15 Creative Calendar Crafts
Updated on September 18, 2018
Now that fall has started and the kids have gone back to school, have you been bitten by the organizational bug that often makes people start obsessively planning and scheduling their lives out around this time of year? Well, we know we certainly have! Each year, without fail, fall and the start of school semesters and back to work time makes us feel the need to control the chaos by getting all our details, commitments, and deadlines as sorted as possible. Being the avid crafters we are, of course, we naturally always want to put a creative spin on that process however and whenever we can! We’re sure it’ll come as no surprise to you, then, to learn that we often spend the beginning of fall making ourselves cool, DIY calendars that we can use for the rest of the year until things slow down a little bit again. That’s why we’re always pleased to see, when we look online, that there are so many different ways to make awesome, crafty calendars of our own!
Just in case you’re just as intrigued as we were, if not more, by the idea of making your very own fall calendar to keep yourself organized in this busy season, here are 15 of the very best ideas, designs, and tutorials for that kind of thing that we’ve come across so far.
1. Ombre tag calendars
Are you actually the kind of person who keeps all of your commitments and appointments in your phone or on the electronic calendar on your work laptop but you love to make sure you can tell what date it is in several places, rather than just on your smartphone screen? Then here’s a nice, simple, and easily changed idea that will keep you up to date each morning! Check out how Anna Bode made this pretty ombre day changer from paper tags and small hooks mounted in a wooden box frame.
2. DIY clipboard calendar
Are you intent on making yourself a simple calendar but you’d prefer to use things you already have around the office or at home? In that case, we think you might have some luck making yourself something like this easy printable clipboard calendar featured on Freedom Shabbat! Simply remove each page as the months end to reveal the next month underneath. Use the printable calendar pages they provide you in the tutorial or design and print some of your own.
3. Folded paper heart framed calendar
Are you still thinking about how much you loved the idea of making yourself a simple day tracking calendar that just lets you look up quickly for a reminder of what day of the month it ism but you can’t help thinking you might prefer something a little more decorative? Then we think you might get a kick out of the way iCreative Ideas made this lovely framed heart calendar using some of their simple paper folding skills!
4. DIY Instagram string calendar
Are you an avid social media user who loves posting pictures of your pets and scrolling through them to keep track of your memories and loved ones? Then we have a feeling you’ll get a real trick out of the way A Beautiful Mess turned their own Instagram feed into a little desk calendar using their printer and some string! We know we’d fill ours with pictures of our cat and show them off to the office when each new picture pops up each month.
5. Hanging bucket advent calendar
If you’re going to go to the trouble of making an entire calendar from scratch, would you rather make it one that’s a little more unique, exciting, or interactive? Well, you’ve probably heard of advent calendars around Christmas time, but we actually have fun with them all year round, using them to count down to just about any special day our family has in a month, like birthdays and graduations! One of our favourite ways to make an advent calendar happen is by putting together a little branch and bucket setup just like Little Scandinavian shows you how to do here.
6. Dry erase photo frame and paint chip calendar
Did you love the idea of framing your calendar like we talked about before but you’d rather make a version that’s just a little bit more functional than the one we showed you above? In that case, we have a feeling you might get a kick out of the way DIY Projects for Teens created this awesome framed dry erase calendar, using fun coloured squares of card to mark the different days. Wipe the glass clean at the end of each month and renumber the days for the next one!
7. Chalkboard paint wall calendar
Are you actually so committed to organization that you’d rather make a slightly more permanent calendar that you can use over and over again? In that case, we think you just might be the perfect person to give this painted chalkboard wall calendar a try! Jen Woodhouse shows you how to paint one wall with chalk friendly paint and then paint on the outline of a calendar that you can customize with sticks of chalk for each month. Simply wipe the numbers off when the month changes, just like you saw in the dry erase idea we showed you earlier on the list!
8. DIY acrylic wipe-away calendar
Are you actually a big fan of quite a number of the ideas you’ve seen so far on our list but you’re having trouble choosing between them because there’s elements in each one you’d like to use? Well, who said you have to choose between them? Instead, maybe you’d like to combine them instead! The Country Chic Cottage shows you how to meld the more permanent wall calendar idea with the dry erase concept by making this calendar from a large piece of acrylic mounted on the wall.
9. DIY miniature desktop calendar
Were you a huge fan of the idea of making a little calendar that could sit on your desk at work but you’d prefer to see the whole month at once rather than just what day it is that morning? In that case, we’d definitely suggest taking a look at how Lawnfawn made this adorable miniature desk calendar that features a set background with tear-off sheets in a contrasting colour. We love how customizable this idea is!
10. Paint chip and pin board calendar
Would you rather make yourself a customizable calendar that works with things you’ve already got in your home and helps you upcycle something you’re not using anymore? In that case, we have a feeling you might find this simple paint chip and pin board idea featured step by step on Feed Puzzle quite appealing indeed! We actually used this idea in our kids’ play room, above the desks where they colour, in order to help them learn about months, weeks, days, and dates.
11. Chalkboard paint scroll calendar
Is the idea you’ve loved the most so far out of everything on the list absolutely the chalkboard idea, but you’re just not sure that you’re quite committed enough to the idea that you want to paint it directly onto your wall so that it’s permanent? Then maybe you’d prefer to make this slightly more temporary version featured step by step on Seamless Days! They show you how to paint and design a fabric scroll as a chalkboard calendar instead.
12. Muffin tin advent calendar
Were you actually a huge fan of the advent calendar idea we showed you earlier on our list but you’re just not sure that something as large and intricate as the branch and bucket design we outlined there is quite for you? Then maybe you’d prefer something simpler and based in upcycling instead! Personally, we love the way Calendars painted an old muffin tin, turned it on its side to fill each cup with goodies, and covered them all with pieces of card bearing the dates of each day.
13. Framed coat hook dry erase calendar
Are you actually pretty set on making yourself a framed dry erase calendar but you think you’d rather go all out and really make a stand out piece if you’re going to put in all that effort? Then we’d absolutely suggest taking a look at how My Crafting Box made this more dramatically framed calendar that is actually also a shelf! We love the way they fastened some simple hooks along the bottom to hang coats, bags, and keys on, making this a great piece to put in the hallway where everyone can see what their family members are up to each day.
14. Vintage metal stencil monthly chalkboard calendar
Are you actually still quite into the idea of making yourself a chalkboard calendar that you can customize each month and wipe away at the end, but you’re also a total aesthetic lover who would really like to take the idea further and make it a little more of a fully decorative piece? Then we have a feeling you’ll actually get a real kick out of the way Lovely Etc made these old fashioned looked vintage metal stencil letters for each month, making the whole calendar look like something you might have found in a one room school back in the day.
15. Rustic chic daily numbers calendar
Have you actually been scrolling through our list thinking about how the very first idea we showed you, where you’ll just change the numbers of the days each morning until you reset for the next month… but you’d rather create something a little more visibly hand crafted looking, since that’s your favourite type of decor? In that case, we have a feeling you might actually prefer the way Princess Pinky Girl took a piece of wood, splashed it with some colour, and added a mini chalkboard strip to bear the month and some binder clips to hold the numbers!
Have you made other kinds of DIY calendars in past years that you loved using all year long but that you don’t see anything quite similar to here on our list? Tell us all about what you made or link us to photos of your finished work in the comments section!