How to Design Your Own Desk Calendar

Your finished desk calendar will display one month at a time.

Creating a desk calendar with rubber stamps and colorful markers is one way to share your artistic talent with family and friends. You can turn your imagination loose and, following one basic pattern, design twelve different pages that work individually to brighten a desk or office space. If you let the kids help, making a desk calendar can become an educational experience.

Things You'll Need

• Card stock, 100-lb. weight
• Clear acrylic slim jewel CD case
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Rubber stamps
• Markers
• Ink pads

Instructions

1. Open the CD case and bend the cover of the case back to a 45-degree angle with the back of the case. Flip the case over and turn it vertically so that the part of the case in which a CD would fit is lying flat on your desk.

2. Cut twelve pieces of card stock measuring 4-3/4 inches by 5 inches.

3. Using the ruler and a pencil, draw four horizontal lines one inch apart, dividing the vertical length into five even sections. Add six evenly-spaced vertical lines approximately 9/16 of an inch apart to divide the width into seven even sections. Go over the pencil lines with a thin black marker.

4. Referring to another calendar, determine the weekday of the first day of the month. Sundays start calendars and will be in the box on the left side of the lined card-stock. Using a thick- or medium-point marker, fill in the appropriate boxes by writing the numeric dates of the month in them. Write the name of the month at the top of each piece of card stock.

5. Using rubber stamps, decorate the twelve pieces of card stock with images that represent the months.

6. Slide your calendar pages into the slots on the CD case. Depending on the size of the slots, you may only be able to place a few monthly pages in the upright case.

Tips & Warnings

• Use colors to represent the seasons: cold blues for winter months; warm reds and oranges for summer.

• Seasonal-themed stamp images can be incorporated within the calendar grid pattern.

• Use calligraphy pens to add titles to special days.

• If you've got elementary-age children, let them help with the numbering of the daily spaces. Let them decorate the pages they've done; with younger children, substitute crayons for markers and ink pads.

Resources

• Crafty Secrets