Hybrid Project ~ Perpetual Calendar

Friday, July 13, 2012

Happy Friday everyone!  This is Kim here today to share with you a little hybrid project I’ve been working on with my children.  You see, my oldest son is heading to Kindergarten when school starts again, and his preschool teachers have done such a great job of getting him excited about it.  He loves school and anything involving learning and I am definitely one to encourage a love of learning.  So when he saw that a friend of his had a “school” calendar at home, he decided he needed one for his own room.  He actually created his own calendar with construction paper and markers – it was too cute!  But… it wasn’t quite as functional as he had hoped!  It was then and there that I promised him we would make one together this summer.  Which brings us to this hybrid project post today!  Here is our creation.

I wanted to keep this project as simple as possible, as I knew I would have some not-so-patient helpers!  And the first thing I needed was a blank calendar grid that could be used to build each month.  Instead of trying to create one from scratch, I used a page from an SP two-page calendar.  (Note that the two-page calendars have a top and bottom page, but I used only the bottom for this project.)  I made only a few modifications to it.  One was to add a place for the day’s weather (because this was a big deal to my son).  I also tweaked the design to make it into a 14″ x 11″ size.  I wanted to do this so my calendar would be just a little bit bigger and print out as a standard size photo.  Since I was going to frame this calendar, I wanted a standard size so I could find a frame.  I printed the calendar at a photo lab, and it was ready for my project.  And wasn’t this SP design perfect for my project?

The next thing I needed to do was create the squares that would be put on the calendar each month for the numbers, special dates, and weather.  I wanted to be able to print these at a photo lab too, so I made 6″ x 4″ files to print.  I realize that if you were going to print these at home, this wouldn’t be necessary.  But here is what I did.  To be sure the squares I designed were the right size, I opened up the calendar base and drew a square shape in one of the calendar squares.

Then I copied this square into my 6″ x 4″ file that I would later print.  This made sure the size of my squares would be right.

I repeated the same process to make the month names.  I was able to fit 4 months on a 7″ x 5″ image.  So what I sent to the lab to print were 6″ x 4″ files with the number squares and 7″ x 5″ files with the month names.

Not only did I create numbers, but I made a list of all the special dates I wanted to have a special square for (birthdays, holidays, the list would be different for each family).  I also made the weather squares that my son requested and I left a few squares blank in case I wanted to write in something that came up later.  SP has a lot of great elements in her kits that helped me design these squares, and I will give all the credits when I post this project to the gallery.  Here is a sampling of my squares.

Once I had designed and printed the calendar, squares, and names, the rest was pretty easy to put together.  This was the part the kids enjoyed the most too!

The supplies I used were:

• My printed 14″ x 11″ blank calendar
• A frame for the calendar (with glass)
• My printed calendar squares and month names
• Paper cutter (or scissors)
• Laminating machine and laminating pages (if you don’t have a machine available, they do make self-sealing laminating pages)
• Velcro circles (mine came with adhesive on the back).  You will need enough for all of the month names and squares you are making, so count them up before you go to purchase the velcro.

This is how to put the calendar together:

• Frame the blank calendar.
• Cut out all the squares and month names and laminate them.  A tip if you haven’t done much laminating: It’s best to cut out each piece, then laminate them separately, then cut them out again.  If you laminate the whole sheet of squares together, then cut them out, you don’t leave a rim of the laminating sheet around each piece to hold it together firmly.
• Attach one side of the velcro to the blank calendar in the places you will want to attach month names and squares.  I debated on whether I would leave the glass in the frame or not at this point.  I decided to leave the glass in and adhere the velcro directly to the glass.  I was afraid that if I left the calendar in the frame without the glass, the repeated process of taking the squares off the calendar (by not-so-gentle hands) would eventually rip the calendar.  With the glass there, I avoid that problem.
• Attach the other side of the velcro to the backs of the month names and squares.
• Get started using the calendar by putting the squares on for your first month!

That’s it!  Pretty simple, but something that is a big hit at my house.  My son doesn’t actually put the whole month on the calendar at once.  Each day he adds the square for that day and changes the weather.  I think this is how they did the calendar at preschool.  I have enjoyed watching him… he is quite proud of his calendar!

I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing our little project too.  Have a great weekend and stop back by the blog on Monday as Casharina reveals our next Layout of the Week!  Bye!

KimHybrid Projects, Uncategorized 6 Comments