Four Tips on How to Stay Organized When Using a Whiteboard

Here are some tricks that may come in handy if you use whiteboards a lot for organization. I picked up on these when I was a freshman in college. My roommates and I used a whiteboard to divvy up chores and to write down messages for one another. Here are some of the tricks we used...

You can use a permanent marker on a whiteboard. Use one for lines and words you want to last for a long time. On my DIY calendar whiteboard, I used permanent marker for the lines and for the names of the days during the week.

Did you notice my lines aren't the straightest? I swear I used a ruler, but melamine can be a little slippery. You can also see a couple of extra lines on the bottom, and some lines that were erased. Also, notice how my Wednesday and Thursday have faded a lot. I've used this for months now, and it's ready to be fixed.

One of my most favorite tricks is that permanent marker isn't permanent on melamine...you can erase it! All you need is an old dry-erase marker that is running out of ink and not working so well. You can also use a free one, but beware: the ink from the permanent marker will dry out a new dry-erase marker.

Notice how I erased and re-wrote Wednesday and Thursday and then fixed some of the bottom lines. The board still isn't sparkly clean, but I don't mind so much. If you do, nail polish remover is another way to erase permanent marker and will really get the board to shine.

Once you're done, fill in the month and days, or whatever else. You'll notice as you fill it in, you won't notice the not-so-straight lines so much, and if you do, you can always erase them and try again.

 

When filling in your calendar, you may want to use different colors for different people, or different tasks. For this month I'm using red for my husband, orange for myself, green for the kids etc...

We also have another whiteboard where I write everyone's weekly goal, things I need to pick up at the grocery store, daily responsibilities (aka chores) for the kids, and a daily to-do list. Each night before we get ready for bed Daniel and I update the calendar and discuss what we have going on the next day. Having these daily meetings helps us stay on top of things and try to maintain balance.

DIY How to Make a Framed Whiteboard, or Picture Frame...

It seems like life has gotten more and more busy. When Daniel finished his dissertation, we all thought we'd have him around more. After a month enjoying having a husband around, and actually getting to have some one on one time etc., he was called as a counselor in the Bishopric. For those of you who aren't familiar with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (aka us Mormons), we have a lay church. What that means is we don't have a paid clergy. Different members are given a "calling," or responsibility so everything runs smoothly. Right now, I'm working as a secretary in the Primary (the organization over the kids and their Sunday school).

The Bishop is a man called to watch over a ward, or congregation much like a pastor (except he's not paid). His counselors are also responsible to do the same, to help shoulder some of the bishop's responsibilities. This means Daniel has needed to go to meetings and other activities with the youth. So he once again has a hefty load. While we would love having him home more often, we're grateful that Daniel is able to serve in this calling. It's not easy, but has been another stretching period of growth which we've already seen huge blessings from. It also has meant we needed to crack down and really get organized so we can keep our family, Daniel's work, and our Church responsibilities all balanced.

One thing that has really helped has been my new whiteboard calender. Have you ever noticed most whiteboard calendars are teeny tiny? I couldn't find one that would allow us to write our full schedule down. So, I made my own and thanks to this blog I was able to figure out how to frame it. The best part was all the materials cost less than it would have to have bought two already made whiteboards. Here's one of the two I made:

Want to learn how to make your own?...

First, you'll want:

-a mitre box saw, unless you already have more high tech sawing equipment. We aren't so lucky. If you don't have one, they really aren't too expensive.

-crown molding

-A sheet of Melamine/showerboard to serve as your white board. The sheets are huge
(about 4x8 feet), so you can make several white boards out of just one. I bought mine at Lowe's for under $14 and they cut it up for me for free. Just beware the sheets are flimsy and they can break when cut, but most likely you won't have any problems.

-wood glue

-picture hangers

-acrylic paint, or any paint you have on hand

-gloss (optional)


After you get your supplies, get to work. Take a piece of molding and make the first diagonal cut. You'll want a 45 degree angle and this is where your mitre box will come in handy. Just put the pegs where the wood will be nice and snug:

See how there are five lines in the middle on the top and bottom. You'll use the last line on the bottom (or first at the top). You can see how the cut will be a perfect 45 degree angle.

After you made your first cut make sure you keep it at the length you want it and then make a cut on the opposite side (so you'll use the first line on the bottom and last line on the top). Your molding will look something like this after it's cut:

After you have all of your pieces cut grab some rubber bands so you can glue it together. I didn't have rubber bands that were long enough so I doubled up the bands. You can also do likewise by sticking your rubber bands like this:

Flip one over and stick it under its' other side like so:

 

Then pull:

Make four sets for all four corners:

Put wood glue on the corners and secure with the rubber bands. You'll likely have to move the pieces around a bit to get it just right, so be generous with the amount of glue you use. You can wipe off any excess after it's all together.

Here's how it looks being held together with all the rubber bands:

You'll want to let it dry over night so it will be nice and secure. I put text books on top to keep the wood straight:

After the glue is dry, paint your molding, or stain it. I didn't sand it, but if you want a smoother piece you'll want to. I added a gloss to mine to protect the paint, but you could easily skip that step:

After your paint is dry, you're ready to glue the melamine to the wood. Make sure the top of the melemine is up far enough on the top piece of wood that you'll be able to attach a picture hanger. It doesn't have to perfectly fit underneath though.

After you add the molding, set books on top to secure it until it's dry. I'd let it dry overnight.

Once it's dry and secure, grab your picture hanger and put it on the back on top of the melamine and over the wood. As you can see my melamine wasn't perfectly lined up. No big deal, it will be against the wall. I was going to use my staple gun, but decided against it. I was paranoid it may split the wood molding. You're welcome to try if you're brave enough, but this has held pretty nicely with just wood glue (and I've had it up for a couple of months).

After you've got it all together, put it on the wall and enjoy! I'll add some more about how you can make it into a calender later... I'm also hoping to make more frames for some pictures.