Help! Command center revamp?

Last year for back to school, I converted an empty wall into a command center with some sheet metal and some magnetic supplies. We use it to post our menus (still planning them like this . . . most of the time), hold the kids' chore schedules and . . . fill up with clutter.

Here's what it looked like a year ago

(There's now more art up there.)

This is pretty similar, but a bit messier. Notice the photo clip holding a wedding announcement? We use this for checks to cash and receipts to reimburse these days.

Below the metal file are two photo clips for my older kids that hold their chore schedules.

This has never been a cutesy command center, but I've always felt like we could do more with it. So help me out:

How can we get more out of our command center??

Easy school lunch planner (free download!)

We're heading back to school soon here, so I'm revamping our routines and chore charts to try to get us off on the right foot. My oldest will be entering first grade, and will have to bring his lunches for the first time.

He's very excited. Me? A little less so. Because I'll be the one doing all the making and packing. However, I think I've found a way that my six-year-old can help with making his lunch, and end up with something he wants to eat: an easy school lunch planner!

We sat down together and brainstormed some ideas for things to put in his lunch. I came up with the basic categories (main dish, fruit/vegetable, side, drink and dessert) and we listed several ideas in each. Next, I typed the foods and categories up and color coded them.

Next, I want to laminate and cut out the category cards and the food slips. The category cards could go on the front of organizing boxes, or they could go above hooks, and the food slips could be strung on metal rings to hang on the hooks.

The Ready? category is for the final check of questions: do you need a spoon or fork? Do you have your water bottle, sandwich and lunch box? There is also a Shopping category to use the food slips as a reminder to stock up.

Want the file? It's a totally free printable! Click here to view the PDF of this school lunch menu board! (Click on the printer icon on the gray bar above the document to print.)

Some more menu planning board ideas that you could adapt to this:

Clothespin menu board from Oh So Chichi

Binder clip menu board from All Things Beautiful (inspiration for above)

Ring & hook menu board from RobbyGurl's Creations

Ring menu planner from Brown Paper Packages

This way, you get your kids involved in picking and maybe even packing (and hopefully eating!) their own lunches.

How do you organize your kids' school lunches?

Back to School: DIY Command Center (for under $50!) & Organization

A couple Saturdays ago, I came across an awesome DIY command center on the wall beside a refrigerator on Landee See, Landee Do (pinned here). That wall was just dead space in my house--but by the next Wednesday I'd converted it into an awesome command center!

Following Landee's advice, I contacted local heating & A/C companies for estimates. I went with the company that quoted me $20 for a 2'x8' sheet of steel.

I asked the Original Wayward (aka DAD) for some tips on how to drill holes in the sheet metal. He said:

• You can use a regular drill bit as long as the hole is fairly small (I did 1/4") and the metal is not too heavyweight
• Make sure the metal is secure!
• Lubricate with some light oil 
• Back up the metal with a piece of scrap wood backstop
• Use a punch before drilling to keep the bit from wandering
• Wear eye and ear protection
• Remember the bit and the metal will be hot
• The burr (edge of the metal) will be sharp. You may want to deburr (file the edge with a metal file).

Drilling holes with a scrap wood backstop

The only problem I came across was when the drill bit sometimes got stuck on a lip of metal. I used my punch (which happened to be a circular nail punch) and poked it through the whole, bending down the lip. Then I moved the center of the drill bit over a little to finish the hole.

I brought the metal inside and held it against the wall to mark where the holes would be. I might recommend doing the top holes first and hanging the metal before doing the other holes--the bottom holes ended up not lining up at all (no big deal; I just didn't screw them in).

I'd also recommend using more than four holes in each side--that only left two screws in the middle to secure it, and the sheet metal has sagged in a few places. (Double sided foam tape is a big help though!)

I used regular 1/4" screws, washers and nuts.

The magnetic organization is probably my favorite part:

At the top, I have magnetic clips for the kids' artwork from school and church (and a family photo). Below that is a couple inches for me to write out the menu plans for the week--never again does my husband have to ask "What's for dinner?"

I have a magnetic, dry erase metal wall file (held up by 8 neodymium magnets) for incoming mail. On the front I've listed important phone numbers. Some locker organizers hold pens and dry erase markers, as well as Post-it notes, Sharpies, and stamps. I already had a magnetic note holder (gift) and magnetic calendar (free in the mail).

The rest of the area is for school papers/to dos/action items, held by photo clips of each of us, and the kids' chore charts. If I can find somewhere else to put my garbage, I'll leave the bottom few feet for the kids to play with magnets (they love it!).

Costs:

• sheet metal (from local heating & A/C company): $20
• magnetic & dry erase mail holder (Target, clearance): $6.38
• magnets (Walmart): $6
• hardware (Walmart): $2
• dry erase markers & magnetic eraser (Target): $7.50
• pencil cup/organizer (Target): $2
• basket for markers (Target): $2
• magnetic clips (Dollar Tree): $1
• magnetic photo holder clips (Dollar Tree; two sets of two): $2
• magnetic picture frame (Dollar Tree): $1

Total cost: $49.88

I also organized a few other areas for back to school. Tired of searching for shoes all the time (and not being able to find a single pair of Rebecca's shoes for over a month), I instituted something my mom has used forever: a shoe shelf.

I got a $14 stackable shoe shelf at Target and decorated it with a silver Sharpie. The kids love it! And more importantly--they use it!

I also typed up before and after school routines, chore lists, and before bed/in the morning routines. I illustrated them and laminated them, then hung them up. The chore lists are on the command center (awaiting only some smiley face magnets to check off the completed chores) and the routines hang on Command hooks in the kids' room and in the front closet (along with hooks for backpacks).

What do you think? How did you organize for back to school this year?