Last year we DIYed a calendar for our kitchen complete with a favorite quote each month (you know, for a nice inside-joke vibe). You can check it out here.
But last time we were waaaaay slow and didn’t finish it ’til February. So in an effort to keep that from happening again this year, we decided to complete the project before our big move distracted us (in just one week and counting!).
We stuck with the same general look: colorful text on a clean white backdrop. But instead of meaningful words and funny phrases, we chose to do this one by the numbers. Sesame Street style if you will. Observe:
Basically we took each month’s numerical equivalent and related it to something personally meaningful to our lives. For example, we’ve got one baby girl, we will have called two houses home (once we’ve moved) and Sherry and I have each lived in three NYC boroughs: Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn (though never together).
Some months even mark “anniversaries” that we’ll be celebrating in 2011, like our fifth year of living in RVA (that’s what we Richmonders call our city to make it sound cooler). And in ’11 we’ll be hitting the seven year mark of knowing one another.
We basically followed the same design process as last year’s calendar (words on top, days on the bottom) and again we cobbled everything together in Photoshop. Oh and we used another free font suggested by How About Orange (this time it’s called Matilde) and just printed each page out on standard 8.5 x 11″ cardstock (it’s amazing how long and “custom” it looks when you cut off the sides).
Also like last year, we’ve got the Photoshop file available for download in case you’re interested in downloading it and editing it to create a version for yourself. Obviously you’ll need to have Photoshop and know your way around a .PSD file well enough to change the text to something that’s relevant to you. And you’ll have to download Matilde into your Photoshop fonts folder to edit the text without changing the typeface once you download the calendar HERE (if clicking doesn’t work, try right-clicking and select “save”). You also may want to try this link if the previous link didn’t work for you (again, try right-clicking and selecting “save” if a regular click doesn’t do the trick).
You’ll only see December when you download it because that’s the layer that’s showing (the rest of the months are hidden layers) so to edit and print each one, just “show” the one that you want and move from month to month. And to people without Photoshop (or without enough know how to get ‘er done even if you have access to it) we definitely think you can whip up something in Microsoft Word or even PowerPoint. Or try etsy for an affordable alternative that still has that homemade feeling.
Although 2011 may still be a few weeks away, we decided to take our new calendar for a test spin on our usual hook in the kitchen – the same 3M hook that we added when I gifted Sherry with the culinary-themed 2008 calendar that commemorated the completion of our kitchen reno. Oh the memories…
Speaking of calendars, do any of you ever DIY your own? Or buy the same theme each year? For about a decade in grade school Sherry’s mom gave her an angel themed calendar every year on Christmas morning. But maybe angels aren’t the chosen subject matter for you. Are you more into calendars with quotes from The Office? Or articles from The Onion? Perhaps you prefer photo calendars from Shutterfly or Snapfish? Or maybe you’re just too smart phone obsessed to even have a paper calendar anymore?
Nicole says
Love the calendar. I’m not Photoshop savvy but maybe I’ll DIY one in Word. Also wanted to tell you that I created a faux christmas present cord hider yesterday while decorating for Christmas and thought of you two. Thanks for the daily inspiration!!
urbanblonde says
Love, love love your calendar idea but HAVE to know about December’s 12 hours to Alaska!?
What on earth do you mean by 12 hours to Alaska!? Obviously it would take longer to drive there, and less to fly there!
YoungHouseLove says
It took us that long to get there by plane (thanks to layovers and all that). But it was so worth it!
xo,
s
Jenn Prather says
Does Family of Four in April mean yall are expecting????
YoungHouseLove says
No way! Burger is our son. He totally counts!
xo,
s
Jennifer S. says
I don’t use a paper calendar anymore, simply because my family has so many activities they wouldn’t all fit on one unless it was one of those giant wall calendars. So we use Google calendar and everyone can share it through their Google account. Works well for a family of 7.
Lindsay says
Oh poo… Elements won’t let me edit layer groups! Oh well! I suppose I can re-create on my own! Cute calendar!
Emily Dickson says
Where did you have your calendars printed?
YoungHouseLove says
We printed ours at home (they’re just 8.5 x 11 cardstock sheets that we cut the sides off of).
xo,
s
Down-sizingboomer says
Too cute. I am impressed you have time to do such adorable projects with your upcoming move. We’re helping our daugher and her new husband move in to their place and we are packing to move out of ours. Yikes!
leah says
We don’t even have a calendar out, ever! How crazy is that. We use our computers and phones for all of that sort of business. Altough it would be nice to have one around to look at. Very cute.
Rabbit says
Too funny–I use the EXACT same hooks for our wall calendar. Great minds think alike!
Katrina says
your calender project this year is so darling! I love how it means something special to your family!!
Sayard says
Hey guys, just wondering what kind of printer do you have? These printed beautifully, especially in color, we’ve had several printers and they all pretty much (excuse my language) suck! Even ones that people recommended to us.
Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
We have an HP Photosmart C4780. Love it.
xo,
s
Veronica says
Every Christmas my husband gives me a photo calendar that he makes on My Publisher. I think he started the first year that we were married (5 years ago). He usually puts events in each month that happened in that month over the last year so it’s always fun to reminisce when we see the old photos. We actually fight over who gets to flip the calendar each month! It’s smack dab in the middle of my fridge so that I can see it multiple times a day. I love your calendar idea too! Happy moving :)
Katie says
Thank you so much for sharing this! I’m going to make one for my husband for Christmas :)
Emily @ The Happy Home says
oooh, so cute! how much do you cut off the sides?
YoungHouseLove says
We created gray rules in our photoshop doc so we’d know where to cut. Our calendar is about 4.5″ wide, so we cut off approximately 2″ on each side.
xo,
s
K says
Everyone needs a calendar that represents his/her outlook on life….so it isn’t a new year at our house without a new Far Side calendar.
Deirdre says
I love the Shutterfly calendars. While they don’t have the super creative feel yours does, it is a great way to get more pictures out there to enjoy without having to find places for all those frames. And this year, they offered a FREE calendar if you spend $50 on their site which was easy enough with ordering my Christmas cards from them, and then a couple of pictures I finally got around to enlarging. What a great treat!
Samantha says
I LOVE this!! I am totes stealing it. (Well not *literally*) :) I don’t have photoshop so hopefully I can figure it out in another program!!! Thanks guys!!!
Kelly says
I do photography in addition to my full time job, and our parents are always commenting about the pictures I take. Though I mostly photograph people, I enjoy the nature scene too. This year, I made all of our parents and grandparents calendars using floral images I’ve taken over the past year. :)
Caroline @ The Feminist Housewife says
This is such a cute idea…I’m trying to think of my own numbers…haha.
I’m enjoying “counting down” to Christmas with a PB inspired advent calender that I just finished over the weekend. The holiday season is so much fun…maybe I should add a few more days so that it can count down the new year. Haha!
Also, good luck moving!!!
Julie at www.velvetandshag.com says
Creating your very own calendar is such a great idea! I’m feeling very inspired by it.
Rachel @ The Avid Appetite says
I loved this last year, and love it again this year!
Tricia says
during my three years in law school, we all lovingly referred to Richmond as the RIC :) congrats on your new home & good luck with the move!
Tegan M. says
Shutter Sisters (it’s a blog… I’m sure if you Google it, it will come up) does a free downloadable calendar similar to yours. Theirs fits in a CD case and you can put a picture in each month in Photoshop to customize. I use it each year to give calendars as party favors to our friends and family for my son’s birthday in January. Each month has a picture of him from the previous year in the same month. Fun :)
Samantha says
I used your 2010 psd calendar template for ours this year and it was fun :) I edited it with inside jokes/sayings between my husband and I. I am going to use your 2011 psd calendar again, but spend some time editing the font (a bit too whimsical for me). Thanks!
bex says
I made a scrapbook-style one for my sister-in-law last year (filled with pictures from her trip to Turkey with my brother). I would love to do another one like that, but for me this time! :) It was pretty simple, and didn’t take long at all. I might have to make one like this for my office at work, though.
Mandi says
Super cute! I DIY one every year out of fancy scrapbook paper and pictures from the last year (which coordinate with the month, so we usually have an “aww” moment when we flip to the new months and say “a year ago…”) and then just print out a plain calendar on white paper with fancy fonts for each month.
This year I’m actually giving my MIL one for a Christmas gift-when we last visited home her calendar was just so impersonal!
Sarah E. says
Woohoo! It worked with the different link!! (and no problems for me in elements!). Thanks for sharing even though you’re crazy busy with the move!
Dana L. says
I recently happened upon this free customizable (you pic 12 pictures/illustrations from about 30 options) and downloadable/printable 2011 calendar. It features some super cute owl-related drawings and is courtesy of the blog http://www.myowlbarn.com. It’s super easy to do, for any of your readers who may have trouble with your photoshop calendar, but want something they can put together quickly at home. Enjoy!
http://www.myowlbarn.com/p/owl-lover-2011-calendar.html
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for tossing out those alternative suggestions everyone!
xo,
s
The Peach Chablis says
This is a fabulous idea! Do you keep the calendars from year to year to remind yourself (or reflect back on) what you “celebrated” each month in the years before?
YoungHouseLove says
Yes! So far we’ll just have one (the one we made last year) to look back on, but hopefully we’ll make more and save them over the years.
xo,
s
Chelsea says
Wow, I love these home-made, customized calendars. It’s interesting how people use calendars differently. Some people simply use them as decoration and to mark the date & day of the week, and others make full use of theirs, establishing schedules and post-it noting all over…
As for my own calendar, I plan on buying one through my college. Each year my liberal arts school has an international photo contest, in which people can enter in their best photography from around the world. Then students vote for their favorites and the Top 12 photos get turned into a calendar. It’s gorgeous art, and with a small college, you know many of the stories/people behind the photos.
Jessica says
One of my favorite things about the new year is creating my new paper planner, and a few years back I also whipped up a perpetual calendar for my office that I’ve gotten a lot of use out of. I posted it to my site if anyone wants to have a calendar they can use “indefinitely”: http://www.thriveyourtribe.com/tyt/blog/free-printable-perpetual-calendar-for-you/
I love the way yours is long and skinny and so colorful (and am blown away that you found time to make it with the move!).
Melanie Beth says
“Or maybe you’re just too smart phone obsessed to even have a paper calendar anymore?” THIS. I can’t even remember the last time we had a REAL calendar, although I keep telling myself it would be so useful if I had one! I need to get on that.
Nancy Shirley says
I am just impressed you know what day it is and which way is UP with a move coming up in the next couple of weeks!
Beth S says
What a sweet idea! Love that you made it so personal. I might just download the file and see what we can come up with!
Katie S. says
Love the calendar idea, it’s super cute! I’m a nerd and digital scrapbook in PSE, so I take pics from my nieces throughout the previous year and make calendar toppers that I can put into iPhoto. Then I order a calendar from Apple for each of the grandparents and great-grandparents, and give them as Christmas gifts =)
Also, for anyone who uses Shutterfly (or really any other calendar service), you could do the same thing. Just create your scrapbook page in the size of your calendar and save it as a jpg file. Then you choose a 1-photo layout with no background and it will take up the entire “top” of the calendar page.
Anne says
Every year I make a photo calendar (from costco) for my grandmother. I fill it with family photos and it allows me to put everyone’s birthday’s on it so she doesn’t forget/miss anyone. She looks forward to it every year.
Jamie P. says
I love how this calendar can be personalized – such a great idea! My parents have been getting me a Mead laminated monthly wall calendar for Christmas for years – without it (and my trusty dry erase markers) my husband and I would be lost.
Katie says
You inspired me! I’ve been working on one for my husband since I read this post. Thanks for such a unique yet customizable idea. I love it!!
Suzanne says
Thanks for sharing…this might be what I give my husband for christmas…we are trying to spend very little on each other this year due to a major house renovation project!!!
Samantha @ Mama Notes says
What’s the 12 hours to Alaska one all about? I live there!
YoungHouseLove says
We honeymooned there, Samantha! We stayed in Anchorage most of the time, but drove south to Seward for a couple of days to see the beautiful scenery. Here’s some pics from our trip: https://www.younghouselove.com/2009/07/wedding-week-ii-honeymoonin-where-the-sun-dont-set/
-John
Shana says
I love the calendar! I use iCal for myself but, for the last four years, I have made my Mom a photo calendar using iPhoto. The photos are of our family taken during the prior year matched with quotes. I also include photos on the birthdays and anniversaries squares for the immediate family. She loves it. This year, I also made an iPhoto calendar for my son with photos of different methods of transportation we have used with the location of each. He is a transporation nut. Personalized calendars make wonderful gits.
Amanda says
That is so cute.
Alice says
You youngsters are so darn creative! I don’t think I have a creative bone in my body, therefore I use the freebie calendar my auto insurance company sends every year.
Jessica says
This week marked the 11th Hanukkah in a row I’ve received the Susan Wallace Barnes calendar from a family friend. One-month-at-a-time in a Lucite desk frame. I save them and occasionally cut off the date portion along the bottom and use the remainder as a notecard. Your 2011 creation is marvelous!
Tricia B. says
I loved this idea so much, I’m totally making my husband one of these for Christmas!
eileen marie says
I LOVE your DIY calendar. I might have hubs help me mock one up for my Secret Santa at work! Every year my in-laws gift us a Cocker Spaniel calendar for Christmas.
Adam says
I was trying to think of a good mini-project to do indoors since it looks like winter has closed down my un-heated shop for the season. Perhaps I will try my own calendar soon! My calendar of choice has to have room for writing appointments and such, but a creative one would look great beside my desk!
j says
my boyfriends mom gets us both calenders each year for christmas stuffers. (even though we live together and technically only need one)they’re always kind of lame so we don’t end up putting them up. family guy doesn’t really go with our decor and he doesn’t have the heart to tell his mom he hates that show.
Brittany says
If your interested in more free fonts, my professor in my photoshop class introduced me to http://www.Dafont.com. It had TONS of free fonts. Some are crazy, but they’re all fun.
Kaitlyn says
I was hoping you guys would do a 2011 calendar! Last year’s was a HIT! My bf thought it was really cute. Thanks John and Sherry!