Paint Swatch Calendar

One day I was browsing through Pinterest, when a picture of a paint swatch calendar caught my attention. Although I never actually ended up looking at the blog to see how it was done, I winged it and came out with this guy instead!

What You’ll Need:

-          Paper cutter (scissors work fine but the cutter speeds up the process)

-          X-acto knife (if you don’t have the paper cutter)

-          Ruler, pencil, scrap paper (for calculating measurements)

-          Paint swatches of your favorite colors

You’ll be cutting the swatches into 35- 2” x 2” squares, plus 7- 1” x 2” rectangles, so make sure you get enough!

-          Rubber cement or glue stick

-          A 16’ x 20” frame

-          1 piece of poster board (I stuck with a neutral – very light beige – it’ll be your calendar’s background)

-          Acrylic paint for the frame

Instructions:

-          First I ended up painting my frame. I chose a dark espresso brown that would blend with the swatch colors. This is the frame before it was painted.

-          Paint swatches - I ended up getting my colors at a local Wal-Mart (the Glidden paint brand). These swatches were on the large size, and when I got them I knew I could get two squares out of each one. I kept my color scheme rather neutral, and settled with three shades of three different colors – beige, pink, and blue.

   -  I cut off each of the color names first, which let me know exactly how much of the remaining swatch I was dealing with. It was over 4 inches, so I proceeded to measure out the first 2 inches, slice it, and then another 2 inches, and slice it. Then I picked up those pieces, turned them, and cut them.

-          Lay out your colors in whatever pattern you choose. I stuck with a repeated fading look, and spaced each swatch ¼” .

-          After this was finished I realized I still had some extra swatches, and decided to make seven 2” x 1” rectangles where I could write the days of the week. This is completely optional, but it was real quick and makes for a nice addition to the calendar.

-          To make the background of the calendar, use the frame’s glass to trace. Cut it out.

-          Before we can go ahead and glue on the swatches, we have to do some math to make sure the calendar will be centered:

o   Your frame is 20” wide

o   There will be seven columns of 2” x 2” swatches, altogether 14”.

o   There will be six gaps that are each ¼”. .25 * 6 = 1.5”

o   So lengthwise, you will be using (14 + 1.5) = 15.5” of space.

o   20” – 15.5” = 4.5”

o   4.5” / 2 = 2.25”, the amount of space that will be on either end of the frame. Lightly mark two lines, both 2.25” from the sides of the paper

-          The last bit will tell us how much space for the top and bottom of the frame:

o   Your frame is 16” high

o   There will be five columns of 2” x 2” swatches, altogether 10”

o   There will be four gaps that are each ¼”. .25 * 4 = 1”

o   If you choose to add the swatch for the days of the week, I gave a ½” gap between that and the 2” x 2” swatch. Add that to the 1” height, and you get an additional 1.5”.

o   Height-wise, the calendar will take up 10 + 1 + 1.5 = 12.5” of space.

o   16 – 12.5 = 3.5” of leftover space.

-          You want more space at the top of the calendar to write the month. With your pencil, lightly mark a line that’s 2.5” from the top, and another that is 1” from the bottom.

-          Now you’ll be able to see you have a faint (centered!) border for your calendar. Using rubber cement or glue stick, begin to lay each swatch just how you had it on your draft. Make sure the gaps are ¼“ on the sides of the swatches, and you’ll start seeing your calendar take form.

-          After you’ve glued everything down on the poster board and the pieces are dry, dust it off (I’m static-y lately so I was cleaning it for a while!!) I Windex-ed the glass probably three times before I mounted it, and voila! The only thing that’s left is to expo that calendar up and put it to use!



Before Writing



Paint Swatch Calendar



Now it's an official calendar!



 

By Danielle Lamoureaux

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Easier Mornings

I have had the opportunity to be both a working mother and a stay at home mom.  No matter which role I was in one of the most stressful times of day were always in the mornings getting my son off to school.  Finding outfits, clean underwear, socks, and loose papers needed for school.  So many times he missed the bus, forgot homework or lunch money or lunch and I had to run to the school so he could eat.  The times when everything was actually together were only because I was yelling which is not the kind of mother I want to be.  I finally decided I could no longer send my child off to school stressed and have my day start off with guilt.  I made a list of the things that caused the most stress and panic and worked on ways to eliminate them from our lives.  The basic premise is to do whatever can possibly be done the night before and have your children do whatever they possibly can for themselves.  At first it may be difficult to change old habits but using even a couple of these strategies can turn a crazy morning into an enjoyable one.

1.       Layout your clothes and your child’s clothes for the week.  Include every article of clothing needed even socks and underwear.  I keep my son’s in a weekly organizing closet hanger.  Every night before bed I take out the next day’s clothes and he gets dressed as soon as he gets up in the morning before even coming downstairs.  This eliminates any clothing battles or realizations that there is no clean underwear when the bus is ten minutes from arriving.

2.       Put dinner in a separate container for lunch the next day.  I try to make dinners that can be reheated the next day.  I use a container for my son that keeps his lunch hot all day.  I have to take a minute to heat in up before packing it but it’s nice to know my son is having a nice lunch instead of the gross school lunches or the same sandwich day after day.

3.       Have your child’s homework done and backpack packed the night before.  This is a no brainer but is sometimes hard to put into practice when your child is tired and whiny at night but so worth it.  I make my son a list that includes pictures so he knows exactly what he has to do after school.  Once they get used to doing this it’s so much easier.

4.       Get all of your things together for the next day.  This is where you practice what you preach.  When your child is preparing for the next day you can also set aside everything next to the door or even into your car for the next day.  Hang your keys right next to the door.  There’s nothing worse than searching for keys when you’re running late.

5.       Prepare breakfast for the next day or even the week.  If I know I have limited time for the week and won’t be able to make breakfast I’ll pack cereal into five baggies and then cut up fruit and put milk in a creamer cup so my son can prepare his own cereal breakfast.  You can also make easy items such as hard boiled eggs or egg salad.  Even pancakes made the night before can be reheated.  Setting the coffee pot the night before also cuts down on a few minutes.  Every few minutes you save is a few extra you can spend enjoying your breakfast, coffee, and kids.

Hopefully these ideas will help you!  What are some of your favorite tricks for making the mornings run more smoothly?  Leave your comments below.

Beach Bag Checklist

There is nothing worse than all the work it takes to get on the beach with kids and then realizing you forgot something vitally important.  I put together this handy little checklist of everything I bring to make beach time less stressful and more fun and relaxing.

1.     SUNSCREEN-My son is a fair skinned, blue eyed, red head so it’s extra important.  I usually bring the regular rub on kind but I also pack the spray on kind for two purposes.  First, so I can spray on areas that are difficult to rub lotion onto such as the hairline where there’s hair but where he can still get sunburned.  Second, if he’s being difficult it’s easier to spray while he plays than make him stop and rub it on.

2.     A couple of plastic bags.  Plastic bags are great for putting wet bathing suits into so they don’t get everything else wet.  I also have one in case anything disgusting needs to be put away.  You’d be surprised how often that has happened as a mother.

3.     Wet wipes.  For if the ice cream man comes and for any million of other ways my son could get sticky.  Sand and stickiness do NOT mix well.

4.     A bunch of dollar bills.  Sometimes there’s a vending machine and sometimes the ice cream man comes.  I hate turning down the ice cream man.

5.     Hat.  A hat is good to protect heads from midday sun.  There is no possible way to protect a child’s head from the sun on the beach all day without a hat.  I know there are hats with SPF but my son’s baseball cap seems to work well.

6.       A long sleeved shirt or sweat shirt for if there’s a chill.

7.     A change of clothes.  To change after the beach so there’s no ride home with sand in our pants.

8.     A fresh towel.  I usually wrap this in the plastic bags mentioned above so they’re not sandy.  I only bring a fresh towel if I’m planning to shower at the beach.  There’s nothing worse than taking a shower and having to dry with a sandy towel you’ve had on the beach all day.

9.     A small first aid kit.  I know the lifeguard has one but I bring mine just to have band aids and stuff like that for small cuts.  If anything major happened I’d call for help.

10. Books.  My son brings his own bag of toys but I like him to have a book if he needs to chill out under our umbrella.  This works well if a child is tired, needs a break from the sun, or is not getting along with his friends.

11.   Deodorant.  I hate being smelly.

12. Comb and detangler.  My hair gets so tangled at the beach and this makes it easier to comb through so I don’t look like a total mess.

13.   Lip gloss.  No reason to be totally barefaced on the beach.

14.   Magazines.  For meJ

15. Dry snacks.  The rest of the food such as sandwiches, drinks, watermelon, etc. are kept in the cooler.

What are your must-haves for the beach?

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Six Organizational Tips For Parents

1.      Make a list.  Break each task on the list into smaller tasks so they’re easier to accomplish.  This way it doesn’t seem overwhelming and you’ll be crossing things off your list quickly.

2.      Use a color coded master calendar.  The colors will help everyone keep track of which activity belongs to which family member.

3.      Make a bag of things to do for when you’re waiting.  That way while your child is at a lesson or practice and you’re waiting you can get a few things done while you wait.

4.      Coordinate appointments and schedules.  Make all dentist appointments at the same time in the same location and get them all done at once instead of running to several different appointments at different places and dates.

5.      Find the areas where you waste time frequently.  Do you spend a lot of time looking for your keys in the morning?  Make sure you make it a point to put your keys in the same place every night until it becomes a habit.  10 minutes a day equals 2 and a half days per year you could spend doing something else

6.      Have a basket or spot for each child to put the finish school papers, permission slips, communications from school that you need to look at. Be sure to put it in a spot that they can reach. Make this part of their coming home routine.

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