Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

| By | | 181 Comments

Making A Homemade Calendar (Free Printable Included)

It’s (already!) the beginning of February so it’s about time we actually got our act together and replaced our still-pitifully-displaying-December calendar in the kitchen. And this year John actually wanted to DIY one. Isn’t he industrious? His big calendar concept: to pick out a bunch of our favorite “inside joke” quotes and slap them on top of a long skinny white numbered page so we’d get a little private chuckle every time we checked out the date or penciled in an appointment. Cute huh?

He actually said it was going to be a secret V-day present for me but since February 14th is a few weeks off (and we both felt like bigtime slackers every time we looked at the expired oh-nine calendar) he shared his idea so we could do it together on the last weekend of January. And thanks to it already practically being February, we only needed eleven quotes and we were able to quickly whip up a simple little calendar template in Photoshop (we just adjusted the dates and the hues along with the quote to get all of the months churned out in under an hour).

Calendar 3 Samples

And the good news is that you probably don’t need a fancy program like Photoshop or Illustrator to make one yourself. You might be able to create something sweet and simple in Powerpoint or even Microsoft Word. Oh and the font is called League Gothic and we got it for free from this site that How About Orange suggested. Easy, peasy.

Then we just printed each page out on regular sheets of 8.5 x 11″ cardstock that we had on hand (100 lb weight, which you can grab at Office Max or Staples and run through any regular inkjet printer). We were sure to include thin gray lines so we knew where to cut them to create nice long strips out of the previously-standard-sized page. Burger served as my inspiration as I cut them all out in front of the TV…

Calendar Cutting Burger

Then we just popped a hole in the top of each of ’em so we could slip them onto the small wire 3M Command hook that we have in the kitchen as our designated calendar hanging device (it’s 100% removable so it won’t damage our side-of-the-fridge built-in if we ever want to move it or take it down).

Calendar Cut Out

So here’s our 100% free homemade calendar hanging proudly in the kitchen. We love how customized it feels and how much it makes us smile whenever we read each personalized phrase that we thoughtfully chose to represent each month. For example, we often tell Burger “no biting, just kisses” when he does those little no-pressure puppy nibbles that wouldn’t hurt a fly. As soon as we utter the phrase we get hand licks instead of fake bites. So cute. And of course we designated that as the February quote since V-day is all about kisses, and I guess it’s sort of anti-biting (since that’s hardly the sweet thing to do to those you love).

Calendar Hanging Kitchen

Everything from random song lyrics that crack us up to our short (but oh so memorable) wedding vows made the calendar- and of course that one was slapped on July since that’s our anniversary month.

Calendar DIY Hanging Detail

It was a simple project but it was surprisingly fun to put together. Like a walk down memory lane that we get to rewalk every time we glance at the kitchen calendar. And you can’t beat the zero dollar price tag. So what about you guys? Do you order calendars with custom family photos from places like Kodak and Flickr? Do you buy them for 50% off after Christmas at bookstores or boutiques? Or do you use your iPhone or your computer so much that a paper calendar is virtually useless? Spill the what-date-is-it beans.

Update: Thanks to a slew of very kind (and unexpected) requests, we’ve created a free zipped template of our calendar that you can download and customize with your very own quotes for each month. Please note that you must have Photoshop to open the PSD and edit the type layers (or use a free open source like GIMP). You also may need to download the font that we used right here (it’s also free). Oh and each month is a different layer, so remember to hide and show each one to print every month’s page. We hope it helps! Who knew so many others still needed a 2010 calendar?!

Comments

  1. Lauren says

    SO cute! I really wish you guys would do more photoshop tutorials! You’re so good at it, its DIY, and photoshop is intimidating to newbies like me!

    Reply

  2. Afton says

    Excited for the calendar and to print it off to hang in my little office (well I transformed a closet into my office) thanks for your amazing blog I love reading it.

    Reply

  3. Leigh says

    I’m with Lauren! You guys should do some tutorials on photoshop. I’m just starting out and I find it intimidating and confusing. Even the dummies book isn’t much of a help. Maybe I need an extra special dummies version. :)

    Reply

  4. jbhat says

    You Youngsters are so stinkin’ cute, I can’t stand it. That calendar and the love that went into it is adorably adorable.

    Reply

  7. Bethany G. says

    LOL, I love this! Especially the fact that one quote is “I do what I want.” My hubs and I say that to each other in a Southpark homage, and we giggle every time!

    Reply

  11. Tracy says

    I made a calendar using the Apple iPhoto template this year. Each month has pictures of our baby, Otis (a cutie patootie puggle). I grouped them by month/theme: all the silly costumes we’ve put her in are in October (yes, it’s a girl dog named Otis and no we haven’t seen the movie) and all the pictures of her on our sailboat are in the summer, as well as all of her in her cute argyle sweater in the snow are in the winter months. You get the idea….. I also made my mom one last year for a Mother’s Day present (so she could gaze upon her grandpuppy anytime she wanted — it was a big hit).

    Reply

  14. K (BarkingBabyMama) says

    We made our own calendar this year too! I just took some 12×12 distressed scrapbook paper and distressed it further with ink, drew on the calendar grid, attached it with a huge binder clip, and added a little “flair” with a round dangly tag with 2010 on it! Fun, and free (since I already had the paper!)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yup! The Photoshop file that we created has little gray rules on each side of the calendar (which we created as a guide so that all the pages would be nice and long once we snipped a few inches off each side). Hope it helps!

      xo,
      s

  16. Nicole says

    Just made the calendar with my husband and we’re in love with it. Now I’ll have a little bit of YHL in my kitchen. Thank you!

    p.s. You should add this little project to your shop, it’s just too cute!

    Reply

  17. Kristin says

    Hi Youngsters,

    as so many readers wanted the psd file to make a calendar of their own, I would really like to know how it looks in other people’s homes – maybe you could call for photos of the calendars re-styled in different places and make a blog-post about them? I don’t know how many people would actually send you a photo, but I think this would really be interesting. Seeing one item in a slightly different way in different rooms always inspires me.

    Reply

  18. Kristin says

    Sorry for the “double comment”, but as I do not have photoshop I just tried something out and found out that your calendar template works just fine with GIMP, which is free and open source. Maybe other users are interested in this as well.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Thanks so much for the tip! It definitely helps.

      And we love your request for photos of our little quote calendar hanging in other people’s homes! Send those along everyone if you can!

      xo,
      s

  23. Christina says

    Very cute idea, I love it! Not sure if you were aware or not, but it looks as though you forgot the title of the month for May!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oops- you’re right! After tons of people have downloaded and printed it (both here and on our Facebook page) you’re the first to notice! Fortunately it’s an easy fix to drop in the word “May” when you’re editing the quote up top. So sorry for the oversight though!

      xo,
      s

  24. Olivia says

    LOVE the calendar idea…so cute. I always put off replacing last years calendar too. I was going to order a new one online, but after reading this I might just make my own!

    Reply

  25. Jenni says

    Awesome idea! Thanks for letting us all copy it! I finally got around to making our own calendar–before I had a chance to open the PDF, I told my husband that we needed to use part of the lines from Tracy Jordan’s novelty party song “Werewolf Bar-Mitzvah” for October’s page . . . that’s the most quoted line in our house!! Glad you guys appreciate it as well ;*)

    Reply

  26. Laura says

    Hey guys! LOVE the calendar! I’m trying to make one of my own but I’m not sure even how to get started. I’ve downloaded GIMP but not sure where to go from here. Could you help?

    Thanks!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hey Laura,

      If you’ve downloaded gimp then you can download our PSD (which we linked to in the bottom of the post). Then just open our downloaded calendar in GIMP and hide and show each month so you can alter the quote on the top of each page and print them all out separately. Hope it helps!

      xo,
      s

  27. Megan says

    What I cute idea! I made one for my husband as part of his present and he just loved it! Thanks again for the cute idea (and the template…that really saved the day!)
    ~Megan

    Reply

  28. Misty says

    I love you guys!

    However, I am pretty comp savvy, and I am completely unable to download the required apps to get this calendar. I spent more than an hour on it…so I do believe I will give up on this now…

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hey Misty,

      Oh no! It seems as if a bunch of other people were able get it to print theirs out so maybe it’s just something glitchy with your computer or your operating system? Either way we’re so sorry you’re having trouble. Did you try opening it in Photoshop (if you have it) or downloading a free open source like GIMP (which we linked to at the end of the post)? You also might need to download the font so your computer recognizes it (which we linked to at the end of the post as well). Then the last thing to do is just turn on each layer so you can print each page (otherwise you’ll only see one month and wonder where the rest of them are). Anyway, you probably tried all that already, just wanted to toss out that info in case it helps!

      xo,
      s

  29. Misty says

    You are so sweet. I actually re-started my computer and got almost everything to work out. I just love this idea so much!

    I am not familiar with gimp at all, so I am learning this one step at a time. I have a pretty dumb question though, lol. How do I change your quotes to my own? Thanks again.

    P.S. My 9 year old son who is a very “boy’s boy”, often will sit with me at the end of a day and look at your blog. It’s so sweet.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Wahoo! So glad you got it to work. You should be able to change the quotes by clicking on the text that you want to change (note: you may have to click on the cursor- or whatever the type tool is in GIMP first) and then it should be editable. Hope it helps!

      xo,
      s

  30. Misty says

    Thank you so much for your help Sherry. I have to admit, it was weird for me to get a response from you. I felt like I was speaking directly to a celebrity! lol

    I really apologize for my incessent neediness right now, but I am having the worst trouble trying to change the quotes. If anyone has any ideas, I would love some help. I am trying to make this as a surprise for my son with all the quirky little family sayings we have.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Aw thanks Misty- you’re making me blush over here. And I’m so sorry you’re still having an issue with the quotes. Here’s hoping someone who successfully printed their own calendar will drop in with some advice for ya. Anyone out there who’d care to help? Please chime in!

      xo,
      s

  31. Misty says

    Thanks Sherry. I hope I can get some kind of help. I spent all morning getting the materials to make this, lol. I would hate to have to give up on it. But I seriously feel as thought I may hurl the comp through the window, so I may have to!

    Reply

  32. Sarah says

    Adorable idea! I have zero experience with any photoshop program and just downloaded gimp. I plan to begin making my way through the tutorials and learn to get around the program. Do you guys plan on creating a 2011 version? If so, I’d love to piggy back and tackle my first little project -modifying your 2010 version is way beyond my pay grade :)

    Reply

  33. Alicia says

    I love this idea! I’ve been scouring your website for tons of DIY ideas for the townhouse my fiance and I are moving into next week when we relocate from Massachusetts to Virginia. As far as this little craft goes, I had to laugh when I saw “You look like a rabbit” because he and I quote that (from SNL) all the time to each other. Thanks for all of your helpful guides and tutorials – I can’t wait to start putting them to use!

    Reply

  35. Kendra Randall says

    Using your DIY calendar in photoshop but having a little trouble moving the numbers around for 2011. Are those a locked layer or can they be moved around? I usually do okay with CS3 but am wondering if maybe the “dates” layer is locked in. Help??? YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME! My husband and I are coming up with our own sayings – our December is def going to be “My finger has a heartbeat.” ala ELF. :]

    Reply

  37. susan says

    We use the free school district calendar and the free calendar from our town. Yep, we are a 2 calendar fridge. When Clara goes to school you might add an extra calendar too:) susan

    Reply

  38. kristin says

    whoa! i haven’t heard of this site before today (via a flash-forward post that flashed BACK to this one) — in LOVE! league gothic?!! yes, please!

    Reply

  41. Lindsey says

    Sherry,

    I absolutely love this! In fact I love everything on your site. Even though I will not have a house of my own for quite a while (In the military and still living in the dorms) I cannot wait to actually have my own house and to get to do so many projects like this! You guys truly bring out originality in a home. Thanks!

    Reply

  42. AndreaH says

    I just found your site and I can’t stop reading it!!! At work!!! How can I change the dates to make a calendar for next year? Am I little ahead of the game? Perhaps! But I am itching for a cute calendar for my “command center” and this seems perfect. I’m actually talking about the 2011 calendar, but the PSD files seem to have the same makeup. How do you edit the dates? Thanks!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I think if you follow the directions to get an editable version you can change them in Photoshop? Not sure how you can do it if you don’t have Photoshop though. Good luck!

      xo,
      s

  44. Casey Daniel says

    Question. How on earth do you use that Gimp thing? I don’t know even know where to begin. I love the idea and would love to use it, but Gimp is stumping me.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hi Casey,

      Sorry we can’t really offer much help on Gimp. We’ve never used it, but included it as an option since many readers recommended it and thought they’d like to use it. Maybe google around for “how to use gimp” or try to find a tutorial on their site? Good luck!

      -John

Stuff We Love

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *