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Thursday, March 6, 2014

Pottery Barn Inspired Oversized Galvanized Calendar

Post by Katie

I thought I would share a really fun project my husband and I worked on recently.  I got the idea while flipping through the new Pottery Barn catalog(one of my favorite ways to spend time).  I came across this huge galvanized calendar.

I think my husband is starting to "get" me because when I said out of the blue "I need a giant piece of galvanized metal", without hesitation he says "Ok maybe BBC Steel or hold on I'll check online" no rolling of his eyes or "oh brother what's she up to now", just "let me figure that out for you".  He's pretty awesome!

We ended up purchasing the huge piece of galvanized metal at Home Depot for $16.99.  The one in Pottery Barn is 6 foot square so ours isn't quite as huge at 3' x 4', but it fits the space I wanted to put it perfectly.  Apparently they are used for Hvac or furnace stuff.  Although it was a little difficult to find a perfect piece without any bending or dimples.  We had to unload them from the shelf onto the floor until we found one that was near flawless.
Yeah I think the Home Depot people probably thought we were a little weird.

We also got some 1 x 2 pieces of pine to build a sort of frame on the back, some picture hangers, and wire.  Altogether it was under $30.  Just a little less then the Pottery Barn version(I'm under exaggerating, it's a lot less).

So now I have to say I love Pottery Barn.  I save catalogs(which by the way my husband definitely does not "get", it drives him crazy).  It's one of my favorite places to go for inspiration when decorating a room or just redo anything in my home.  I love flipping through the pages, and noticing all the details.  I think they are awesome, I just can't afford them, so I try to get the Pottery Barn look on my budget.

Now with that said here is how we did it, my husband pretty much being the brains of the operation.  We made a frame for the back...(ya know cause I'm like "Maybe stick it up there with some double sided tape or something")


Then spray painted it with some metallic paint I had(also his idea), and glued it to the piece of metal.

Then I made the lines with a sharpie(I tested on the back that a sharpie would not erase and a dry-erase marker would).  This took way longer than it would probably take the average person, because my brain does not do math quickly...

I then made the days of the week and "notes" in black vinyl with the Cricut.

Finally, and the funnest part cutting the numbers and shapes.  I had these magnetic sheets(here they are on Amazon).  I can't even remember why I had them in the first place, but they are pretty cool.  They are super thin and Cricut cuts right through 'em.  I wanted the numbers all funky and different sizes just like the ones in Pottery Barn, so it took me awhile to plan it all out for the Cricut, to get the best use of space, and not waist any of the magnet sheet.

Then I could let my imagination go.  My daughter Mia is taking ballet, so I needed a ballet slipper.  My other daughter is currently taking piano lessons so I needed a music note, (I know how fun is this).  I definitely needed a birthday cake, and you could go crazy with holiday icons.  I'm sure I'll add to as the months go.

I'm not sure where my cute little airplane snuck off to, that's what happens with a four year old in the house I guess.

We put the picture hangers and wire on the back.  I also used mounting putty(also on Amazon) so it wouldn't move around on the wall.  I'm hanging it in a hallway near the kitchen.  It would have been difficult to get pictures of it there, so I took it up to my sons room to get the pics.  I thought it would look good on his faux metallic desk I painted (I never wrote a post on that, so I'll show that too).

I got the cute little magnetic talk bubbles, and cup to hold dry erase markers(it came with the little square magnetic eraser) at The Container Store.  They are also on Amazon here and here (can you tell I am a huge Amazon fan).
Are you ready for the total savings, including the metal and backing material, the magnetic sheets, talk bubbles, markers, and cup to hold them.(some of which I already had, but I will add em all in) for a total of approximately $65.  A whopping savings of $435 off the Pottery Barn price.  

This is just one of the funnest projects I've ever done.  We've had to change the months twice now, and my daughter loves to do that.  You can write appointments and such on the metal as well as the little talk bubble, and make notes with dry erase markers.

(By the way I think I'll show the desk off a little more in another post.  Wait till you see the before).

Thanks so much for taking your precious time to stop by.

                                                            Katie

Linking too:
The Golden Sycamore
French Country Cottage
The Thrifty Groove
Jennifer Rizzo:Fabulously Creative Frida
Common Ground
The Shabby Nest
Love of Family and Home
Miss Mustard Seed
My Romantic Home
Dwellings:Amaze my Monday
Twigg Studios
                 Three Mango Seeds                     

22 comments:

Our Hopeful Home said...

Oh my gosh this is absolutely fantastic! I, too, pour over the PB catalogs and try to recreate many of their décor ideas. This one's a doozy! Yours came out looking great, and you give such detailed instructions that I think I might even be able to do it, too! We'll be moving later in the year and this might be a great thing to set up near our new kitchen as well! Thanks for sharing your creation. xoKathleen

Unknown said...

Very cool project :)

Rayana @ FiRefinishBlog.com

Anonymous said...

Love this idea, and LOVE that desk you've got it paired with! This is such a cute area and a fun little project. . . great post!

Vikki said...

You are definitely talented!! What a cute and fun idea the whole family can get in on---and now you are so organized. Keep those good ideas coming. I enjoy your blog and your shop very much.

Unknown said...

I love this calendar and will be featuring it on my 'Weekly Wonders' blog post tomorrow morning. Thanks for sharing! ~Lisa

Linda @ A La Carte said...

What a great project and a fabulous Pottery Barn knockoff! Thanks for sharing at TTF!

Korilynn said...

How stinkin cute is that! I wish I had the space to do something like that.

Cindy @ Dwellings-The Heart of Your Home said...

Wow! What a savings, you did good!!! Thanks so much for sharing at Amaze Me Monday...
Blessings,
Cindy

Anonymous said...

Hi, what kind of glue did you use to attach the metal to the wood frame and how do the little symbols (talk bubble, musical note, etc) stick on the board--are they magnetic? Thanks! :)

Unknown said...

To answer your questions, we used locktite construction adhesive that bonds wood to metal. Everything including the talk bubbles are magnetic, I made the shapes out of magnetic sheets. Hope this helps, thanks for you interest.

Anonymous said...

what a cute idea. What cartridge did you use from the cricut? Also did you handwrite the days of the week? If not how did you do it? can't wait to try to make one myself

Unknown said...

To answer you questions...I didn't use a cartridge I have the Sure Cuts a lot software so the images I didn't have I just found online. I used the cricut for the days if the week also with black vinyl. Hope that helps. Good luck it's a really fun project.

Anonymous said...

This is awesome! I've been looking at the one on PB, it's too big for my space and way too expensive, this is perfect!! Did you make the frame to fit the perimeter of the sheet metal or did you fold the sheet metal over on the sides?

Unknown said...

We made the frame the exact size of the piece of metal, and then spray painted it in metallic to match. Hope that helps☺️

Anonymous said...

Thank you, I'm going to try to make this today!!

Anonymous said...

This is great! I am going to start this project today, but I have a couple of questions.
What is the sizing of the numbers? I guess what's the smallest size and the largest size? Also what size is the grid? I like how this one is set up more than the PB for the extra space on the side for notes and whatnot. TIA for any help!!

Unknown said...

Ok so the smallest number is just under two inches, the largest is about three inches. Each calendar square actually rectangle is about 5 1/4 by 6 3/4. The "notes space is 11 1/4 wide. Measurements are approximate. I recently made two more for customers and my husband did the math for grid:). Hope that helps and good luck!

Unknown said...

Using sheet metal as a calendar is a cool idea. With this, all you need to do is rearrange the numbers, rather than peel away a page of a paper one every month. Anyway, thanks for sharing this with us. All the best!


Rosemary Bailey @ WabiCorpCa

Bernice Parsons said...

It seems that your husband had no doubt on what you were about to do at all, and he had complete faith in you. Haha! Anyway, I like the metal sheet calendar idea. Not only is it easy to navigate, it also looks quite nice. Thanks for sharing this. Have a great day!


Bernice Parsons @ Badger Anodising

Chantel said...

Hi katie, I love your calendar! Do you ever sell just the numbers and days of the week to customers? I'm having a tough time creating them.

Tina Salinas said...

I want them, too!

Jenifer said...

I love this! Great tutorial. Thanks a bunch!

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