Family message center

Just showing off our new FAMILY MESSAGE CENTER!

Total Cost: under $4

click the picture to see it bigger!

I wanted a place to gather all the info that my family needs: phone numbers, appointments, menu plans and such.  But I think those organizers at the store are so boring and ugly!  So I decided to make one for myself.  I wish I could remember what blog I saw this idea on, I would link it.  (14 May 2001: I saw it on Redheads Craft More Fun)

This one is nice and WAY cheaper than the store bought ones - I made it with some scrap fabric from the attic and a garage sale frame.  If you go out looking for a used frame to do this with, make SURE that its made of SMOOTH GLASS and not plexiglas or that textured no-glare stuff.  Those NEVER come clean!

I took the old (UGLY) art out of the frame and covered the backer board with fabric.  I just pulled it taut and taped it on the back, so that if I ever want to change the background I can.  I'm TOTALLY looking forward to being able to change it for the holidays or the seasons! 

The parts that you write over are just plain typing paper that I drew a calendar on and a 7-space "list" on, and cut a bit of construction paper a little bigger than to make it stand out a bit better.  I added the phone list at the top and the notes oval at the bottom and cut a fancy design in the black frame of the oval.  I glued the typing paper to their respective frames, but the paper is only tacked to the fabric with a little dab of glue stick, just to keep them from sliding.

Being that this is glass sheet in a frame, I can use BOTH dry erase markers and wet erase markers on it, which makes it easy to change the stuff that I want to change frequently (like the weekly planner there on the bottom left, or a honey-do list) and keep the stuff that I don't want to change semi-permanent (like the calendar or the phone number for my obstetrician!)

Stuff that's permanent (the school attendance line, our cell phone numbers and the squares for the blank calendar) I put UNDER the glass on the typing paper.  If that stuff ever changes, I can open the frame up pretty easily and swap the paper out for an updated one!

Super easy, this project took about 2 hours total (and that's because I spent a lot of time cutting the fancy shapes in black paper and hand-drawing the calendar blank) and super frugal since I used scrap fabric from the attic and a $3 garage sale frame!

I would LOVE to see if anyone else makes one for themselves!  If you do, post a link in my comments!

-The Messy (but a little more organized) Mommy