Whatnot: If I only had a brain...

As you can possibly imagine, I have a hard time keeping everything in my life straight with the three babes running around (*ok, baby girl doesn't run, yet, but she can sure roll!).

 
WAHOOO! Baby girl on a roll!!!

My brain has been eaten by two back to back pregnancies and way too many months of sleep deprivation.  I have no short term memory, spotty long time memory, and I am terrified of losing something or someone!

This is especially bad when I run a business that counts on some measure of organization and keeping many projects in the air at once.  If I forget to edit someone's pictures, that is bad; if I delete someone's pictures, that is REALLY BAD!  If the boys swallow a card and we end up in the hospital......  tooo scary, can't even think about it.

Needless to say, I need a brain - an organizer that wont let me forget what is complete and what is left to be done.

So I came up with this - a dry erase cork board, my new brain.  The dry erase sections allow me to keep track of what stage I am at for each client, while the hanging pocket keeps my cards safely out of arms reach.  The cork board also allows me to pin up inspiration from magazines or recent thank you notes.  I keep it right by my computer and can quickly asses what I can get done during a nap time or which client needs to be wrapped up next.

I made this from an old cork board/picture frame that I have had since college (one of the very few things I have held onto for this many years).  ****you can use any multi-opening frame, just chose one to be cork, replace the glass for that opening with the cork you can buy at any craft store by the sheet or roll.****

Here's how I did it - and you can do it too!

  

 Remove the glass and cork board from your frame - prep your surface and paint

 Let your paint dry - already looking better!

 While the paint dries, cut out your fabric.  Use the cardboard backing from the picture holes as a template to cut your fabric rectangles

 I have FOUR because there are four picture openings

 Next, cut the piece to cover your cork board - you want there to be a slight amount of overhang but not much.

 *Iron your fabric smooth before gluing it to the cork.  Glue using a spray adhesive or scrap booking glue (the kind with the bristle end for smoothing it very thin)

 Place everything back into the frame and admire your work!!!

 I love how my thin cotton ends up looking almost like lace with the cork behind it.

check, check, check...

Here it is hanging on the wall (* yes, that is a ziplock bag holding my SD cards, I will make some cute fabric pouches in the future, but this keeps them out of A&B's reach for now)

And my AWESOME magnetic dry erase pens - yes, these are attached to my computer..... WAIT, don't freak out.  They are attached at the back where the fans are.  DO NOT PLACE MAGNETS ANYWHERE NEAR A HARD DRIVE!!!  Hubs, a computer science engineer, placed these for me (my computer tower is HUGE, about 3x4 feet).

The great thing about this project is that you can customize it to your taste and style.  It may not be the perfect solution, but it will work for now!

How do you stay organized???

Linked on: http://www.skiptomylou.org/2012/08/13/made-by-you-monday-114/, http://makingtheworldcuter.com/2012/08/making-the-world-cuter-3/, http://diyshowoff.com/2012/08/12/diy-project-parade-and-diy-highlights-2/, http://www.craft-o-maniac.com/2012/08/party-time-craft-o-maniac-monday.html, http://todayscreativeblog.net/diy-lantern/#more-12029, http://www.sew-much-ado.com/2012/08/we-did-it-wednesday_14.html, http://thededicatedhouse.blogspot.com/2012/08/make-it-pretty-monday-week-10.html, http://www.notjustahousewife.net/2012/08/show-me-what-ya-got.html, http://www.tipjunkie.com/homemade-projects-814/, http://somedaycrafts.blogspot.com/2012/08/giveaway-directory-120.html, http://www.funkyjunkinteriors.net/2012/08/sns-148-creative-hooks.html