Calendars make excellent gifts for family and friends since the New Year begins directly after the festive holidays are over. You could buy a calendar from the stores, but a much nicer (and more personal) option is to make your own. Most people love to receive gifts that show the person has put a lot of thought into it and a calendar does exactly that, so have a go at making your own this year. If you make a few, you have Christmas all sewn up across the board.
Take Some Photos
The age of digital photos means you can easily create calendars or even a Christmas advent calendar. There are lots of photo printing websites with the facility for creating personalised calendars in a variety of different designs. Choose from large calendars to desktop calendars or even web-based ones. All you need to do is take a selection of different images and the photo website will do the rest. Parents with children may wish to take a selection of portraits of their kids, but pets and other personal images are just as good. You can even take pictures of landscapes or something artistic.
Family Portraits
If you have a decent printer at home and you prefer to make your own calendar layout, it is pretty easy to make a simple calendar. Have a family photo shoot and choose the best family portrait for your calendar. Print out the photo and mount it on to a piece of cardboard and decorate it as you wish. Next, buy a small calendar insert (these are readily available online or from stationers) and stick it to your completed design.
Get the Kids Involved
Kids like to be involved in creative pursuits, so if calendar making is on your list of things to do this Christmas, let them help you. You could assign each child with the task of painting or decorating a festive image. Let them have fun with the paints and glitter and see what kind of pictures they create. Use the best ones for your calendar and stick a calendar insert to the bottom. The grandparents will love the end result and you won’t have to buy them anything else.
Babies and Toddlers
Babies and toddlers are not much good at painting (although they are great at making a huge mess if you give them free rein with a paintbrush and some paints), but you can let them get involved in a different kind of way. Hand or footprints make lovely images for calendars. They are also nice to keep for posterity. Daub some paint on to a baby’s foot and press it down on to a sheet of white paper. If you do the same with his hands you will have a great image to use on a calendar. For best results, laminate the image as this will protect it from damage.
Everyone loves a calendar for Christmas, so if you enjoy being creative, have a go at making at making a festive calendar at the same time as you make some Christmas decorations and baubles.
Nancy Baker loves to write about arts, crafts and Christmas. She often doesn’t have much time to make her own calendars, however sites like christmasallyear.com.au have some great options available.
