Magnetic Perpetual Calendar

Design Crush hosted their annual Calendar Swap again this year and I decided to participate. I've been wanting to make a Magnetic Perpetual Calendar for a looong time. I've been seeing different versions all over Pinterest lately and decided that making one for my calendar swapmate was an opportunity that couldn't be passed. I was very excited with how it turned out and I can't wait to make more in the future! I just hope that it arrived at my swapmate's door all safe and sound and it can be enjoyed year after year.

If you would like to make your own you will need the following materials:

~ Picture frame, with glass (I used 8x10)

~ Glass stone magnetic numbers or any other kind of magnetic number (click here to see how I made mine)  

~ A sheet of metal that will fit inside the frame (tin snips if you need to cut it to size)

~Paper to go over the metal, that will be the background

~ Grid tape to create the boxes

~ A calendar kit (can be found in the scrap booking section of any craft store)  

~ Ruler & sciccors 

~ Dry erase markers 


I was lucky enough to find a frame that had squares on it as part of the design. That helped me determine that enough squares could be made for the calendar and was a great guide for making the squares. Make sure you choose a frame that has glass instead of plastic. That way your calendar is not only magnetic but it can be written on with dry erase markers. It's helpful to have magnetic numbers of some sort so that you don't have to write the numbers each month. You can use any size frame, I plan to make another one that's much bigger. 

Once I had my frame the next step was finding piece of metal that would fit. My husband had some random pieces lying around that just needed to be trimmed a little bit with tin snips. Try looking at a hardware store or see if you can find an old metal sign that's thin enough and the right size.







Now that all the pieces are figured out you're going to want to choose a piece of paper that will provide a good background year around. I'm not known for being able to draw straight lines even when I have a ruler.  So I created the calendar boxes using grid tape. It can be found at office supply stores and is often used for making grids on whiteboards. I mapped out with a pencil about where the lines would go. Thin ribbon would also work and of course you could draw the lines with a marker. I was worried about bleeding and messing up though. The grid tape made it fast and easy.

Once I had my calendar lines drawn I added the days of the week at the top. I used stickers that I got in the calendar kit. They could just as easily be printed off the computer or hand written. The calendar kit is also where I got the months from. I just thought it would be easier then printing and cutting everything out. I'm also not a big fan of my handwriting.








Next I cleaned the glass and put the paper in, then added the metal and put the backing to the frame on. Next I placed the magnetic numbers and the month. I created a little envelope that I attached to the back of the frame to house all the extra months.

Last but not least I attached a small loop of ribbon to the sides with hot glue for the dry erase markers. This calendar can hang out on a desk or be hung on the wall.  It's so versatile because it's magnetic and can be written on with the dry erase markers. I hope you're inspired to try making your own!









Below I made my very first video so that you could get a good visual for how the calendar works. Pictures can only do so much. I used my iPad to shoot the movie and edited with the iMovie app. This was my first time making a movie so don't be too hard on me.