Making a reusable calendar- A cautionary tale for crafters

Hello there,

Today I have faced what I can only call a tragedy in my life, so I will do something I do not normally do. I shall tell you a story. Here goes:

Once there was a fair maiden who lived in a faraway land. One day she decided to partake in the novel idea of making a whiteboard calendar. She prepared it lovingly, using the local tradition of 'washi tape', and by the end of this task she was very pleased with her work. Carefully she carried it over to the laminator, and put it in gently. But then, with a horrible roaring and slashing, the little calendar was cut into threads. For this was no laminator, but instead, a shredder. The little maiden cried her eyes out, but there was no more she could do. The calendar she had cherished was damaged beyond repair.

That my friends, is the true story of what happened to me this morning. So unfortunately there is no end picture in this tutorial, however I will put one in as soon as I make another calendar. Here is a picture of the last stage I got to anyway, so it should give you some idea of what it will look like:

You will need:

- A laminator (make sure it is one first)

- A laminating pouch

- A sheet of paper

- Pens

- Washi tape

- A ruler

Steps:

1) Collect your equipment, then turn on your laminator, so it will be heated by the time you need to use it.

2) Draw put a grid on the page, five columns high and seven rows across. For an a4 sheet of paper, my boxes were 3cm x 3.5cm. Put strips of thin washi tape along the lines inside, to mark out the boxes.

3) Write 1- 31 in the boxes, like in a normal calendar. Put a strip of tape across the top of the grid, and draw a line on it where each box begins. Each month work out what day of the week the first is on then write that day on the first section of the tape. Write the rest of the days of the week on the tape chronologically from there. 

4) Then put a rectangle made of tape at the top of the page. I cut each piece of tape in half width-ways for this, so the box will be big enough. This will be to write the name of each month in. I also made an 'important dates' section next to this, so I can see what is coming up at a glance.

5) (I have no picture of this step, as you will understand if you have read above) Put your calendar in the laminating pouch so no paper is poking out the edges, then gently slide it into the machine. It will do most of the moving of the paper, so don't push it, as that could cause wrinkles in the calendar. Once it comes out the end, gently tug it free, then wait for it to cool before using your new calendar. Please use only whiteboard pens with it.

By Annie