Perpetual Calendar by Jane Johnson

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Perpetual Calendar by Jane Johnson

Fancy a little project to make for your own desk or to give as a little gift?? Today I am going to show you how to make this perpetual desk calendar......

..... there are a lot of instructions but please don't be put off, I have taken lots of photos to make it as easy as possible for you to recreate one and it really isn't as complicated as it looks!

You will need:

Two pieces of cardstock measuring 6 1/2" x 5 1/2"
Three pieces of cardstock measuring 5 x 2 1/2"
One piece of cardstock measuring 12" x 3 1/2"
Flowers for decorating
Number die cuts (optional)
Whiff of Joy Spring Swirls stamp set

Romanic Swirls die and Leaves die from Whiff of Joy

Take a piece of cardstock 6 1/2" x 5 1/2" and score as shown in the picture above with the short side at the top of your score board.

Turn the card so that the long edge is at the top of the score board and score as shown in the picture above.

Cut away the marked sections with scissors or a craft knife. (Sorry about this dreadful night time photo, I had to make my tutorial in stages!)

You should then be left with this shape. You now need to cut away the portions shown on the above photo. NOTE! you are not removing the whole scored squares, mark approx 1/2 " as shown to create some tabs.

This is what you should now have. Snip away the corners as marked to create neat tabs.

You can now fold all the creases and glue all tabs inside the box to create a cube. NOTE if you wish to decorate the cubes with stamping you will need to do this before you glue together.

Your finished cube! Now follow the above steps again to make a second cube.

Here are the finished cubes. I have added die cut numbers using a Tim Holtz die but you can also stamp or write them on (before glueing them into cubes though). You need to be very specific which numbers to put on each cube for the calendar to work.

First Cube should have on it: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Second Cube should have on it: 6, 7, 8, 0, 1, 2

NOTE: when using the calendar the number 6 is also used upside down to create number 9!

Now to make the month blocks. Take a piece of card 5" x 2 1/2" and score as shown above with the long edge at the top of your scoreboard.

Turn the card so that the short edge is at the top of your score board and score as shown in the picture above.

On each of the four long panels of each piece write the months of the year. Cut away the marked squares with scissors or a craft knife.

Snip the corners of the tab sections as shown in the picture above to create neat tabs. If you wish to decorate the blocks with stamping you will need to do this before glueing together.

Fold and glue together in the same manner as the cubes to create rectangular blocks as shown above. You will need to make three blocks.

Now to make the stand. Take a 12" x 3 1/2" piece of cardstock and stamp the spring swirl stamp around the edges on both sides. You can also ink the edges at this stage too.

Fold the 1", 2 3/4" and 3 1/4" creases as shown and glue the 1" tab you've created to the base with the edge meeting the 6" crease line.

Fold the remaining creases as shown to start creating the back of the stand.

Glue the tab to the fold of the base tab as shown in the picture to create the back of the stand.

Now it is time to decorate!! I have added lots of flowers to hide the holes at the sides of the stand. I have also used leaves cut with Whiff of Joy's leaves die and swirls cut with Whiff of Joy's romantic swirls die.

TIP! To add flowers, apply silicone glue to the base and sides of the inside as shown and glue the wires of the flowers into it.

Here is the finished calendar!! They're great for children too as they help with learning the date and number recognition - my little boy is 6 and already loves changing the date on it! It could be decorated with the grass die and pennants die and buttons for a child instead of the flowers and swirls! (I just need to make the coloured blocks I have planned for mine shown below).