Iroh Destiny Quote

Two nights ago my husband and I watched the Avatar: The Last Airbender finale, all four episodes. We wanted to watch something, and that sounded good. And it was good. During one of the episodes, Iroh said a quote that I really liked, so I wrote it down on a scrap of paper. My husband suggested I make a design for it. Since I love to save quotes by pinning them, I decided to design and pin the quote.

I had an idea for the border, so I looked for a stock image that I could at least modify to make what I wanted. I didn't find anything that seemed quite right, but they did give me some ideas. After mulling it over some more, I decided to attempt to create the type of border I wanted. I opened up Adobe Illustrator and started trying to create something like what I envisioned. After some trial and error, I created something I felt would work. I designed four intertwining strands in the colors of blue, green, red, and yellow to represent the four nations—Water, Earth, Fire, Air. I then got the idea to put some icon in each corner to represent each nation. I found a stock image that had exactly what I needed.

Once I finished designing the border, I added the background and text. I wasn't completely satisfied with the design, but I liked it alright. I wrote this post and had my husband read the post. He told me not to post it until I really liked my design. So, today, I revised my design and this post. In the end, I have two variations of the design that I like. So, without further ado, here are my designs.

Which do you like best? Tell me in the comments below. 

Making a Dry Erase Menu Board

Have you ever had the following scenario happen to you?

"What should we have for dinner tonight?"

"I don't know. What do you want?"

"I don't know."

Open and close fridge, freezer, and cupboards, and still you have no idea what to eat for dinner. 

That scenario happened all too often in our home. And after seeing numerous menu planning ideas on Pinterest, I decided to make us a dry erase menu board. I read one blog post (which I can no longer find) and used it loosely as my guide. Here's my process. 

Step One: Gather supplies. I picked a frame (from the stack of available frames at my family's house), chose a colored card stock (I chose an off white/light tan that I thought complemented the gold frame), and gathered some gel pens (my husband gave me a huge pack of gel pens as an early Christmas present last year; I chose to use the metallic ones for this project). Oh, and a ruler.

Step Two: Draw the blank menu onto the card stock. I used the ruler to mark off the lines for eight boxes. It took a little math to figure out the right sizing, but once I had it figured out, I easily made my grid, with the ruler ensuring I drew straight lines. I chose to write the names for each day in different colors, and I labeled the extra square, "Notes." 

Step Three: Put the card stock into the frame. And admire.

Step Four: Find a dry erase marker and fill out your menu for the week. 

Simple as that. This is my kind of project. 

Having this menu board has really helped us. Now only once a week do we ask the question "What should we eat for dinner?" It has also reduced our trips to the store. It had gotten to the point where we were going to the store three or four times a week to get something we needed in order to make the dinner we decided on. 

Also, don't be afraid to change your plan any time during the week. For the week shown in the picture above, we were going camping on Friday and had decided that Chicken Caesar Sandwiches (recipe from Two Healthy Kitchens) would work well to take with us for our dinner. We had tried the recipe out for the first time the week before. It was an easy and delicious meal. However, Jason decided to change the meal. He wouldn't tell me what he had changed it to. He did the prep Thursday night (I wasn't allowed in the kitchen), and Friday night he cooked it over the fire he made. We enjoyed a delicious tin foil dinner of roast and veggies.