How to Create a Calender Using Microsoft Word or Excel

Calendars are funny things. You can spend a hundred dollars on a leather-bound, subdivided organizational tool to help you subdivide your year into 10-minute increments. Also, you can spend five bucks on a desktop pad calendar, or three on a pocket datebook. Or you can spend zero dollars by putting together a calendar using Microsoft Word or Excel. Excel can be faster, although decorating it is somewhat easier in Word.

Things You'll Need

• Computer
• Microsoft Office

Instructions

In Excel

1. Open the "Print Preview" tool, then access "Page Setup." Set up the page to landscape orientation with quarter-inch margins on each edge. By doing this in the "Print Preview" tool, it also sets Excel to show the borders of each page while you're working.

2. Format column width to fit seven to a page.

3. Format row one for 25-point text. Format row two for 16-point text. Format rows 3,4,5,6 and 7 to fill the rest of the page.

4. Merge the seven cells of row one into a single cell. Format the new cell for centered, bold text. Label it "January."

5. Set the cells of row 2 in bold, 16-point text. Label them Sunday through Saturday.

6. Format the cells in rows 3 through 7 in text to appear in the bottom right. Set at 20 point, bold. Set borders so each cell is bordered all around.

7. Starting in the top row, label the appropriate day for the first of January. Continue to label dates appropriately.

8. Create a total of 12 tabs within the Excel document. Copy and paste your work into each of these tabs.

9. Relabel the second tab for "February" and change dates as appropriate. Do the same for the rest of the months.

10. If you like, change the text or background color or appropriate cells to indicate holidays, birthdays and other special dates or events.

For Word

1. Open "Page Setup" and set the page for landscape orientation with 1/4-inch borders on all sides.

2. Center the top line of the page. Set text at 25 point bold. Type "January."

3. Click on "Insert" and "Table." Select a "Table" 7 cells wide by 6 cells high.

4. Stretch all but the top row of cells to double their original height.

5. Label the top row of cells for the days of the week, Sunday through Saturday. Use 16-point, bold type.

6. Format the remaining cells for 20-point, bold type appearing in the bottom right corner of the cell.

7. Label cells appropriately for the dates in January.

8. Insert a second page below the chart. Perform Steps 2 to 7 for February. Continue through the rest of the year.

9. Decorate your calendar as you feel appropriate.

Tips & Warnings

• There are many free calendar programs and graphics available online for free. Simply searching for and choosing one of these can be a time-saving alternative to building one in Microsoft Office.

• It's easy to lose count when numbering your dates on the calendar, which means all dates past that point will be off. Double and triple-check your dates against the calendar function in Windows.