Making your own calendar is a fun craft project for children and adults alike. Your calendar can be as basic or as professional looking as you please - made with simple paper and glue, or with online templates and computer programs. Calendars make great personalized gifts for parents, teachers and friends - for Christmas or all year round. Use one of the following methods to get started on yours today!
Make a Monthly Calendar
1Take an A4 sheet of white or colored card. Card is sturdier than paper and will make your calendar more durable.
2Use a ruler to draw seven vertical columns and five horizontal rows. Do this on twelve separate sheets of card - one for each month.
- Make sure that all of the rows and columns are equally spaced and that none of the lines are crooked.
- Use a pencil first time round, then you can go over the pencil lines with a permanent marker once you're sure that the lines are straight and evenly spaced.
3Write in the months. At the top of each sheet of card, write the name of one of the twelve months of the year - January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December. Do them in large writing with colored pens, pencils, or markers.
- Make sure you spell the months correctly and give them all a capital letter.
4Write in the days of the week. At the top of each vertical column, fill in the names of the days of the week, Monday through Sunday.
5Fill in the dates. Fill in the dates of every month, writing the number into the top right-hand corner of each individual box. Use last years calendar to find out what day to start on - for example, if the last day of December was on a Wednesday, then the first day of January will be on a Thursday.
- Make sure you write in the correct number of days for each month, as different months have a different number of days.
- To remember how many days there are in each month, use this helpful rhyme: Thirty days has September, April, June and November. All the rest have thirty-one, excepting February alone, and that has twenty-eight days clear, and twenty-nine in each leap year.
6Decorate your calendar. Decorate each page of your calendar any way you like. Use colored pens, pencils, markers, and/or crayons. Stickers, sequins and glitter glue are also good. Use your imagination!
7Mark important dates. Mark out all the most important dates of the year on your calendar - days like your birthday, Christmas, the first day of school, etc. A cool way to do this is to cut out pictures relating to every special day and glue them onto the correct date.
- For example, if it's your sister's birthday on May 6th, cut out a photograph of her face and stick it to that date.
- Use a picture of a Christmas tree to mark December 25th, a cartoon of a witch or ghost for Halloween, and a picture of a fluffy bunny to represent Easter.
8Hang your calendar. Punch two holes at the top of each piece of card, making sure the holes are perfectly lined up. Take a long piece of string, twine or wool and tie each end through one set of holes to make a hanger for your calendar.
- Hang the calendar on a hook or a nail in your bedroom, kitchen, classroom, or wherever you like!
- Don't forget to mark an "X" on each day as it passes!
Make a Day Calendar
1Cut out squares of paper measuring 4" x 4". You will need 365 of them, so try to cut several sheets together to speed up the process. If you have a paper cutter, this would definitely be helpful! If you don't have a paper cutter, cut a piece of cardboard to these dimensions and use it as a guide. Place it on top of several sheets of paper and cut around it with scissors.
2Punch two holes at the top of each page to hang the calendar. Do a few pages at a time. Every time you do a new stack of paper, remember to use a piece of paper you punched previously to make sure the holes are perfectly aligned. If the holes are not all in exactly the same place, your calendar will look messy.
3Tie the pages of the calendar together. Thread two pieces of wire or string through the punched holes on either side of the squares of paper. Tie each piece of wire or string with a firm knot which will be able to support the calendar once you hang it.
4Add in all of the dates. Starting with January 1st, write each date on the bottom right-hand corner of each page. Use a fluorescent marker to highlight important dates. This will allow you to flick through the calendar quickly to find important dates. Remember to add in an extra date for February 29th if it's a leap year!
5Decorate your calendar. You can decorate your calendar using colored pens and markers or by adding cut out pictures or stickers to each page. Try looking at calendars in stores for inspiration. Remember, this calendar is yours to decorate as you please, so use your imagination!
Make a Photo Calendar
1Use a website that offers custom photo calendars. There are many sites on the internet which offer an empty calendar template to which you can upload your own personal photographs. All you need to do is pick your calendar template (there are often many to choose from), upload your chosen photographs, and assign each photograph to a particular month. This is a great option if you want a personalized calendar with a polished, professional-looking finish.
- Some sites give you the option of printing out each page of the calendar and putting it together yourself, while others will have it professionally printed and bound and delivered right to your door.
- If you are printing the calendar yourself, some sites will charge a small fee for the use of their templates, while others offer them for free. If you are having your photo calendar printed and delivered by the company, you can expect to pay between $15 and $30.
- Websites such as Shutterfly, Snapfish, and Lulu all offer an extensive range of options.
2Make a simple photo calendar with a calendar pad. You can make a simple arts and crafts calendar using a calendar pad - a small yearly calendar that you can buy in most craft stores or online. To make this calendar:
- Simply take a piece of colored card, turn it so it is facing vertically, and glue your chosen picture at the top, using a glue stick.
- Then attach the calendar pad to the bottom, also using the glue stick.
- You can then decorate any available space on the card with drawings, sequins, feathers, glitter, etc.
- This a great, easy crafts project for younger children.
Other Types of Calendars
1Make a fabric calendar. A fabric calendar is a good option for people who are handy with a sewing machine. You can make it as small or as large as you like, and use hand-stitches to create delicate patterns and borders. The finished product will make a pretty wall hanging which you can admire all year long!
2Make a scrapbook calendar. A scrapbook calendar serves a double purpose as you can use it to mark important upcoming events, as well as using it as a keepsake to remind you of good times gone by. Use each page for a separate date and stick in photographs, used concert and cinema tickets, candy wrappers, locks of hair - anything that you want to remember!
3Make a Roman calendar. This project allows you to turn an ordinary calendar into a Roman-style one, marking all the Roman feast days and festivals. Great for history fanatics!
4Make a fictional calendar. Making a fictional calendar is a fun project, as you can choose what to call the days and months of the year. You can also decide that there should be 14 days one month, 52 the next, and 17 months in the year! Be as imaginative as you like!
5Make a calendar using Microsoft Excel. If you have Microsoft Excel installed on your computer, you can use it to make a neat, well-organized calendar which you can customize and print out at home. Microsoft provides many free calendar templates which you can use to get started.
6Make a calendar using PowerPoint. PowerPoint is a great computer program, usually used for creating slideshows. However, it can also be used to make a printable calendar, to which you can add your own photos and mark special dates.
7Make an advent calendar. Advent calendars are a fun Christmas tradition enjoyed by children and adults everywhere. Each day of December a new flap is opened, revealing a little treat inside. You can easily make your own, hiding a little chocolate or loving message behind each cardboard flap. Advent calendars make an excellent Christmas craft project for kids.
- Make sure to mark as many important dates on your calendar as possible - that's what it's there for! Think of birthdays, vacation dates, holidays, doctor and dentist appointments, etc.
- You could also add famous or popular people's birthdays like One Direction, Ariana Grande, Leonardo DiCaprio, etc.
- Use a ruler when drawing the lines, so that the lines are straight.
- You can add a ribbon to the top of the calendar to hang it up.
- If you're planning a surprise party or a get-together and you want to keep it secret, don't put it on the family calendar, or where the person you are trying to surprise can see it!
Things You'll Need
- White or colored paper or card
- Hole puncher
- Pens and pencils
- Strings, twine, wool or wire
- Decorating materials (glitter, sequins, feathers, etc.)
Categories: Calendars Planners and Schedules
In other languages:
Español: hacer un calendario, Italiano: Creare un Calendario, Français: faire un calendrier, Português: Fazer um Calendário, 中文: 制作日历, Русский: изготовить календарь, Deutsch: Einen Kalender selber machen, Bahasa Indonesia: Membuat Kalender
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