Life is chaotic and crazy busy this year!  I already have 4 weddings to attend this year!  Although I have my digital calendar I was needing something that was more visual and near my desk as a reminder.  I went to Staples to buy a calendar and couldn’t believe what they were charging, anywhere from $8 to $25 for an 8.5 X 11 calendar.  I marched right out of there determined to make my own calendar.

I don’t usually do a step by step but I think for this one it will be a good idea.

STEP 1: Find a free calendar template online or via Microsoft Word.

STEP 2: Print out a yearly calendar.

STEP 3: Get your tools!  I used a piece of recycled leather, gold rivets, scissors, a rotary cutter, hole punch and a hammer.

 

STEP 4: Measure out the piece of leather, this is a personal style thing, I chose to measure it exactly to the paper and keep a bit of room at the top so the leather was a nice piece of the calendar. Use the rotary cutter to get a nice cut and scissors to trim the edges, sometimes you have a piece that is uneven or a bit of fuzz from the back

 

STEP 5: After your piece of leather is cut, you will need to measure out where you want the holes on the paper, punch them out and then measure the leather so the holes will align.  The rivets simply click together, but I always use the hammer to insure they stay put! Here’s the finished product.

 

STEP 6: When figuring out how to hang the calendar I didn’t want to simply hammer it into the wall, so I decided to cut a small piece of leather from the leftover pieces.  After I cut the small piece of leather, I measured where the middle was, punched a hole onto the calendar leather as well as the small piece for hanging.

 

STEP 7: Before I put it all together I punched out one hole near the top of the small piece of leather, this hole will allow the calendar to easily hand from a nail on the wall.

 

VOILA!  The finished project.  Cost $0, used materials I had on hand.

TIPS: I realize not everyone will have recycled leather in their craft materials, you can easily buy small pieces from a craft store or sewing store for a couple bucks.  If you don’t have a printer, use a friends or the library is free to use the computers and printing is really cheap!  Rivets can be found at any craft store, leather store or sewing store.

 

Affordable Calendar diy DIY Calendar Easy DIY Frugal Homemade Leather money saving Printing Recycled Simple Project Upcycled Upcycled Leather