What's For Dinner?

Since I first saw framed chalkboards on Miss Mustard Seed's Blog I've wanted to make one.  I've been on the lookout for a large old frame and I lucked out on my last visit to my parents' house, my mom had a frame she was willing to part with.  So I got to work on it and thought it would make a perfect menu board for our dining room.  Brian and I have been bad of late, eating a lot of freezer dinners and it has begun to show in our waistlines!  Hopefully having a meal plan for the week will encourage us to cook more, there's no ignoring a big menu on the wall!

For some reason we were in the mood for a lot of Asian food this week?!

The frame was a bit beat up when I first started working with it.  I didn't mind as I planned on distressing it at the end.  But I did fill in some of the larger chipped areas with wood filler.

 

Here it is closer up, I like the rose pattern along the edge:

After filling in the chipped edges I painted the frame with my Annie Sloan chalk paint in "Duck Egg Blue",  the same color I used on my dining chairs.

 

And then a bit of paint distressing:

 

When I took it inside it didn't pop against the green walls as I had hoped, so I decided to try chalk paint in "Old White".  I had ordered a couple sample colors of the Annie Sloan chalk paint from Shades of Amber a while back.  The sample was enough to paint the frame and I have about half left over.  So the sample is not enough to do a large piece but enough to see how it works if you are interested in trying some out.

I bought a piece of plywood and measured it to size and Brian cut it out for me.  Then I put on a couple coats of primer and three coats of chalkboard paint, sanding in between applications.  I put the chalkboard in the frame, hang it up on the wall, and then made up our menu for the week.

For the next week's meal plan I decided it would be better to start off with Sunday since that is the actual beginning of the week.  And that way I have time to figure out the menu for the week and go shopping for any ingredients I need on the weekend.  Stopping by the grocery store after a long day of work is never fun!  I also thought to change my writing style up to make things a bit quirkier and fun :o)

So far so good, although we have gotten a little off schedule some nights.   The fried rice lasted for a couple nights and Brian went out to dinner with a friend one night but we are doing A LOT better preparing meals than before.  Hopefully we stick to the plan!