Last summer, I had a client (I was a real estate agent in my pre-mommy life) with three kids under the age of six. Their family of five was living in a 1,200-sqare-foot condo, and although the quarters seemed tight, their household worked like a well-oiled machine. Every drawer had a label; every task had a responsible party. There were dry-erase and magnet boards all over the place detailing dinners for the next month and which child was in charge of things as simple as saying a prayer before dinner.

I snapped photos of their dry-erase boards during an open house and sent them to my husband with “LOL” as the message. Little did I know that I would be implementing some of the same systems a year later! (Mommyhood has a way of doing that to you!)

So when I recently discovered The Project Girl’s free downloadable menu planner and grocery list forms (via Violet Lulu – thank you!), I was ecstatic. I’ve been struggling with keeping our pantry stocked and our refrigerator full (without filling the compost with wasted produce I never got around to using), and I love finding ways to save money and be more efficient. Plus, the forms are super cute and look great printed and posted on the fridge (or in a binder!).

But…I wanted to take it a step further. A couple steps further, actually.

You’ve heard of the capsule wardrobe, right? Well, I’ve created a capsule menu planner. First, I took The Project Girl’s free downloadable menu planning forms and made them editable using Adobe Acrobat Reader. Now, I don’t have to print them out to fill in the blanks. I can simply work on my plans using the computer and print them when I’m done. The beauty of this system is that I can save them as PDFs and re-use them later by updating the dates and needed grocery items. (The Project Girl’s free downloadable menu planning forms are at the end of the post.)

But wait…it gets better. I took my haphazardly organized (if organized at all) recipe binder and organized it into a capsule menu planner.

First, I gave it a cute cover. I mean, what’s the point of doing something if it’s not cute?!

Next, I put my menu plan for this week into a sheet protector and inserted it into the front of the binder. I use the one that has dinners only on it (version two at the end of this post) since my husband and I do breakfast and lunch separately (usually leftovers or sandwiches).

Here’s a detail view of my menu planner for the week:

After the menu planner page, I moved all my recipes for the week to the front of the binder right after the menu plan. That way, I don’t have to go looking for them each day. (There’s another great reason for this that I’ll share in my follow-up post!)

I also added a sheet protector to hold coupons. On my menu planner page, I put a (c) next to the grocery items for which I want a reminder that I have a coupon. (Now, if only my daughter would stop squealing and distracting me at the checkout like she did today – therefore totally making me forget to use my coupons! Grrrrr…)

When you head to the grocery store, you can either take your own binder or just pull out the menu planner page and your coupons. I took my whole binder today, but my little girl kept throwing it on the ground. Next time, I’ll just stick my list in my pocket!

You could even add tabs for different types of dishes and to keep your current dishes (the ones you’ve picked for the week) in front of your binder. I like to put desserts and staple items like bread (I bake my sandwich bread fresh every two weeks) at the end of my binder.

The whole process of planning my menu for this week took about half an hour, but the awesome thing is that I can recycle this menu plan in future weeks. All I’ll have to do is re-open the PDF on my computer and edit the grocery list based on what I already have in my pantry/fridge at that time. Just be sure to save your PDFs in a certain folder on your computer, and use filenames that will be easy to connect to your printed menu (like the date of the menu).

OH, did I mention that this system saves me money? And not just from using the coupons (or forgetting to use them like I did today). That’s right – instead of wandering the aisles aimlessly, buying too many perishables, making impulse shopping decisions and/or buying duplicate items that I already have in my pantry, I got only exactly what I needed and could use within the week. My final bill was about 25% less than my normal amount for one week.

Sound awesome? I know, right?! You can download your editable forms by clicking on the images below. Version one includes spaces for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Version two, the one I use, just has a “meals” section which I use for dinners only.

So there you have it – a fun and easy way to get yourself more organized every week. Are you loving it? Yes?! Great – because I have another great way to make meal preparation super easy and quick. (But you don’t have to sacrifice making gourmet, restaurant-quality meals for your family). Sound awesome? Check out my follow up post on ruthie pearl – Be Your Own Sous Chef. Be sure to say hello when you stop by!

How do YOU plan to use The Project Girl’s free downloadable menu planning forms?

Click on the image below to begin download of PDF file

Click on the images above to download a PDF version of my printable Be a Healthier You Checklist. The downloadable PDFs in this article (and across my entire site) are free for personal use only. If you would like to blog about this free download, please accompany any images from my site with a credit and link back to this article. As a courtesy please do not link directly to a downloadable file but rather to this page. At this time, no customizations of this or any of my forms are available. Forms are a free download AS IS. Also since you’ve made it this far, please subscribe to my RSS feed and facebook page so you can find me again! And don’t forget to tell your friends

Here are links to the other designer’s blogs:

Robyn Meierotto – February

Karla Dudly – March

Erica Coombs – April

Karen Funk – May

Angie Hinksman – June

Celeste Knight – July

Shannon Hegarty – August 1

Sara Schmutz – September

Gennifer Bursett – October

Tiffany Tillman – November

Agnes Biro – December

Click on the image(s) below to begin download.

Click on the images above to download my printable January Calendar pages. The downloadable files in this article (and across my entire site) are free for personal use only. If you would like to blog about this free download, please accompany and images from my site with a credit and link back to this article. As a courtesy please do not link directly to a downloadable file but rather to this page. At this time, no customizations of this or any of my forms are available. Forms are a free download AS IS. Also since you’ve made it this far, please subscribe to my RSS feed and facebook page so you can find me again! And don’t forget to tell your friends

The nice thing about this form is you can use it all year long. Maybe at the beginning of each week or month you can sit down and quickly decide a handful of goals/activities that you want to accomplish that month to keep you on track with being the best you you can be.

I’ve included a free download of the form completely blank, and one with the subjects already filled out.

Click on the images below to begin download of PDF file

Click on the images above to download a PDF version of my printable Become a Better You Worksheet. The downloadable PDFs in this article (and across my entire site) are free for personal use only. If you would like to blog about this free download, please accompany and images from my site with a credit and link back to this article. As a courtesy please do not link directly to a downloadable file but rather to this page. At this time, no customizations of this or any of my forms are available. Forms are a free download AS IS. Also since you’ve made it this far, please subscribe to my RSS feed and facebook page so you can find me again! And don’t forget to tell your friends

So I created a checklist with 5 major columns, and under each of those columns are a bunch of check-boxes for different activities, parties, gifts etc that you need to schedule, accomplish, shop for etc. This is a great over-view type of document that you can use to schedule all your various Christmas happenings. Since everyone’s Christmas activities are so vastly different, I made this form an EDITABLE PDF file. You can’t change the categories ( I should have done that too, but it’s too late now!) but you can change all the existing checkbox text as well as add text to all of the existing checkboxes. And you can save the file and reprint next Christmas so you have a good idea of all the things you need to do for Christmas.

Click on the images below to begin download of PDF file

And since Christmas is a week away, I created a simple Christmas Countdown with 7 days leading up to Christmas. This one will have to be printed out to be filled in, but you can quickly write up all the things you need to get done this week… like STARTING TO SHOP for Christmas gifts… or is that just me??

Click on the image below to begin download of PDF file

Click on the images above to download a PDF version of my printable Christmas Checklist and Countdown forms. The downloadable PDFs in this article (and across my entire site) are free for personal use only. If you would like to blog about this free download, please accompany and images from my site with a credit and link back to this article. As a courtesy please do not link directly to a downloadable file but rather to this page. At this time, no customizations of this or any of my forms are available. Forms are a free download AS IS. Also since you’ve made it this far, please subscribe to my RSS feed and facebook page so you can find me again! And don’t forget to tell your friends

No, that doesn’t mean they are all wrapped nice and pretty…..or even completed yet!

I need to {start and} finish a tshirt I’m painting for my nephew.

But, if you are in need of a gift for someone in your life, and just aren’t sure what to do,
I have an idea for you.

Check out all of Jen’s free downloads/printables, and design your own gift!

Some ideas……

A new Mom/Dad:
To Do List
Baby Log
Two Week Planner
Meal Planner

The Health Nut!:
Workout Worksheet
Goal Chart
Food Journal
Meal Planner

The Planner:
Meal Planner
Chore Chart
Project Planner
Perpetual Birthday Calendar

The Organizer:
Canister Labels
Organization Labels
Packing Labels {or for storage tubs}
Storage Container Index

The Traveler:
Ultimate Travel Checklist  {This one is one of my favorites!!}

Other Ideas {without links}:

For the Blogger
The Holiday Planner
Or…print one of everything!

Once you print out all the pages you need/want, organize them somehow for that person.
Whether it is in a folder, a 3-ring binder with tabs, spiral bound, or a tear-off notepad…
that will help make the gift complete.

Tip:  Many copy center/printing places are able to spiral bound items or even make them in to notepad form for a small fee.

There are so many freebies/printables out there online.   Go get them!
{If you aren’t sure of where to look, check out Pinterest!
And if you’d like an invite, just let me know.}

So have fun putting together the perfect gift for someone, that won’t break the bank.

The best part with printables, if you save the file to someplace where you will find it again on your computer, you can print out new sheets for the recipient as needed.

This week I have “neighbor gifts” on the brain. I’m not sure if this is a regional thing or everywhere, but we like to give home-made gifts to our close friends and neighbors. Last year I made 16 round pans of cinnamon rolls, this year we are making Jamaican Christmas cake.

Anyway this printable helps you organize any gifts you are making/buying. You can also list all people you are delivering gifts to, as well as whom you have received gifts from — not so that you can revel in all your loot – but so you can reciprocate with a gift or a thank you card etc.

This printable works for office gifts, teacher gifts, extended family gifts and more! If you are looking for a more custom gift list, check out my gift organizer.

(Click on the image to begin PDF download)

Click on the form image above to download a PDF version of my printable neighbor-gift form. The downloadable PDF in this article (and across my entire site) are free for personal use only. If you would like to blog about this free download, please accompany and images from my site with a credit and link back to this article. As a courtesy please do not link directly to a downloadable file but rather to this page. At this time, no customizations of this or any of my forms are available. Forms are a free download AS IS, no customization or changes can be made.

]]> http://www.theprojectgirl.com/2011/12/12/motivated-monday-neighbor-gift-list-free-download/feed/ 1 http://www.theprojectgirl.com/2011/12/02/hybrid-ipad2-styled-recipe-stand-and-cards/ http://www.theprojectgirl.com/2011/12/02/hybrid-ipad2-styled-recipe-stand-and-cards/#comments Fri, 02 Dec 2011 14:00:15 +0000 Angie http://www.theprojectgirl.com/?p=3192

Hello dear readers it’s Angie Hinksman here and a very Happy Holiday Season to you!  Today I’m going to share with you a little hybrid project, inspired by what is probably the most is talked about product this Christmas; the iPad2.  I love the simplicity of the design of the iPad and I think that the included stand is pure GENIUS!  Now, while my little Recipe Stand won’t help you surf the net, it’s certain to brighten up any kitchen table!  You’ll need very few supplies (no need for specialist binding materials  here, just paper, card and some basic crafting supplies.

To create the Recipe Stand and 6 recipe cards, you will need the following supplies:

• Recipe journaling templates – you can download the pdf file here
• Some plain co-ordinating paper or cardstock for printing the journaling cards.  I’ve used some simple ’letterhead’ stationery for mine.
• Selection of 12 x 12 inch patterned scrapbook papers – I’ve used papers from Jen’s beautiful Stella & Rosecollection.  You’ll need 2 for the stand and 1 sheet will 6 recipe cards.  Cut your paper to the following measurements:
  • 1 piece:  8.5 x 12 inches (just keep the off-cut handy, we’ll use this later)
  • 1 piece: 6 x 12 inches (again we’ll use the off-cut later)
  • 1 piece:  cut out 6 at 4 x  6 inches
  • Chipboard or very thick card.  If you can’t get hold of plain chipboard, the back of an old note book will work perfectly! I’ve used the back of one of my scrap-pads.  Cut your card to the following measurements;
    • 2 pieces: 4.5 x 6.5 inches
    • 1 piece: 2.5 x  6.5 inches
    • 2 pieces: ¾  x  6.5 inches
    • A ruler
    • Cutting tools (such as a Stanley knife or rotary cutter and scissors)
    • Adhesive (I’m using a glue stick and some double-sided tape)
    • Cutting matt
    • Rolling pin (this helps the glue stick well)

    

Instructions for the recipe cards:

Print your recipe journal pieces onto your paper and cut out.  Glue these to the front and back of your 4 x 6 inch pieces of scrap paper.  I’ve rounded the edges of mine, to keep with the iPad feel of the project!    

Instructions for the Recipe Stand:

Place your 4.5 x 6.5 and 2.5 x 6.5 inch pieces of chipboard on your 8.5 x 12 inch scrap paper as illustrated.  Align the top and bottom pieces with the edges of the paper.  Place the middle pieces approx. ½ inch below the top piece.  You want to have a bigger gap at the bottom (this will help your recipe stand close well).  Use a pencil to mark where your placed this pieces, then glue them down.  Use your rolling pin over the top then turn the whole thing over and use your rolling pin again. This will make sure your glue has good contact.  Leave to dry for a few minutes then glue the sides down as shown.

Once dry, glue the 6 x 12 inch piece of scrap paper on top, as shown and leave to dry.

Glue the 2 ¾ x 6.5 inch pieces of card together as illustrated.  Once dry, glue and cover with a piece of your left over scrap paper.  Leave to dry.  Once this is dry, glue to the bottom of the main piece(the bottom has the small piece of cardboard).  Leave this whole piece to dry thoroughly (I left mine for about an hour).

On the inside of the stand, cut a piece of your left-over scrap papers in a strip: 2.5 inches x 12.  Place this at the bottom of the stand so that it meets the edge of the ¾ inch piece.  You’ll need to trim this down so it fits your stand.  Using either a thin layer of glue or double-sided tape, glue this down.  This will create pockets to keep your recipe cards in.

Once your stand is completely dry you will be able to fold it as shown.   As you can see, the ¾ inch piece helps  the Stand stay in place!  Cut another little scrap of paper in a triangle shape to act as a photo corner to display your cards(mine is about an inch and half wide). Glue into place. 

Finally place your finished cards in your pockets and enjoy!   I think this would make a great gift andit  is light and small enough to post to far-away family and friends.  Why not invite some ‘recipe-loving’ friends over, give them each a recipe stand, filled with cards and have a recipe swap party.  Now wouldn’t that be fun? 

Have a great day

(Click on the image to begin PDF download)

Click on the form image above to download a PDF version of my printable Holiday House Guest Planner. The downloadable PDF in this article (and across my entire site) are free for personal use only. If you would like to blog about this free download, please accompany and images from my site with a credit and link back to this article. As a courtesy please do not link directly to a downloadable file but rather to this page. At this time, no customizations of this or any of my forms are available. Forms are a free download AS IS, no customization or changes can be made.

And did I mention that this kit is FREE??? Yes free! All you need to do is hop around to each of the participating designer’s blogs and download their mini kit.  Once you’ve downloaded all 12 of the mini kits, you’ll have this whole giant awesome kit to play with.

So here is my mini kit:

(Click on the image below to begin zip file download.)

And here are the rest of the designer blogs to grab the rest of the free mega kit:

Audrey Neal
Angie Hinksman
Celeste Knight
Dana Zarling
Deena Rutter
Gennifer Bursett
Karen Funk
Karla Dudley
Robyn Meierotto
Shannon Hegarty
Tiffany Tillman

And don’t forget that everything in the Design House Digital shop is 25% off, and we’ll have ANOTHER awesome blog hop Friday (see the DHD blog for info) and chats on saturday!

Click on the mini kit image above to download a ZIP file of my digital scrapbooking day mini kit.

The downloadable files in this article (and across my entire site) are free for personal use only. If you would like to blog about this free download, please accompany any images from my site with a credit and link back to this article. As a courtesy please do not link directly to a downloadable file but rather to this page.