Last year we created a DIY calendar for our kitchen that featured a favorite quote for each month — a little inside-joke touch that made it feel personal. If you missed it then, you can find that original project on our site.
This time around we didn’t want to repeat last year’s slow finish (we didn’t complete it until February), so we set out to finish the calendar before our upcoming move distracted us. With the move only a week away, it felt like the perfect deadline to keep the project focused and quick.
We kept the same clean aesthetic: bright, colorful text on a white background. Instead of using quotes and phrases this year, we decided to make the calendar number-driven — think Sesame Street meets our family life. Each month’s number is tied to something meaningful to us. For example, January represents our one little girl, February corresponds with the two houses we’ll have lived in once the move is complete, and March reflects the three New York boroughs Sherry and I have each lived in (Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn), though never together.
Other months mark anniversaries we’ll celebrate this year: one month highlights our fifth year living in Richmond (we locals affectionately call it RVA), and another celebrates seven years since we first met. Using numbers to represent personal milestones gives each page a simple, sentimental point of interest that’s easy to read at a glance.
We followed the same layout we used last year — a bold phrase or number on the top half and the month’s calendar grid on the bottom. Everything was assembled in Photoshop, and we used a free font suggested by a design blog; the typeface we selected this time is Matilde, which gives the pages a friendly, hand-set feel. Each calendar page was printed on standard 8.5 x 11″ cardstock, and trimming the sides creates a surprisingly polished, custom look.
If you’d like to make your own version, we’ve made the Photoshop PSD available for download. You’ll need Photoshop and a basic familiarity with editing .PSD files to change the text and personalize the months. To preserve the original look, install the Matilde font into your Photoshop fonts folder before editing. When you open the file you’ll see December visible by default — the other months are saved as hidden layers, so simply show the layer for the month you want to edit and print, then move to the next month.
For people without Photoshop or those who prefer simpler tools, you can recreate a similar calendar layout using Microsoft Word or PowerPoint. Both programs let you combine large typography with a basic calendar grid and print on cardstock. If you’d rather buy a ready-made but still handmade-feeling calendar, online marketplaces offer many affordable options from independent sellers.
Although the new year may still be a few weeks away, we hung our finished calendar on the same kitchen hook where we display seasonal calendars. It’s the same 3M hook we installed when I gifted Sherry a culinary-themed calendar a few years back to mark the end of our kitchen reno — small rituals like that make the space feel like home.
Do you make your own calendars, or do you stick with a favorite theme each year? Some people receive the same style as a gift for years; others prefer photo calendars from print services, humorous calendars, or quotes from favorite shows. And of course, some now rely entirely on smartphone calendars and skip paper calendars altogether. If you enjoy small DIY projects, making a personalized printable calendar is an easy, low-cost way to give your kitchen or office a custom touch while commemorating moments that matter to you.