Incredibly Awesome Magnetic Calendar

So a few months ago on facebook, I posted a picture of a family command center.

I LOVE the idea of having one place to organize all of our paperwork, schedules, to-do lists, etc. I started brainstorming about what our family command center would look like.

I ran into a problem with the calendar though. Jeremy and I both use iCal on our Macbooks and we love it. It's easy to repeat events, add and delete things, color coordinate, etc. I'm not sure I'd ever want to go back to a hard copy calendar. But what's a command center without a calendar?!?! So I gave up for a little bit and waited for genius to strike.

Turns out genius struck in the form of a 4 year old boy with incessant questions. "Is today a church day? How many more days until gymnastics? When can I have Colin over for a playdate? How many more night-nights until we get to go on our field trip? Do I have soccer this weekend?" He definitely likes to know what is going on and when. So I decided that the calendar should be mostly for the kids to keep track of what is going on and a bonus visual for us for when our laptops are not right in front of us.

I decided to go with a magnet board that had little pictures that could be rearranged. Easy for the kids to follow and understand, and quick and easy for me to update. I also really wanted it to be cute and look like something that belongs in a grown-up home, especially after doing daycare for two years and having a giant laminated sun calendar in the middle of our living room.

Here's the step by step:

•First, we used metal roof sheeting and bent it straight and glued it to a board. Make sure the metal you use is magnetic! They're actually bigger than what it looks like...I'd say it's about 10 inches by 28 inches maybe...I could be way off.

•Then I brushed Mod-Podge on the metal and laid scrapbook paper over it. I learned with the first one that you need to wait for it to dry before doing a top coat. Otherwise the paper bubbles up.

•I did 5 coats of Mod-Podge, letting it dry 20 minutes between each coat. (It was my first time using Mod-Podge and I was way impressed. You can get really creative with this concept! Mod-Podge over a dollar store magnetic cookie sheet to make an Advent calendar or a travel game, etc. The possibilities are endless.)

•Then I smiled really pretty at my darling husband and he framed it with molding and painted it.

We made two of them, so we can see two weeks at a time. When one week is done, we'll pull them off the wall and switch the actual calendars instead of having to switch the magnetic pieces. Then we'll always have the current week and the next.

I printed off clip art symbols for everything I could think of that we do as a family. Dentist appointments, swimming lessons, holidays, play dates, library trips, etc. and laminated the pieces. Then I attached magnet strips to the back.

Here it is with some magnetic pieces.

I LOVE the end result! It's not perfect,..there are a couple of smudges that are bound to drive me crazy every time I see them, but it's effective, pretty, and will certainly help the kids keep track of our schedule. Best of all...it only cost about $14 for both calendars!

Once we get settled in at our new house, I'll have pictures of the finished command center!