Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Happy Birthday Calendar

My first DIY project that I thought could be useful was a home-made calendar to keep track of birthdays throughout the year. Most of us tend to forget dates (I am guilty of this!) and this is a creative and CHEAP way to keep track of them. It can be used every year and you can also add to it when new friends and family come into your life :)


(Here is my finished product)

This is the link to the original idea:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Paint-Swatch-Birthday-Calendar/

I did mine a little bit differently..

What I used:
Paint swatches
Glue
Tape
Scissors
Posterboard
Sharpies
Stickers
(The only thing that I bought from this list was the posterboard! It was 30 cents at Wal-Mart)

The first thing I did was pick up 12 paint swatches at Wal-Mart (one for each month). I tried to pick my colors in relation to that particular month, but you can choose whichever fits how you want your calendar to be. I cut and layered my colors (there are 7 on each swatch) and glued them together to form a horizontal line. I did this for all 12 months.

To spell out the months on the swatches, I used stickers that I already had around the house but you can either use paint like the website or you can free hand them if you're a good artist.

Next I glued the swatches on the posterboard (4 across, 3 down).

I then outlined the swatches and border with black sharpie to make the calendar look more organized. You can decorate however you would like. To fill in the dates, I just wrote the day of the month and the person's name, but on the website she used pages out of a planner. You can do either.

This calendar cost me a total of 30 cents! All I needed to purchase was the posterboard. If you bought a calendar, it would cost you around 10 dollars, maybe more depending on what type you got. If you have some free time, this is a great way to make sure you don't forget anyone's special day :)

Until next time,
-G

6 comments:

  1. Love the idea, Hannah has wanted to do something like this for herself. This idea will be lots of fun for her. So glad you showed me...

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  2. I think your calendar is fabulous ! You should make Michael and I one for a wedding gift so that he doesn't forget the important dates !

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  3. Super idea gina. Great idea for organization. Kids could help as well!

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  4. This is AWESOME! So creative and different.

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  5. Great idea! I can't wait to have my kids do this, especially for a rainy day project. Besides, who doesn't love to save a few bucks?

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  6. I've been looking for some new craft ideas - this is great. Thanks for sharing!!

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