DIY Dry Erase Board & Notepad

Every Friday I find myself under a mountain of paper. The kids come home with folders, newsletters, and graded papers. Add that to the pile of mail, receipts, and lists and the “paper problem” gets quickly out of control. One of my ongoing (and often failed) goals is to keep this pile of papyrus organized and under control. It often feels like as soon as I tame the problem that the cycle begins again.

One thing that has been helping me is our dry erase frame that sits in the kitchen next to the phone. I simply took an old 8×10 table top picture frame and put fabric into it instead of a picture. Add a dry erase marker and now you have a dry erase board and notepad. Simply write on the glass and wipe it off when you’re done.

I recently used it as a menu board when we had guests for lunch. The frame was originally a dark wood color and I spray painted it celery green.

I made another one using an 11×14 frame. (What was I thinking using a table top frame that big?!) I spray painted the natural oak (90’s oak) a glossy gray color.

Then I added a vintage sugar sack into the frame instead of a fabric scrap. I thought this would work nicely in the kitchen, and would also look nice when nothing was written on the “board.”

Love it with the sugar sack in the frame.

Now when we need to take the grocery list to the store, we simply use our phone to take a picture of the list on the board. No more paper list or forgetting the list! This was my 8 year old’s idea, which I thought was a great one.