How To: DIY Erasable Calendar

I bet you'll never guess what the weather is here.  What?   How'd you know that it's over 100 degrees and hotter than Hades?  You must have ESP.  *sigh*  Next week will be a repeat and more of the same.  I'm starting to feel like I'm in that movie Groundhog Day.  You know...the one where Bill Murray wakes up and it's the same day every day?  Yep, I'm starting to go a little stir crazy. 

Today, I thought I would give my idle mind something to do rather than watch the boob tube.  I've been on an organization kick and have been wanting to setup an organization center in the kitchen.  One thing that bugs is me is that we don't have a way to keep track of all the stuff we want to do:  concerts, auctions, tons of local festivals, birthdays, etc.

I've seen some other craft bloggers do different versions of framed glass calendars and thought that was a neat idea. 

How To Repurpose A Picture Frame Into An
Eraseable Calendar

Supplies:

• Picture Frame -  I purchased a cheap black frame on sale for 50% off.  It would have been better if I could have repurposed an old frame, but I don't have any and I didn't feel like braving the heat to check the thrift stores of garage sales.  (Did I mention that it's hot?)
• Desk calendar - if you don't have one of these, you'll have to use a ruler to layout the calendar grid manually
• Sharpie or other permanent marker
• Clear sticker paper for your printer (for printing the days of the week)
• Background of your choice - fabric, wallpaper, scrapbooking paper, wrapping paper, etc.
• Dry-erase marker - fine point works better for writing appointments on the calendar

Instructions:

1. The idea behind this "erasable" calendar is that you draw the calendar grid on the inside of the glass with a permanent marker (a.k.a. Sharpie).  That's where having the desktop calendar comes in handy.  Put the glass on top of the calendar and then trace the lines (using a ruler, of course).
2. If you screw up or the line isn't straight, use nail polish to remove the marker and start again.  It comes off easily with the polish but you otherwise have to really scrape to get it off.
3. I decided to print the days of the week on some Avery clear sticker paper, cut them out and adhere them to the inside of the glass.  This paper is available at any craft store.  Make sure you get the correct paper for your printer, as it is available for both laserjet and inkjet.  Also, if you are going to do this, keep in mind that you have to print the days of the week backward.  I used the text function in Paint to type in the days, then selected them all and used the "rotate" function to turn them backwards.  Pretty easy!
4. Put the glass back in the frame.  You might want to make sure you don't have any fingerprints on the glass.
5. Cut your background fabric or paper andplace it in the frame.
6. Reassemble the frame.
7. Use a dry-erase marker to fill in the dates and your appointments on the front of the glass.  When it's time to change months, just wipe the glass clean and start all over!

I think the fun part of this is the opportunity to be creative with the background.  My kitchen is sponged with Ralph Lauren black, metallic silver, metallic bronze, and metallic blue\silver.  (Sounds crazy, I know, but everyone LOVES it.  If you want to see something scary, paint your kitchen with a base coat of black! )

But I digress.  I found this large damark fabric that I fell in love with and it was perfect:

I wasn't happy with the way the days of the week stood out.  That Avery label paper isn't completely clear.  So I decided to try a lighter wrapping paper that we already had in the closet.

Ding!  I think we have  winner.  It will be easier to read the calendar with this lighter background.  And the labels for the days don't stand out so much.

And, finally, I thought I would have some fun with this.  How about a background made out of those leftover paint sample cards from Home Depot or Lowes?  These are Martha Stewart metallic paint cards that I've cut into 2" squares and taped together.  I'm not sure I like it with the fabric, but you get the idea.  Think of all the colors you could mix together!

As I'm typing this, I've got a couple more ideas.  How about using vinyl letters on the outside of the glass and taping off the grid for the calendar?  Then you could use glass etch to permanently etch the calendar.  It would be permanent, though, so the frame wouldn't be reusable unless you bought new glass.  With my method, it's easy to turn it back into a picture frame.

Well, I would have hung this in the kitchen where it belongs but my handyman is snoring on the sofa right now.  So I can't even put it up myself or the hammering will wake him up.  Drat!

If you make your own variation of this calendar or have some creative ideas on how to improve it, I'd love to hear about it.  Leave me a comment or drop me an email!

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