Angie asked me to share a super quick tutorial for how to make a mini flip calendar for 2010! The last day of 2009 is the perfect day to share, right? I created one for her featuring elephants of all shapes and sizes (see it below), and then she created one for a friend of hers featuring the romantic leading men of their favorite Jane Austen films (see it here).



This desk calendar is simple and easy to make. It makes a great gift. Here are some instructions:

1. Find a simple calendar template online. Here is the one I used, by Erica Hernandez. Gather some photos (I found mine on Etsy.com), and drag and drop them into the templates in Photoshop. Print them on matte or semi-gloss photo paper, or print the blank templates first and then add the photos. I printed three 3 x 6 calendar pages per 8.5 x 11 sheet of photo paper.

2. Cover the back of your calendar pages with cardstock or patterned papers. I adhered the calendar pages to some Basic Grey papers BEFORE trimming them. That saved time by combining the two steps of trimming both separately into one quick step of trimming both at the same time. (And it looks neater.)

3. Create front and back covers with chipboard covered in cardstock or patterned papers. My calendar pages are 3 x 6, so I used a 6 x 6 piece of chipboard and cut it in half.

4. Bind your calendar pages and covers with a Uni-bind or other binding machine. You can also use a hole-punch and binder rings, or a large binder clip.

5. Add some number stickers and embellishments to the front cover. Adhere some ribbon to the back cover and tie it in a knot around the front cover. This can also be used as a way to stand the calendar up on a desk. Just untie the knot in the front, flip the front cover over, and the tie the ribbon loosely backward around the front cover easel-style.