Last year we DIYed a calendar for our kitchen with a favorite quote for each month—an inside-joke kind of touch. You can view that project here.
Last time we moved slowly and didn’t finish until February, so this year we wanted to complete the project before our big move distracted us—just one week to go. We kept the same overall look: colorful typography on a clean white background. This year, though, instead of quotes and phrases we designed each month around a number that relates to our lives—think Sesame Street-style numerals.
Each month’s number ties to something meaningful to us. For example: one for our baby girl, two for the number of homes we’ll have called ours once we move, and three to represent the three NYC boroughs Sherry and I have each lived in—Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn, though not together.
Some months mark anniversaries we’ll celebrate this year: five years living in RVA (Richmond), and seven years since we first met. Those personal milestones gave each page extra meaning.
We followed the same layout as last year—bold words or numbers on top, the calendar grid on the bottom—and assembled everything in Photoshop. We used a free font called Matilde (recommended by a design blog) and printed each page on standard 8.5 x 11″ cardstock; trimming the edges makes the pages look more custom and finished.
As with last year’s project, we made the Photoshop file available if you want to customize it. You’ll need Photoshop and a basic familiarity with .PSD files to edit the text. If you want to preserve the original typeface, install the Matilde font into your Photoshop fonts folder before editing. The downloadable file includes all months as separate layers; when you open the file you’ll only see December because that’s the visible layer by default—simply show other months and hide the rest as needed.
If you don’t have Photoshop or prefer something simpler, you can recreate this look in Word or PowerPoint, or find an affordable handmade alternative from an online marketplace. The goal is a clean, personal calendar that looks polished without a lot of fuss.
Though 2011 may still be a few weeks away, we hung our new calendar on the same kitchen hook we’ve used for years—the 3M hook we added after our kitchen renovation—and gave it a quick test run. It’s easy to swap the page each month and the simple design keeps the calendar feeling fresh and modern.
Do you make your own calendars? Do you buy the same theme each year? For years Sherry received an angel-themed calendar every Christmas from her mom, but others prefer calendars filled with quotes, satire, or family photos. Or maybe you rely entirely on a smartphone and haven’t used a paper calendar in years. Whatever your preference, a DIY calendar can be a quick, personal project that looks great on the wall and helps mark the small moments that matter.