When you have a big family and people spread out across the country (for us we have immediate family in Illinois, Maine, Mississippi, Connecticut, Florida, Louisiana, and California – yowsers) it can be a bit difficult to keep track of everyone’s birthdays. I really enjoy involving the kids in remembering to buy cards and small gifts for our family on their birthdays, so I thought we would make a fun “Family Birthday Board” that they could help me to change out each month.

So, to get started – here is what I used – all items were purchased in the craft aisle at Walmart unless otherwise stated:

• Rectangular Plaque
• Variety Pack of Peel and Stick Foam sheets
• Adhesive Magnetic Sheets
• Black Painters Pen
• Acrylic Paint in colors of your choice (I already had some white Americana Acrylics paint)
• Paintbrush (already owned)

To get started, I covered the surface of my table, unwrapped the plaque, and covered it in one coat of white acrylic paint. If I had wanted to make the plaque solid white I probably would have added another 2 or 3 coats, but I liked the “white washed” look that it had after just one coat, so I stopped there.

Then I used a pencil to sketch out where the word “Birthdays” at the top. Then I unwrapped the magnetic sheets (they came 2 per pack) and stuck them together. I used the bottom of the bottle of paint to trace circles onto the backs of the magnets, right on top of the piece of paper stopping the adhesive from being exposed.

I covered the back of one whole sheet with little circles. You might need more than one package of adhesive to create additional birthday pieces for the various months.

Then, with both magnetic sheets still stuck firmly together, I cut out the magnetic circles one by one.

At this point I used my Painters Marker to write the word “Birthdays” – tracing over the lines that I had already created. I separated the magnets from one another, giving me 28 total magnetic circles. Then, I took 14 of the circles I had cut out and I arranged them in the pattern that I wanted on the board. Then, I peeled the backing off of those 14 circles to reveal the adhesive, and stuck them directly onto the board. Like so:

At this point I pulled out the colorful foam pieces with adhesive backing to start creating the “monthly” plaques. Depending on the season, you might want to make them in colors that reflect it – maybe January is done in complimentary shades of blue, December is red and green, etc. I chose yellow and orange for the month of June because it reminds me of summer and sunshine!

These are so simple to make – cut out a smaller shape in a lighter shade, and then stick it on the full sheet, then cut a slightly larger frame around it. Stick some of your leftover magnetic pieces on the back.

Then using your Painter’s Marker, write the name of the month on the front. Voila!

Here is what it looks like with all of the magnets stuck on the board in place. You’ll notice the rectangular magnet at the bottom left of the board – that is where the current “Month” will go.

Then, go crazy with the remaining foam sheets – stick magnets to the back of them, cut circles around them, and then stick them to one of the other circles on the board. Do this until every spot is covered. Note – I did mine freehand but if I could do it again I would buy one of those large paper punches in a circular shape. These looked a bit more “rough” than I hoped, but I was sort of flying by the seat of my pants.

Then, I took a fine point Sharpie marker and wrote the name and the day of the month for all of our family birthdays in the month of June. If you don’t have enough birthdays to fill up the board, don’t worry – this looks just as cute with some filled and some blank! Just create a piece for every birthday in your family, and each month you simply change them out for those celebrating a birthday in the current month!

The finished product!

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post as a part of my role as one of the Walmart Moms. The idea for this craft and all opinions are 100% my own.