Need outside the box list generator idea

[thewishman]

Trying to create shopping list from a craft project recipe. Sounds kinds weird, but I can't figure out this one.

The project I'm working on with my daughter - a homeschool lesson plan to be emailed to subscribers - is baffling me.

Each week we have several craft projects and each one requires different items, but many are used more than once.

Is there a program or app that we could use to type in the "recipe" and generate a shopping list?

For example:

Project 1
1 white posterboard
acrylic paints
10 cotton balls
2 googly eyes


Project 2
2 black construction paper
4 craft sticks
5 Q-tips
2 googly eyes

Project 3
4 craft sticks
6 cotton balls
4 glue dots

Is there a way to set up an input form that would spit out a shopping list:

Project#___Items to purchase
1, 2_______ 4 googly eyes
1_________1 white posterboard
2, 4_______8 craft sticks
1, 3_______16 cotton balls

 

[CREID]

If you new how to use Excel, you could do that. If you don't it would be a great and fun thing to learn.
Curt

 

[thewishman]

I found a free online course for Excel. The first unit had 25 lessons of about 8 minutes each. There were 16 units...

I started using spreadsheets with Lotus 123 back in the 80s. I can still figure most basic things out, but setting up the formulae and making it look decent are beyond me in Excel.

Add to that, I have 2003, daughter has 2010, just downloaded Excel for ipad and none of them look anywhere near the same. Feeling like Rip Van Winkle here. What happened to my new four color monitor? It was such a nice upgrade from the green.

 

[CREID]

I found a free online course for Excel. The first unit had 25 lessons of about 8 minutes each. There were 16 units...

I started using spreadsheets with Lotus 123 back in the 80s. I can still figure most basic things out, but setting up the formulae and making it look decent are beyond me in Excel.

Add to that, I have 2003, daughter has 2010, just downloaded Excel for ipad and none of them look anywhere near the same. Feeling like Rip Van Winkle here. What happened to my new four color monitor? It was such a nice upgrade from the green.

Your old spreadsheets are gone, thankfully. Don't be afraid of Excel, it has only gotten easier. I don't know about your area but here anyone who can get a library card can take free online courses. I took the Excel ones a couple years ago as a refresher and for the fun of it.I taught myself Excel back in the early 90's and trust me, it is a whole lot easier now than it was then. And there is an infinite amount of help online, probably a youtube video for most anything you want to do, you just have to go and find it.
Curt

 

[BradG]

Chris
All of the recipes can be typed up on Excel, and then insert a Pivot table, setting the data source covering the range of ingredients you typed.

The pivot table will tally up the ingredients for you. If you need a hand with that, drop me a PM and il create one for you and email it.

or are you looking for a more polished product rather than just an excel spreadsheet? depends on who will be using it... just yourself or others ...

 

[TellicoTurning]

Excel is a good program, but when my 12 year old Dell crashed a couple of years back, I lost my Excel program... I've since added Open Office and the spread sheet works almost like Excel... some of the functions are in a different place, but process seems to be same.

I actually miss the Lotus program... In late 80's or early 90's I wrote my entire tariff in Lotus...nearly 80 to 100 pages, complete with master sheets, links sheets that I could change a rate in the master and it would change multiples rates over multiple pages.... wish I remembered how to do that now.

 

[thewishman]

Thank you all for your help and offers of help, here and by PM!

It is SO nice to be blessed with friends that know things. It doesn't matter what I ask at the IAP, someone always responds with the information I need.

 

[TonyL]

I am an Excel expert. PM me with a phone number, and we can talk it through over the weekend. I will write it for you (free, no trades, I don't want a thing, nor will I accept a thing). You just need Excel and the ideas. There is an app called Got Milk that may help you. I don't do much grocery shop; I think my wife uses it it.
Happy to help.