Erasable Paint Chip Calendar

I am so pleased with this project, and not just because it’s fun and colorful.  It is also this amazing compilation of all these different projects all coming together to create something new and wonderful!  A calendar and art, all in one.

A long time ago, when I first started collecting project ideas from design blogs, I spotted this fun little project from Papernstitch.  They had framed a pretty piece of fabric, and were then using the glass of the picture frame as a dry erase board.  Brilliant!  I have a lot of extra random frames but I also have some simple little dry erase boards already and I find they only have so many uses.  And then I spotted this project on Pinterest.  It takes the picture frame dry erase board to a new level as a calendar, AND it uses paint chips, only my favorite project material ever!!  I knew right away that I had to make this happen, though I’m a bright and colorful person so I decided to use bolder stronger colors instead of the subtle yellows from the pinterest post.

Overall it’s a pretty simple project.  I found this big square clip frame I had lying around from Ikea, and actually really loved the fact that it was just essentially a piece of glass with a backing but no traditional frame around the outside.  It’s a bit more modern and crisp, which is totally my style.  I had briefly had this idea of making my own clip frame with some plexi I had lying around, and bulldog clips, but when I found this frame I decided against it, but I still liked the visual aesthetic of the bulldog clips.  I decided to keep the clips that the frame came with for added support, but I still included the bulldog clips for the visual look, plus maybe I can also use them to hold notes or my dry erase marker, possibly tied to a string or something.

I decided to use a long piece from a Behr paint chip for the month, and then square pieces from Benjamin Moore paint chips for the days.  Initially I was worried about darker colors, but then I started testing them and once you add the layer of glass you actually can see the black marker on top of most colors.  First I cut up a bunch of paint chips, in all the colors I thought I might like.  Then I laid them all out, to make sure I visually was happy with the color palette and organization.  I added the days of the week label pieces at the end, once I had the regular calendar days laid out once I could see what colors would be best.  Of course not all projects go smoothly and with this piece I was about 75% finished when I decided I was leaving too much space between chips.  Oops!  Here’s a pic of the partially finished project, right before I started ripping paint chips off to start again.

In the end I left 1/4 inch of space between each chip (I had left 1/2 inch originally) and I like that it is more visually tight, while leaving a larger white area around the edges and on the bottom.  I used a few little pieces of double-stick tape for each chip, and it worked brilliantly.  Then I decided to decorate the blank spaces with my circular paint chip art (since I had a ton of circles already cut out anyway) and I really love how it turned out because it is both functional and really a piece of art in it’s own right!

I already have a calendar hanging next to my fridge for organizing my social and work life, but what I really needed is somewhere to physically (as opposed to online) keep track of all of my lighting orders, when they are due to be shipped by and any special notes I might have.  So far as you can see my calendar is functioning just as I need it to, and I even have plenty of white space for notes about specific orders!  I did debate adding an extra row of days at the bottom so I could start into the next month, but I figure that as I get closer to a new month (like December for instance) I can start again at the top and just add the last few days of the previous month.  Or I can start a simple list on one side of upcoming orders I need to keep track of.

So far it doesn’t have a home yet up on the wall, because the space I am thinking of hanging it is already holding a big cork board (which is going to be transitioned eventually to a different wall) so I can’t take any pics of it in place just yet but I promise an update as soon as its hung up since I’m still thinking of all the fun additions and accessories I could add to it!

Since I probably won’t post again before Thursday, I also wanted to wish everyone a very happy Turkey Day!!  Ciao, Allison

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