ever wanted a mini calendar to stick on your wall or in a bullet journal? if you haven’t, you should definitely consider. calendars are really helpful to put dates in reality and help you plan ahead for the future. it’s also nice just to know what day of the week it is haha 🙂

here’s a quick mini tutorial on how to make your own adorable, aesthetic, mini calendar and a cute stand to go with it:

start by opening any program that allows you to access the fonts you want and to move around text. i’m using adobe illustrator, but pages, photoshop, word, etc. will also work just as well. create a new a4 or letter sized document.

divide your paper into four sections based on the size of your paper. this will be the approximate size of your calendar. i made empty rectangles 4 inches wide x 5 inches long, and duplicated them four times to make 4 even sized boxes. this isn’t necessary, but i wanted some guidelines for where i should place my text.

next, create a text box and type in the days of the week: S M T W T F S. you may have to play around with letter spacing depending on how far apart you want them. you can also create another text box and add in your name or brand to make your calendar look more professional (totally optional). i chose to do these two steps in a simple, sans serif font so that they were easily readable. now for the fun part! choose a decorative font (or leave empty space to hand letter later on) and type in the month names. i’m using my own script font Shoreline, which you can purchase here if you’d like. organize these text boxes to your liking, making sure to leave space above the header for a small design and to write in the days of the week. you could type in numbers, but i chose to handwrite because i thought it would be faster. if you use a thin pen, you can hardly tell the difference.

i was able to fit 4 monthly calendars onto a sheet of paper, so i duplicated this basic template and just changed the names of the month. the advantage to handwriting in the days is that you don’t have to account for the fact that each month starts on a different day of the week!

once you’re happy, print out your calendars. printer paper works, but if you have thicker cardstock, use that as it adds more stability. cut out each calendar.

now for the fun part! it’s time to decorate. go wild with your imagination and try to use materials you already have. i cut out pictures from magazines, used stickers, washi tape, and pens to decorate my calendars. the small size of these calendars is great because you only need one or two elements to fill up the space.

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once everything is to your liking, write in the days of the week, and you’re done! easy peasy 🙂

if you’re extra and you want to make a stand to go along with it, here’s how:

find a small box or something similar – i’m using a random jewelry box that i’ve saved. you’ll also need a blade and a binder clip. you can paint your box or cover it with paper; i decided to keep it neutral.

turn the box over so the flat side is facing up. position your binder clip upside-down in the centre and mark how far apart the “handles” are.

take your blade (scissors, craft knife, etc.) and cut small slits in the box.

wrestle your binder clip into the slits and let gravity do the rest! to use the stand, reach under the box, open the binder clip, and clip your calendar in!

easy to use, easy to switch calendars, and easy to customize. all using supplies found around the house!

thanks for reading, and good luck with your calendar making! please share your mini calendars with me on instagram if you do – i’d love to see them! 🙂