Menu Planner
Tags: Alma's Work
(This post also at Petit Elefant.)
As a graphic designer, no new thing I do or try will stick unless it involves some good design. I recently committed to planning meals weekly and keeping the family to a food budget. So what I felt would really help me out was a place to display what meals I had to eat, and what ingredients I had in my fridge that needed to be eaten before they went bad. Like my huge block of gorgonzola from Costco for example. I developed this.
This is a meal planner that I am proud to display in my kitchen. Remember that advent calendar that I made for you all for Christmas? Well, I designed this to use the same frame. I designed the poster and printed it out, then put it under glass. I can write on the glass in dry erase (or wet erase) marker. That way, both Mike and I can see immediately what’s for dinner every week. I can also list what needs to be used up and what I still need to buy. And there’s plenty of room for lunch and breakfast if I’m so inclined. I have put this print for sale in our Etsy shop; for $10 you can buy the PDF that you can print at whatever size and color you prefer! It can also be saved as a .JPG and processed at a photo developer (like Costco) for about $6.
I also designed this retro looking fridge if you prefer this design. I feel it’s well suited to a square frame, and you can write what the meals are in the mat area. (By the way, if you want to learn to create your own graphics, check out my online Illustrator 101 course. ) (As another parenthetical aside, I would like to tell you that we took these pictures in the sun and I’m using a shadow box frame, so you can see the shadow of what I’ve written on the glass. This doesn’t happen inside the house. Instead it just looks like the text is floating. Which is pretty cool.)
Finally I also put together this fun design that you can download for free! I hope that you feel inspired to plan your weekly meals too, and I hope that one of these menu planners can help you feel like you’re doing it in style!
Instructions:
Click on the image above or click this link: menu planner. Wait for the image link to come in—this may take a while because it is a very large file. Save image to your computer. Dimensions are 19.625″ x 15.75″ but image can easily be cropped to most other standard dimensions. As is, the image will fit well in an Ikea Ribba frame.
To print the large image, try a printer such as Kinkos. I printed my poster at Kinkos for just under $10. Alternatively, you can have a photo processor (like Costco) develop this image. Just make sure when you’re uploading that you don’t choose “auto color correct” or “faster upload speed”.
Place image in a frame, under glass. Fill in your menu each week by writing on the glass in dry or wet erase marker!
I love it! Thank you!
Love it LOVE it!!!
Holy cow I LOVE THIS!
adorable. you saved me. thank you.
Cutest thing EVER!
Just found your site and love your work. This meal planning sheet is adorable. I would love to buy the print at etsy, but says it is no longer available. Will you be offering them again?
Sarah,
I just relisted it!
These are super cute! Thanks for the freebie!
Thanks!
Jana
I just found you! thank you so much for beautiful menu planner. Lots of love, Amanda xxx
Thank you!! This is awesome, and just what I need.
zomg so cute!! Printing now!
Great idea! Thank you!
Oh this is a great idea!!!! Just awesome. Thanks for the download!
This is seriously cool. What a striking idea! Thanks a lot for sharing.
What an awesome freebie! Thanks. I can't wait to print it out… and start filling it in. FUN FUN!
Thank you so much for sharing these! I love this idea!
Fantastic idea! Clever AND stylish. I love it. Thanks!
SWEET! Love these!
I love this idea and your planner is so pretty! I would love to link to this if you didn't mind.
Thanks everyone for your kind comments! Rachel feel free to link to it!
so cute, thank you for sharing it. great idea!
That is awesome!!! Much more asthetically pleasing than a plan old list.
Thank u! just what i need! hello from Mexico
I downloaded the Free Menu Planner but it's in PNG format and I'm having trouble uploading it to a photo site so that it can be made into a poster. Help? Thanks!!!
These are fabulous! Love the retro colors and design – so fun! I've included in my weekly roundup of creative/inspiring/fun ideas, blogged here:
http://www.camilledawn.com/2010/07/tuesday-tumblr-4.html
Thank you so much for the printables!
Camille
Mother✭Lode
http://www.camilledawn.com
I just shared this link to this great download on my blog. thanks!
For those of you who wanted this in a .JPG format to submit to a Photo Processing Center, there has been a link added to the post. The JPG file will be available for 14 days from July 7, 2010.
Lovley:) What a great idea!
Thanks so much for sharing this! I'm lucky enough to have my own laminator – so I'll be able to make my own wipe board with this. I can't wait to add it to my fridge door!
Thank you! I love it!:)
Thanks for the JPG download!!!
I tried to download the JPEG version of this, but I got a message saying either the end date or the download quota has been reached.
I love it! But I was also unable to download the JPEG because of the number of downloads has exceeded even though the date hasn't passed. I would love it if it could be made available again!
Thank you!! I printed mine on an A4 magnetic sheet and it now lives on our fridge!
thanks for sharing! this is awesome!
These are so great. Thank you!!
Darling menu print…Just what I needed…! Thank You very much ~
Thank-you Thank-you. This is so much more stylish than scribbling onto a scrap of paper.xo
This is such a cute way to keep track of your weekly meal plan! We're working on a post about organization and have included this printable in it. We used your thumbnail pic, gave a short description, credited you, and provided a direct link back to this post. We hope it's okay, but if you prefer we remove it let us know. Thank you again!
great, than you! I ´ve printed it and hope it will help us plan our dinners better. I´ve looked for a good looking one, and now I found it. ye!
This is so fabulous! What a great idea! Thank you!
Thanks so much for the free download! I absolutely adore the menu plan. It’s on my to do list for my new kitchen.
I love it! thank you for sharing it
xx