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DIY: Calendars

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So, here we are just days into 2012: a fresh year, a fresh month, a fresh start. What better way to start off the year than with a brand spankin’ new calendar? I mean, sure, there’s an app for that (there’s an app for bloody everything) but that’s not any fun. A few years back, I turned a blank Miss Van notebook into a weekly calendar, complete with collaged art pages and scrapped photos of numbers for the days. Took me for-freaking-ever, but I liked it so much and was so proud of it, that I kept it.

See?

Anyhow, if you need a better way to keep track of your days, consider some of the following! Back in April, we covered photo wall calendars and if you liked that, or if you’ve got a sweet Instagram account, you should try your hand at the Instagram calendar.

You’ll obviously need to start off with printed images of your photos, which you will adhere to plain poster board, as well as printed or scavenged calendar pages (which you will also adhere to plain poster board). You can decorate the poster board however you like (you won’t be staring at it most of the time anyhow), then just punch holes and thread through with yarn. If you’re looking for something a bit larger, try gluing your photos to small envelopes and labeling with the numbers of each month. You can add magnetic tape to the backs of the envelopes to make them easy to hang on a fridge. Then just add paper notes to each date as a reminder.

If you don’t want to use photos, it’s pretty easy to substitute paint chips (again, measure, label, glue), or Post-It’s (create a frame and stick ‘em right up!), or even magnets (add magnetic backings to DIY buttons, or paint over found magnets).

Speaking of paint, a pretty straightforward option is to use chalkboard paint and chalk to draw your own calendar – either on a huge chunk of wall, or in small shapes for each day.

If you prefer paper, find a font you like, print out a small calendar, glue it to a pretty piece of wrapping paper or other backing paper and mount on a clipboard. There’s a simpler, plainer version that uses printed calendar pages and tabbed months as well. There’s also a super cute index card/journal version as well – just cut photo tabs and index cards to fit a box and stack them in! Now all you need to do is fill in your calendar with all your swanky social invites.

Images courtesy me, abeautifulmess.typepad.com, heythingschange.com, lifehacker.com, jennarosejournal.blogspot.com (featured image courtesy behance.net)

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Amber Bouman - Crafty & Cashless

Amber Bouman - Crafty & Cashless

A freelance writer, blogger and poet based in San Francisco, Amber has written for PC World, InfoWorld, and the 16th & Mission Review. She has performed at City Hall, Litquake, the Brainwash, 16th & Mission, BlueSix, and SFSU among other places. Amber is also consummate fan of swearing, organizational freak, yoga practitioner, music geek, caffeine addict, and tattoo enthusiast who enjoys platform shoes, making out, thumb wrestling and fighting the good fight. She owns a bicycle named Gretel, a motor scooter named Elroy and a cat named Simon. She can be found in various virtual locations all over your interwebs.