What's for Dinner?

Those three words get mentioned in my house almost daily. I have been so overwhelmed with work and school dinner became whatever we could find in the fridge when we were hungry. I made a vow that I am going to do better at being organized and get back on track with healthier eating. In order to help me stay organized I made myself a fun a little menu. I chose to only use Monday - Friday because our weekends are usually spent running around or the complete opposite just lounging around. The file is easily adaptable and you could add Saturday/Sunday if you wish.

To make this menu all you need is a cheap glass frame, some vinyl, and your choice of paper/fabric. I used a cheap frame I picked up at WalMart, some burlap, and black Oracle 651 vinyl. I used my Cricut Explore to cut the template out of my vinyl. I transferred it onto the frame using clear contact paper. I find that to be the easiest and cheapest way to move vinyl from one place to another. After smoothing everything out I wrapped the inside insert with burlap. I pieced it all back together and Viola! Instant dry erase menu board. Make sure that the frame you use has a glass front or the dry erase does not work as well.

LINK FOR TEMPLATE *PERSONAL USE ONLY!*
Dry Erase Menu Board

Get Your Etch On!

With work and school taking over my life I don't have much time to make things. Christmas was so hectic I had to resort to store bought Christmas cards. It really was terrible. Despite being so busy, there are times where I can just make something for fun. Nick randomly said that he wanted an Ohio State shadow box for his tickets. Obviously I have made shadow boxes before, click here for my other awesome shadow box project, but this time he threw me a curve ball. He didn't want me to use vinyl but wanted something that was almost frosted so you could see the tickets in their entirety. I knew tha
t this was the perfect excuse to try out etching glass.

My first mission was to figure out what to do. After a few tutorials on pinterest and a jaunt through Youtube I felt I had a good handle on what to do. I ordered Armour Etch etching cream because it had the best reviews. My shadow box came from Amazon because they seem to have the cheapest price with decent quality. I made my stencil with my Cricut Explore. I found a Ohio State SVG through Google and uploaded it into design space. After cleaning it up a bit and removing some unnecessary layers I was happ
y with my SVG. I then uploaded a basic square and stretched it out to a 11x11. I placed my OSU SVG over the square, selected both images and sliced them together. I simply pulled off the inner layer and deleted it leaving me a lovely stencil.

It was now time to cut! I picked out some vinyl I didn't really like and used it as my stencil paper. As usual my Explore cut it like a dream. I weeded out all the inside parts and transferred the image using contact paper. Clear contact paper is my ideal transfer paper for all things vinyl. It's cheap, easy to use, and is really gentle to your vinyl. I applied my stencil to the glass and made sure all my edges were sealed tight. I didn't want any of the etching cream to slide under. I then applied a generous amount of the etching cream over my stencil. I allowed it to sit for 5 minutes, swirling things around every so often.

Then came the moment of truth. I rinsed off the cream and my heart sank. I thought that the cream didn't work. It wasn't until I held the glass up to the light I saw the difference. There was a clear differentiation between the glass and the etched part! I pulled off the vinyl stencil I made and it came out wonderful! I may have found a new obsession!

Thanks for taking the time to read all of this! I hope you found it at
least a little bit helpful!

Gina