Library Books (dry erase!) Sign & Storage

If you know me in person, you would know that I'm obsessed with books.  Me personally? Well no- I haven't read anything in the last 3 years that wasn't based around some parenting philosophy (and even those I skimmed for the good parts).  But children's books- yes. Most definitely. One hundred and ten percent, can't get enough, completely and utterly obsessed. It's been a while since I've counted up our books but I think we personally own over 300 stories.  We also go to the library every week for story time and to check out between 10-15 new titles.

Because we have books in every corner of our house, car and lives I needed a place to keep library books organized and separated.  This has become especially true since I've started hitting up the library's book sales. Even though I black out the labels, I still occasionally try to return a book that I bought from them! I've made my own picture frame dry erase board before and I thought I'd take the same concept and make myself a little library books reminder board!

I already had this frame because it's such a nice size and shape I was saving it for something!  Head to your local thrift store to find a big frame for cheap.  It doesn't matter what is on the mat or photo area because it'll be covered anyways!


Here's what you'll need:

It's so easy to make! 

First, remove the mat from the frame and use it as a pattern on the wrapping paper.  When cutting, make sure to give an extra half inch on each side to allow the wrapping paper to fold around the mat after it's cut.

Cut it out.

Glue down the outside edges of the wrapping paper to the mat.  For this type of project, stick glue works just fine. Cut a large "X" out of the middle and trim the wrapping paper down so that you have just enough to fold around the mat on the inside as well.

Glue it down.

Next, you need to make the actual sign.  I would have printed up something a little nicer but my printer was out of commission (as is often the case) and I wanted it done NOW so I wrote it out by hand.  It looks pretty good for handwritten and it gets the job done. If you have easy access to a printer though, you might want to type something up.

Glue it down centered in the hole of the mat. (add tape if you want it extra secure)

Put the back of the frame back on and that's it!  My son had fun drawing on it immediately.  Luckily I went to erase it shortly after because I didn't realize that he was drawing with a sharpie.  Oops!  Note: Permanent marker is not easily erasable!  Use dry erase ones for daily use!

Hang your sign on the wall above a wooden crate.  I put ours in the empty corner between my kids' rooms since library books are split between them and it's the perfect space for this!  You can attach the marker with string, or just lay it on top of the frame like I do.  It's tall enough the kids can't mess with it.

I wish I would have made my writing in black instead of grey. I thought it'd be better in making the dry erase marker stand out but its hard to see in pictures. (It's visible in person).  Otherwise, I LOVE how this project turned out. We use it every week!  Bonus- my kids love it too!