Project Command Center - DIY Chalkboard Calendar

Well, hello there!

I have been pinning "command center" ideas for quite some time and planned to work on mine this summer. Now summer is getting away from me, so I decided to get busy. 

Well, really I found out our school is not printing a paper calendar this year, so I knew I needed something to keep us organized. Nothing like a little motivation!

Here's a few of my favorites so you get an idea of where I am headed. Click the picture to visit the website.

I couldn't get to source on this one, so it links to where I found it.

Love, love this type of menu planner!

Okay, on to my DIY chalkboard calendar (mess-ups and all)!

Here's what you need:

Chalkboard - size of your choice. Mine is 18 x 22 inches.

Metallic or white? permanent marker and magnetic dots and/or roll. The magnets are probably not necessary if you like your own handwriting! Ha! I'll explain later.

 First, you'll want to draw out your grid. 

I drew mine with chalk first until I found the perfect size. 

My Sunday/Saturday boxes are 3.25 x 2 inches. The rest are 2.75 x 2 inches. Then erase your chalk lines and use the permanent marker to draw the lines. Mine worked pretty well in that I could still kind of "see" where my lines had been.

Allow time to dry!

Don't panic like I did and think it isn't going to work.

The marker looked funny at first, kind of bubbly. I thought it wasn't going to work so I tried Plan B - paint. Here is my result:

So back to Plan A. 

The marker. 

This time I allowed time to dry. 

The "bubbling" was okay because it turned out looking like chalk. 

Now I realize I could rewrite the numbers each month with chalk. 

I could also write the months and days of the week with chalk; however, I don't really like my handwriting. Plus I wanted the ease of just moving the calendar numbers. So I took to the printer to create my numbers, days of the week, and months.

My months are color-coded by season, as any good teacher would do. LOL!
Fonts used: KG Broken Vessels Sketch and KG Makes You Stronger.

I used this color for my numbers and days of the week because they will stay up year round and that is the accent color in my dining room where the command center will be. Cutting the circles would have been a pain, but I asked my 15-year-old son to do it and he did because it was my birthday week. Ha!

Here's my calendar after I added the "finishing touches."

A couple of close-ups for you!

First day of school - August 20th!!

My family picks words and/or phrases to focus on throughout the year. I used each of ours for this year to decorate the bottom of our calendar. 

And finally, here is my lonely calendar on what will become my command center wall. I hope to add more pieces soon!

My must haves: a menu board similar to above, key rack, drawers or something for chargers, phones, etc., and maybe a place for my home management binder. If I can work that in, I will get rid of my old "command center" in the kitchen.

I'm linking up with Tara for Monday Made-It -- even though it isn't Monday! My first time linking up this summer, which must mean I have a lot more projects to get to.... Yikes!

Thanks for stopping by!