DIY Chalkboard Menu - what's cookin?

Hi! It's Tuesday, which for me is the worst day of the week - next weekend is still far away and last weekend is way behind us.  I always do my best to muddle through to hump day.

Anyway, up today is a fun little project I recently tackled.  It's practical and cute and (for me) cost just $1.50!  A DIY menu board for my kitchen.  Here's the finished product right up front:

I absolutely needed this.  Because I work outside the home and because I am the one who picks up the kids from school and is in charge of our meals, I have to be organized with the meal planning in order to make healthy, homemade meals for my family.  This means a coordinated grocery store trip/meal plan for the week.  What I had been doing for years is to write out the menu for the week on a yellow post-it and put that on the fridge.  It always bugged me, but I never did anything about it.  Until now. 

Jamie recently posted about her Pottery Barn knock-off mail bin, which she removed from a larger organizational system that she grabbed at Home Goods.  As soon as I saw that big board with chalkboard, I knew I wanted it.  I asked if she had plans for it and she said nope - it was all mine. Yippie!  [We do this all.the.time ... like with my old mirror!  We give each other our cast-offs.  Fun!]  Here's the board before I got started:

The first thing I did was spray a fresh coat of chalkboard paint onto the chalkboard part.  The chalkboard that came on the board was really rough and I knew it was going to be an issue to write on.  I knew I was going to paint and prime over the frame so I didn't bother taping it off. Next, I puttied the holes where the mail bin used to be and sanded them nice and smooth.

When I sanded, I started to dig the distressed finish ... and for a few minutes I was considering just hanging a very distressed, vintagey looking menu board on the wall.  Like this:

But I went back to my beloved white paint and decided to stay the course.  It was time to prime.  I used my favorite Zinsser primer and then did 2 coats of Dover White (who's surprised?).  Looking good!

There was a pretty big space under the chalkboard.  I decided to put it to work. First, I added a cup pull that I had in my stash and turned it upside-down to act as a chalk holder.  Cute!

Then, I picked up some mini clothespins at Wal-Mart (8 for $1.50 or something) and glued them on the board with the glue gun.  I figure these can hold recipes or clippings or even coupons.  I painted them one of the grey paint samples from the den/kitchen - I think March Wind (Sherwin Williams).

Finally, I decided to write "menu" on the board, which I think is kind of fun.  I used black paint I had on hand and lightly brushed/dabbed the paint on for a more rustic and distressed look. I was inspired by this piece from Z.Gallerie ...

And here is mine:

I did a screen shot of the Z Gallerie chalkboard and enlarged it so that I could use the "menu du jour" as a template.  I free-handed it and took my time and it looks OK ... I wish it were a little more polished but maybe it's charming?   And here's the whole she-bang once again!

What do you think?  How do you keep tabs of what's cookin' each night?  I'll share my meal planning tips in a future post.  Now who's hungry? 

See you swoon,