Make Your Own Calendars
There comes a time when you want to make your own calendars.
Wise words once said 'no matter how tall the mountain, it cannot block out the sun.
I'm sure this could be taken to mean that calendars can brighten everyone's day up!
But why create your own calendar?
Well for starters, calendars make excellent gift ideas for Christmas and terrific birthday presents too.
Children enjoy making calendars for school and even more for sports club fund raisers!
Why Make Your Own Calendars?
Bangkok 2011 calendar
On the other hand, what about a calendar to remind you of special places or events, or that special person?
And if you enjoy taking pictures, there's nothing quite as impressive as a photo calendar - with your own photos plastered all over it of course!
There really are so many different ways to make your own calendars.
I also created a step by step guide to making calendars which you can download free of charge.
There's other options to, such as my favourite, the excellent demotivating calendars from Despair.com!
Just choose a collection you like, such as under achievers or idiotic insights and then pick a design (such as 'blame' or 'insanity') for each month!
Blame The Under Achievers
You'll LOVE it! In fact, I like that site so much that I put one of their calendars on this page! (See the bottom of the page).
A 'homemade' way to make your own calendars
Get Others To Make Calendars For You
Snapfish calendar selection
Design and create your own calendar from Snapfish See examples above.
Around $13 for a 1 page A3 calendar with your own photo on it, includes post and packing (airmail) worldwide!
Or Make Calendars With Cafepress
Cafepress offer high-quality monthly calendars as wall calendars with both small and large sizes available. Perfect for work or home, each comes with 100 percent satisfaction guarantee and most calendars ship within one business day. You can also make a calendar with photos, your designs, promotions or advertisements.
Cafepress gives you a bit more freedom to make calendars in more styles you want. To use Cafepress, sign up for free then add your photos, and mail the calendar to yourself or a friend (or put on eBay!)
All In One Calendar Kits
Sometimes you're not in the mood to make your own calendars. In that case, you could use an all in one calendar kit such as the examples below.
Make calendars kit
These kits are pretty resourceful and particularly good for children to learn with.
Each month features a space for children to draw their own pictures.
Children will also love personalizing this calendar and kicking off the year in a big way!
The bottom picture is also a calendar kit but slightly different. It's actually a magnetic calendar.
If you've never seen a magnetic calendar before here's what they say:
Our entertaining, magnetic activities feature the innovative combination of magnets and wood, are incredibly low priced and are designed to bring endless hours of fun!
Click here to find out more about these calendar kits
Simple Ways To Make Your Own Calendars
If you're in a mad hurry and want the fastest way possible to make a nice looking, free wall calendar then check out PrintPicnic.com.
Terrific wire bound mini desktop calendar
You can print a groovy 12 page calendar complete with beautiful beach scenes and holidays pre-filled in.
The calendar template pages show you where to use a hole punch to hang your calendar, if you're big into wall calendars.
The images are beautiful. January page features a shot of the soothing and peaceful beach of Gulf Shores Alabama.
February displays an incredible sunset over Little Lagoon beach and March brings you a serene picnic at Orange Beach, Alabama.
Groovy Beach Scene Calendars
April of course brings you up close with a speed boat plowing its way through the Intercoastal Canal!
Black bordered wall calendar
May's page takes you high in the air for a panoramic vista of the lush green plateau of Gulf State Park. The June page shows you views of Perdido Keys, and July shows you the white sand at Gulf Shores.
The calendar pages themselves are designed nicely with cute, colorful clip art images highlighting days of interest.
In February, there is a solid pink heart residing in the square labeled 14, and on the 24th day, there are Mardi Gras Masks.
I'm sure you get the idea how this calendar works. It's got to be the easiest calendar to make anywhere!
But That's Not All
That calendar is called Beach Scenes Calendar of course. You can also try visiting PrintFree.com to print free amazing calendars featuring absolutely wonderful images of flowers. The calendar pages are ready to print, but customizable if needed.
The two websites just mentioned require no software installs or need to hunt for images. You will need a printer though. You can enhance the quality of your calendar by using quality paper in your printer.
Try not to touch the pages until the ink has dried. And to make your calendar more professional, pick up a spiral binder from a stationery store.
Make your search keywords 'free printable calendars' and you will have a slew of choices. Also try visiting Hersheys.com/ecalendar/ and click on the 'I want a calendar' button! The Hershey will give you a calendar in PC flavour or Mac flavour.
I prefer Mac, but that's just me.
Making Calendars Using Calendar Software
There's a few different ways to make calendars if you want to use calendar software. Use either Smartdraw calendar software or Art Plus Calendar Designer. Both offer free trials or a LITE version so you can try them first.
Smartdraw Calendar Creator
Smartdraw Calendar Maker
The Smartdraw calendar creator software starts at around $200 or so from Amazon and is compatible with Windows XP and Vista.
Art Plus Calendar Designer
The Art Plus Calendar Designer is a different kettle of fish to the Smartdraw software, at least in terms of pricing.
You can try the Art Plus LITE version with an unlimited trial period that never expires. However you can only create calendars using the images from their site.
Purchasing the PRO version (at $34.95) is another option and gives additional functionality, plus you can use your own illustrations and images!
Please note: Art Plus Runs on Windows 95 / 98 / Me / 2000 / NT / XP / Vista
A de-motivational calendar from Despair Inc
