Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Communication Center with Magnet Paint

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Our “communication center” in our home is in need of some attention. Our calendar is larger this year then last due to our growing family. It is too heavy in fact to hang from the magnet hook I had for last year’s calendar, and too large for the current metal board I had hanging on my wall from IKEA. The old metal board had a collection of school pictures of cousins and friends, mostly outdated. It also had some magnetic clips with old to do lists and shopping lists attached. In my attempt to be more organized, I have decided a change is needed. I love the vinyl picture frame magnets. They stay up well, unlike the acrylic ones that seem to fall and crack when bumped. I plan on placing my to do list and my husband’s to do list in these clear pocket magnets. This will help place them at eye level and right next to my calendar. I plan on creating a separate area for my kids “jobs.” I’m still working out the details for a smooth, functioning system. My son is in Montessori and jobs and lessons are a part of his every day routine at school. Getting my husband to follow his to do list might be a different task. I plan on only having seven items at a time for one week. But I also want to encourage him to place things on his to do list that he wants to accomplish because I think that if you see it written out all the time you can make it happen. So perhaps I will write “pay off house” and “go out on date with wife.” ?
So my first step to my organized communication center? Magnet paint. I taped off two sections on my wall. These sections are the same size as two old frames I have that I will eventually screw to the wall to complete my design. I shook up the magnet paint can and opened it…. not even close to having it mixed. I replaced the lid (fed baby, cleaned up kitchen table) and shook the can much harder. The paint still required a good 5 – 10 minutes of mixing with a wooden popsicle stick brought to us by Santa for building craft projects. One dip in the paint with my recommended sponge brush and I spread it on the wall in my taped off section dripping grey colored paint everywhere. This stuff would best be applied on a horizontal surface. I made a little paper reservoir under the section and continued. The sponge brush was pretty forgiving and did not dry too fast, so my phone breaks, baby breaks and 3-year-old breaks did not ruin my project. I found it best to have the goopy substance only on one side of the sponge brush, wiping the other side along the top of the can. After completing both my taped off sections, I left to pick up my son from school. When I returned they both felt dry to the touch and actually hold up the magnet frame pretty well. It’s obvious they need another coat, but unfortunately the can says I must wait 24 hours. I hope two coats is enough, cuz I think I’m too impatient. So this is where I leave you for now. Two taped off sections in need of more coats but with a good outlook for magnetic potential. Just hope the “communication center” works as well as the magnets.



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