Menu planning and grocery list folders

Today's post is a companion to yesterday's menu board. It consists of three folders and one envelope and get this... cost me exactly zero dollars to make! Basically because I had all the materials already. And you probably do, too.
First I found this very cool menu planning/grocery list on Pinterest (http://www.lifeinyellow.com/2012/03/meal-planning-and-a-free-download/).

It's ideal for planning what my family is going to eat. Plus below each day I can write the list of ingredients that I will need to buy for that recipe. And below that is a space where I can write the other things I need for the week. Since the template only has four spaces, I print out a front and back copy.

Now on to the folders...
Here are the items you will need for the menu/recipe folder:

• Three manila folders
• Three pages of scrapbook paper
• Glue stick
• One letter size envelope

First, cover the front of each folder with a different sheet of paper, bending the paper around the sides. I used two different patterns and put the odd one in between the matching ones.
Second, glue each folder together, creating pockets.
Third, glue the folders to each other, leaving ample room for the pretty paper (and the menus) to be seen.

And finally, cover the envelope flap with a scrap piece of paper and glue to the front folder. This envelope will hold scrap paper to write your items for the menu board.

 My first folder is for the current week's menu, grocery list and recipes. The second folder is for the next week. And the third folder is for the third week... when I'm in a really energized menu creating mood :D
When planning our menu, I look through my massive amounts of cookbooks (Oh, did I mention I LOVE cookbooks?), find recipes I want to try or think my family will enjoy. Then I either write down the book and page number of the recipe, or if it's in my myriad of recipe binders, simply pull the page out.
Each week, I put the recipes for that week behind the menu so I don't have to dig through or try to remember where I found the recipe.
When I find a recipe that our family likes, I put it in our "Mozingo Family Favorites" recipe binder. One of these days, I'll post about that.
And that's that!
So here is my completely finished project, hanging up and looking so cute above my aprons on a kitchen wall.

Tomorrow... Stir fry pasta! Yum!

Family menu board

Welcome to my little corner of the world. I'm Regina and in 2011 I became an accidental housewife and stay-at-home "bonus" mom (I dislike the term stepmom) of a beautiful now 6-year-old girl. I enjoy photography, cooking, crafts of all sorts, organizing, writing and saving money. I've recently discovered that I really like experimenting with new styles for my daughter's hair and am trying different nail designs... when she sits still enough to let me.
In this blog, I will share bits and pieces of projects, recipes and even some money saving tips. And you might learn a little more about me :D

Today's project is a new menu board I finished last week. I got tired of the boring dry erase board on the refrigerator and wanted to try something new and pretty. I think the finished project turned out pretty good and it's functional, too.

Here are some of the items I used to create the menu board.
First, I bought a large foam board and a roll of satin ribbon from Walmart. Together they totaled about $4. I had everything else I needed. So the entire project was extremely inexpensive. I also used glue sticks, but for the ribbon you could use hot glue. I had glue sticks handy because I just stocked up during the back to school sale.
Then I glued two 12x12 pieces of matching scrapbook paper down the center of the board, overlapping onto the back a bit.

I then glued two pieces of ribbon down the sides, folding around to the back so the foam board wouldn't show. I glued one piece of ribbon on the top and one on the bottom of the board, also folding around to the back.

I created days of the week pieces of paper by cutting a brown piece of scrapbook paper with my deckle scissors. I stamped a pretty daisy design in white, making sure it wasn't too "perfect" and then stamped the names of the days. I pasted them on the board, leaving room at the top for the menu title.

I found a cute little piece of clipart that said "Enjoy your meal." I liked it better than just "Menu."
Then I had some scrap 12x12 white pieces of paper from an old scrapbook, so I cut those into small strips of paper to write the menu items on.

I use little push pins to pin the menu items on my board.

Voila! A new and adorable menu board!
Tomorrow I will post the Grocery and Menu folders I made to help keep my kitchen organized.