’s notebooks are also really popular right now. It wouldn’t work as my everyday planner but I love it for my Simplified Organization brain dumps and for some Listers Gotta List fun and favorite memories of the month.

I’ll have to make a separate post about my traveler’s notebook . 😉

My 2014 discbound planner.

If you like full size pages, try a discbound (like Arc) from Staples and print off your own planner printables. There are tons of free planners and really cute ones to purchase on etsy and elsewhere. Browse Pinterest and find your faves. (If you make and sell planners leave a link of your shop in the comments so we can check it out.)

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In the end, whether it is an Erin Condren planner or a 99 cent notebook from Target, find something that inspires you, matches your current needs and is in your budget. Then have fun planning (and doing!) 😉

What about you? Do you use a planner? What kind? Do tell!

Revolution of Love Blog - erin_condren_ad2

NOTE: These items were purchase by me and I received no compensation. However, if you order anything from this Erin Condren link – bit.ly/ec_referral_rol, I will get a small store credit and you will get $10 off your first order! Yay! 🙂

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I’m linking up this post with the sweet Jess and Kate over at Sweet Little Ones Blog.com for this week’s Tuesday Talk. 🙂 Go check out their blog. There’s plenty of good stuff to read!

Now it’s your turn.

1. Choose your creation or inspiration, share about it and snap a photo if you can.

2. In your post, link back the original blogger/idea, rather than your Pinterest pin. That way credit goes to the proper person. 🙂 (But feel free to add your Pinterest profile link so we can follow you!)

3. Add a link back here so others can play along.

4. If you want to use it, here is the html code for the logo:

5. Link up below. Make sure you’re sending us to your actual post, and not to your general blog address.

Want to find me on Pinterest? I’m here – pinterest.com/bobbi_rol/

The link up will be active for a month. Have fun!

PS – You can follow RoL on Bloglovin, Feedly or another news feed. If you are a social media fan like me, we can stay in touch through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Periscope or Katch (past Periscopes), GoodReads, Letterboxd, or Spotify, 😉

PPS – This post contains affiliate links.

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Tuesday Tidbits – Online Courses and Projects for October: 31 Days, Hand Lettering and Making a Plan

By bobbi
September 29, 2015
11 Comments

Hey guys, I haven’t been around my little online home lately and I thought I’d do a quick catch up on what’s going on here now that September is just about to end. What the what?? Well, I should have known that October was almost here since a number of stores already have Christmas decor (!) but that’s a whole other post. 😉 Right now, I’m just touching base on what I’ll be working on over the next month in case you want to join me before September ends! 🙂

The kids have been back in school for a month now and I’ve been trying to carve out an hour a day to work on some projects that have been sitting on the back burner for the longest time. Here are a few things I will be tacking this October 2015.

31 Days of Writing

Last year I participated in the 31 Days of writing, which is a challenge to bloggers to post 31 days in a row on one topic. Last year I did 31 Days of Gratitude with photos and (mostly short) posts. It was a good exercise to get me used to writing more, taking more photos and to pause and be thankful for the blessings God has given me or to look at a difficult situation and see the good in it.

The project is difficult enough to challenge me but not so hard that I would fail after the first couple of days.

Are you a blogger? Will you be participating? Even if you aren’t, there are a lot of great topics. Check out the categories and I guarantee you’ll find a blogger talking about a topic that is of interest to you.

31 Days to Love Your Letting

One of the bloggers participating in 31 Days is Lisa from Creativlei.com. I first got to know Lisa though her Periscopes. She is one of those ladies that just has a loving, generous and creative spirit. She does lovely hand lettering (which I’d describe as is a broader and more creative form of calligraphy) and she will be teaching an online class on how to love your own handwriting and learn the basics of hand lettering. The classes are short and can be done in 10 – 15 minutes to it is really doable with my busy schedule.

I’ve been wanting to learn how to hand letter for years but never really took the time and effort to go beyond a few doodles. Well, that changes this months since I signed up for the (free!) class. Lisa will be posting on her blog and doing live Periscopes to answer questions and show you samples of what we’re learning. So what do you think? Shall we learn together?

Work the Plan

Okay, well that covers the more creative side to my personality but I am also working on making the time to be creative. I have found that even though I have a little more free time I also have so much on my plate that I don’t know where to start. I’ll spend too much time on things that are secondary and then forget to do the things that are mandatory. The situation has gotten so much better since I’ve been making big goals and breaking them down in to smaller goals but I am ready to take it a step further and streamline my planning so there is less “busy work” and more progress.

Cue the lovely Mystie Winckler. Mystie has created a new online course called Work the Plan that “is a streamlined productivity class for moms that will walk you through setting up a system with synergy and the habits to keep it going.” The classes are broken down in short videos that walk you through creating a plan (if you don’t already have one) or streamlining your plan to make it more doable. It is a good introductory class before jumping into the more in-depth Simplified Organization course. You can follow the course at your own pace so 15 minutes a day has been doable for me.

Technically the course doen not start until January 2016 BUT you can join early by September 30th (tomorrow!) at a reduced rate. ($32 instead of $49.)

Well, those are the projects I have set up for next month. It should easily fit into one hour a day, unless I do a longer gratitude post.

The month of October is either going to push me to reach higher than I thought possible or drive me to drown my sorrows in chocolate chip cookies. Here’s to working towards a win! (I just watching Lord of the Ring with my son Andrew, who had never seen it before, and I am pumped to go on this journey and face my own fires of Mordor by putting in the effort to persevere, rather than giving up when it gets too tough. Wish me luck. 🙂

PPS – This post may contain affiliate links.

A Look at My 2015 (Erin Condren) Planner

By bobbi
February 26, 2015
11 Comments

Note: For the update version of this post, click A Look at My 2015-2016 (Erin Condren) Planner & Favorite Planning Tools

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I planned to do a post about my new planner in January but life happened. So, I better get it posted before February is over. 😉

Anyone that follows this blog knows that I love making lists and using planners. Not because I am organized but because I am scattered and have the attention span of a two year old sometimes. If I don’t write it down, I won’t remember it five minutes later. Literally. If I am not within reach of my planner then I’ll write a note on my phone (which is usually in my pocket) and at the end of the day the notes get written down before they are also forgotten.

Last year I was using a Martha Steward Discbound planner and I loved everything about it except that it was too big to carry around with me everywhere. Because I spend a lot of time out of the house, I needed something that was more portable. I heard a lot of people rave about the Erin Condren planner but I was doubtful and they were pricey. However, I had a coupon and decided to give it a try.

The delivery of it became an “event” because it came in such a pretty box with special treats.

I looked through their selection and chose an Erin Condren Life Planner with the Favorite Things cover. (I bought my planner in later 2014 so the new 2015 versions may look a little different.)

I love that you could choose the words that filled your cover. I also like that the covers are interchangeable so if I am tired of the cover or want to change it according to seasons, I can lift the cover off and pop in a new one. (I have another version of this cover in darker fall colors but I am back in spring mode now.)

I do not like planners with plain black and white pages. I like bright colors that make me want to actually use the planner. However, I do not like my planner to be so filled with decor that I don’t have room to write.

I use washi tape to make small squares on my monthly calendar. Blue are doctor appointments and speech therapy. Green is school related. Red is an event I need to attend or drive the kids to. Orange is a family birthday. Pink polka dots is a night out for me. I write the definite items in ink and possible dates and notes in pencil.

The weekly page is where people can really go to town to decorate and fill the boxes with all sorts of decor. Me? I seriously just need a space for my To Do lists.

The calendar is divided into three sections – Morning, Day and Night. I covered the Morning label with washi tape and use it as my schedule for places I need to be that day. In the Day section I write down the things I need to try and get done that day. The Night section I use to add To Do things that I eventually want to do but it’s not urgent. I make little boxes next to each item and fill them in as I complete them. In the last bottom section I keep track of my dinner menu and posts that I will publish on the blog that day. The right side column is for goals and notes.

There are some days when I want a whole page to keep track of what I am working on. When I had my discbound planner I made daily goal sheet printable pages. They were too big for this planner so I shrunk it down and cut it to size. On the goal sheet I keep track of my prayer/inspiration of the day and my act of love to put it into practice, my “must do’s”, household goals, who I need to contact and if I am really ambitious, I’ll also track my food and exercise. I don’t use this on the days I am hardly home but I love it for the days when I have longer stretches at home. You can buy Erin Condren coil tabs to add sheets like this to your planner but I just used a bit of washi tape and stuck it to the plastic book mark.

If you’d like to print out a copy for yourself, you can find the full size Daily Goal Sheet in this post here. The roughly 6.5 x 8.5 sized Daily Goal Sheet (as pictured) can be printed from here. (I added the blue lines to know where to cut the paper.)

Other featured of the planner – Along with pretty inspirational quote pages, there are lined pages for notes and blank pages for drawing or scribbles.

A Look Ahead calendar.

Stickers – both pre-labeled and blank. (To be honest with you, I forgot about these until I was doing this post. I’ll have to put them to use next month.)

There is a pocket for papers and zipped pouch. I keep the free labels they sent with my order in there. (Not pictured is a pull out perpetual calendar to keep the dates of birthdays and dates to remember.)

As an extra, I purchased a pen loop and a separate tablet that sticks to the back of the planner. I use these for notes at room mom meetings and such.

For Christmas the kids got me a EC planner pouch. I love it since I am always throwing the planner in my purse or a tote bag or a diaper bag. Technically, we are out of diapers but I still need a big bag for changes of undies, snacks and random Legos and Star Wars figures. The pouch keeps the pages from getting smashed or smeared with jelly hands.

Along with my planner I am still using my traveling office. 🙂

I’ve been using the Erin Condren planner since August and so far it has worked really well for me. You can take a look at the planners that are offered and see if one suits you. The most important thing is to find a planner that you like and that you will use. Whether it is an EC planner or a 99 cent notebook from Target. Find something that inspires you, matches your current needs and is in your budget. Then have fun planning (and doing!) 😉

What about you? Do you use a planner? What kind? Do tell!

NOTE: These items were purchase by me and I received no compensation. However, if you order anything from this link – bit.ly/ec_referral_rol, I will get a small compensation and you will get $10 off your first order! Yay! 🙂

PS – You can follow RoL on Bloglovin, Feedly or another news feed. If you are a social media fan like me, we can stay in touch through Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, GoodReads or Instagram. 😉

PPS – This post contains affiliate links.

Pinterest Party & Link-up (vol. 28): Daily Planner Goal Sheet (Free Printable)

By bobbi
August 26, 2014
6 Comments

Welcome to the RoL Pinterest Party. Join me every 2nd and 4th Tuesday as we link up and share how we made, cooked, baked, crafted, planned, organized, followed or created one of the pins on our Pinterest boards OR share something original that others can pin onto their boards.

Not on Pinterest? No problem. Link-up your own creation to inspire us so we can pin in to our own boards. It can be a recipe, sewing project, Catholic craft, homeschool project, organizing/ homemaking tip, themed birthday party, whatever you’d like.

Don’t have a post ready? The link-up will be open for 10 days so there’s still time. Plus, feel free to link up a new post or an older post that hasn’t had much traffic lately. 🙂

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The link for the pin to this post is here.

You can follow me on Pinterest here: http://pinterest.com/rol_bobbi/. 🙂

Lately for the Pinterest Parties I’ve been doing recipes but today I am doing something a little different. It’s the kids’ first day of school and we have been busy preparing uniforms, picking out new lunch boxes and buying school supplies. The air is filled with anticipation and the aroma of “bouquets of sharpened pencils.” (Name that classic rom-com!) Ever since I was a kid, this time of year has always been my favorite. Even as an adult, I still get giddy as I walk through Staples and chose a new notebook or planner and matching accessories. Yeah, I know. Nerd. But I can’t help it.

The new school year is also when I review over my current planner and try something new. This is especially important to me since I have been working so hard to accomplish my August 2014 Goals. I love my 2014 planner and it has served me well. However, the one draw back is that it is too big and bulky to carry around in my purse. That was fine when I spent most of my days home but now that the kids are all in school and I will be busy with upcoming school fundraisers and helping Andrew’s class as a room mom, I need to carry my planner with me. So while I am still in the process of changing over to something new (more of that in another post) the one constant I have been using with my weekly planner is a separate daily sheet of the day’s goals. I searched all over for one that was perfect for me and couldn’t quite find it so I finally just created one myself using Word. It is simple but it has the info I want and it is colorful enough to keep my attention. 😉

Ideally, I get up early enough to say morning prayer before the munchkins are up. Sometimes it’s 15 minutes quietly on the couch and sometimes it’s two minutes as I’m late jumping in the shower. Either way, I read over and think about the day’s prayer/reflection. Then I chose a concrete act I can do to put into practice my spiritual resolution of the day.

The time and effort you put into this will vary, depending on your season of life. There were many days when my resolution daily resolution was to try and take a 3 minute shower before Brian got home. You know what your life looks like right now. Challenge yourself but be realistic. God knows where your heart is and the crosses you are bearing right now. For a mom with a newborn her goal may be to stay in bed a few minutes longer and catch some ZZZ’s to make up for a sleepless night. My goal would be the opposite right now. Get my butt out of bed and stop lingering on my pillow. 😉

Next I review over my weekly planner and fill in the places I need to be and people I need to contact. Then I see what items I simply MUST do that day – ie. Pay the electricity before they shut off the lights or fill out that permission slip before my kid is banned from the field trip. This also includes household things I need to get done – ie. Get a load of whites done because no one has any underwear left or clean out the fish tank because the water is so mucky I can’t see Anakin Fishwalker in the tank. If I finish all my “must do’s” then I can tackle some of the “should do’s” next. (Although I have yet to actually have that happen.) 😉

I also included on my sheet my a food/exercise/water/vitamin journal, even though I am terrible at keeping track, a prayer section to remind me to make sure I slow down and reconnect with God (instead of browsing Facebook) and my notes section.

There you have it. I know there are many people who hate TO DO lists but I am too scatterbrained not to write it all down. Plus I have a tendency to be a little ADD and doing five things at once but never completing anything. This helps me to stay focused and finish the task at hand before starting something new. My goal sheet may change as I continue to work through the introductory pages of Lara Casy’s Powersheets (another future post!) but for now, it works well.

If you’d like to download a copy of my goal sheet, please feel free to do so! I have two PDFs for you.

This is Goal Sheet 1 with the bird and blue writing. Download it from Google Drive here.

This is Goal Sheet 2, which is the rainbow chevron version. Download it from Google Drive here.

Well, that is my creative share for this week! What have you been up to? Add your link or if you don’t blog, share in the comment box! 🙂

POSTSCRIPT – Of course on the day that I post all about how I am following my daily plan, I happen to sleep through my alarm (darn cold medicine!), I skip my morning prayer (other than a few desperate invocations), I barely get the kids to school before the gate is locked, my breakfast is logged in as “a cold chicken nugget and half eaten piece of toast left on the table,” I have a load of errands that keeps me out of the house until the afternoon and when I finally do get around to looking at my goal sheet I see a munchkin drew all over it before he spilled his juice on it. God likes to keep it real, people. So when you feel like nothing is going according to plan, don’t sweat it. That’s life. Work with what you can and work around what you can’t. 😉

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Now it’s your turn.

1. Choose your creation, share about it and snap a photo if you can.

3. Add a link back here so others can play along.

4. If you want to use it, here is the html code for the logo:

5. Link up below. Make sure you’re sending us to your actual post, and not to your general blog address.

The link up will be active for 10 days. Have fun!

PPS – This post may contain affiliate links.

An InLinkz Link-up

Pinterest Party & Link-up (Vol 23) and Operation Clean & Organize (vol 19): Weekly Menu Board (Revised)

By bobbi
May 27, 2014
2 Comments

It’s a two for one post today. I still get a number of hits for the post I wrote three years ago – Operation Clean & Organize: Vol 2 – Weekly Menu Board but I have since updated my menu board so I thought I’d update the post as well.

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AND

Taming the procrastinating, ADD, mess cat within me.

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Back in August of 2011, I was looking for a weekly menu board to use in our kitchen. Thanks to Pinterest I finally found this one.

source

I liked it but it was too big and I wanted it to be weekly not a monthly menu so I decided to make my own smaller magnetic weekly menu. I spent a total of about $20 for a Board Dudes magnetic board the right size to fit on my fridge, a pack of Avery Printable Magnetic Sheets, and “Days of the Week” magnets that I found at Target in the Back to School seasonal section. (You can find similar products at Amazon – Board Dudes Magnetic Board, Board Dudes Days of the Week Magnets and Avery Magnet Sheets.)

Next I sat down and made a master list of all the meals, side dishes and veggies I normally cook. In a Word document I made four columns of labels and typed up the list of foods. I color coded the labels: main dish – blue, sides – orange, veggies – green, appointments – purple, and school lunches – red. I made sure to have a number of blank labels to fill in later as I tried new recipes. Next, I printed and cut out the labels. Lastly, I arranged the meals on my board along with a shrunken down copy of Bella’s school lunch menu.

Here’s what it looked like then.

It looked great and worked well for awhile but fast forward three years (and two more kids) later. I still have the same magnetic board BUT the whole magnetic food items were just too time consuming. First, we changed our diet and I had to update or delete old meals. Plus, I was often trying new recipes, which meant I had to make a new label each time. The whole thing was fun while it lasted but not realistic.

I finally got rid of the food labels and just wrote straight on the board with a dry erase marker.

Now it works perfectly. I still have my shopping list next to the board and I still keep a shrunken version of the kids’ school hot lunch menu there and make note of evenings when we have something planned. If there is a last minute change in the menu I can change it with a quick swish of my finger. (And write in “Chipotles burrito bowls.”) 😉

It may not be as pin-worthy as my previous version and perhaps when all the kids are in school and I have more free time I can go back to using the labels but for now, it’s not realistic. Plain and simple yet functional will have to do. 😉

* * * * *

Now it’s your turn.

1. Choose your creation, share about it and snap a photo if you can.

2. In your post, link back the original blogger/idea, rather than your Pinterest pin. That way credit goes to the proper person. 🙂 (But feel free to add your Pinterest profile link so we can follow you!)

3. Add a link back here so others can play along.

4. If you want to use it, here is the html code for the logo:

5. Link up below. Make sure you’re sending us to your actual post, and not to your general blog address.

Lastly, you can follow me on Pinterest here: http://pinterest.com/rol_bobbi/. 🙂

The link up will be active for 10 days. Have fun!

PPS – This post may contain affiliate links.

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Revolution of Love

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Category Archives: cleaning & organizing

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