{calendar girl}

I used to be a devoted planner owner.  I shamelessly bought packs and packs of new, colorful pens anytime I went to the store.  I was a color-coding, date tracking, write everything down freak of nature.  Since quitting my job as a teacher to become a stay at home mom, I rarely find that I need an actual planner to write things down anymore.  I don’t have meetings to remember, papers to grade, parents to email, or detentions to supervise.  I’ve traded in my paper and pen planner for a smart phone calendar and a small notebook that I keep on me at all times to jot something down if I need to remember it for later.

Recently however, I came across a fun project via Pinterest and Michelle Lea Design.  You can check out her calendar here.  She even has a link for free printables for each month of 2012!

To get started on my version, I gathered all the supplies needed from around my house!  Luckily I had it all on hand and didn’t have to run to the store!

Items Needed

• 5×7 frame (color of your choice)
• spray paint (if you don’t like the color of the frame you’ve got)
• scrapbook paper (a couple 12×12 sheets work the best)
• glue dots
• paper cutter
• colored cardstock to mount your calendar
• printed calendars (free printable here)

To get started, I began by spray painting my frame from black to an olive green color that goes better with my kitchen decor (the future home of my new calendar).  I used Krylon Indoor/Outdoor spray paint in Hosta Leaf.  

While my frame dried outside, and my dogs tried to do their business on it :(, I got busy measuring my scrapbook paper to fit in the 5×7 frame.  I simply traced the glass of the frame onto the back of the scrapbook paper and used my paper cutter to ensure a straight edge.

Once all the scrapbook paper was cut to a 5×7 size, I measured out a 3×5 size for all of the individual calendars, and a 3.2×5.2 size for the cardstock that will become the mount for the calendar.

After everything was cut and my frame had dried, I was ready to assemble!  This was the best and quickest part!  Now you can absolutely have a frame made for each month, but I was trying to maintain my $0 project total and opted to simply change out the backgrounds and reassemble the frame each month.  This is a great way to save money on the project and should only take a few minutes each month!

To make the calendar part pop out a little bit from the frame, Michelle Lea Design suggests using pop dots.  I did not want to have to go to the store (again, wanting to stay at $0 for the cost of the project), so I just folded a piece of cardstock a few times and used a glue dot to adhere it to the glass of the frame.  Then I put another one on the visible part of the fold to attach the calendar piece.  It’s definitely nothing fancy, but it works and helps the calendar pop out a bit.

The last step is to attach your calendar (already mounted on the cardstock of your choosing).  And, finally, the finished project!

As mentioned above, this project cost $0!  Now, I realize that at one time I purchased all the items that I used to create the calendar frame, BUT when I finally got around to using all these materials, I already had them on hand.  Therefore, I’m calling this my $0 project of the week!  I do know that most items when purchased were bought with a 40% off coupon to either Michael’s or Hobby Lobby, so I’m sure that overall it probably didn’t cost more than $15.  By the way, don’t EVER go to Michael’s or Hobby Lobby without a coupon. You can find them in the Sunday paper or online any day of the week.  Michael’s even allows you to simply bring the coupon up on your smart phone and they scan it right from your phone, no printing required!

My calendar’s new home will be the desk area in our kitchen, however, the desk is in huge need of a mini-makeover!  I plan to share more on the makeover next week, so check back then to see my calendar’s new digs!

What do you think you could make for your home for $0 today?  I’d love to hear some new ideas!