Timeless Calendar

Don't be fooled by the calendar. There are only as many days in the year as you make use of. ~Charles Richards

I used to buy calendars based on its aesthetics--cover and inside pages. Now I purchase them for practical reasons. I kept most of my old calendars because I liked the design thinking it can be reused for another year. I never did.

All the while, I didn't want to throw them out. They're quality-made. So, here's one solution I came up with: Use it as a photo book. Why not? It's so easy. Potpourri of photos I've received from friends over the years, insignificant but memorable pieces of paper, ie. ticket stubs, fortune from the cookie, stickers, etc., filled the pages of this 2000 Made In China desktop calendar.  I have another one, Hecho En Mexico, somewhere. Now if I can only find it. Here's a work in progress:

One of the reasons I chose this calendar was because of the vintage images and it's Chinese (my kids love looking at the old stuff--just so cool.) This project is an instant memory-jogger.  The kids on this page alone are all grown-up now. Youngest baby is now in high school. Can you believe that?

To start off, I just picked random photos that used to be in our bulletin board. There's no planning or designing needed for this so-simple project. I just cropped the image to fit in each page and glued them in. It's that easy.

Now, doesn't she fit in this page?

Totoro is one of our all-time favorite animation but I know my kids will grow out of it sooner or later.  And they sure did but when they see this toy tag, flashbacks are a-rollin'.

  

I met these 2 families (below) when I went on a short-term mission in France in '87. And guess what? We're still friends. We kept in touch via letters before emails and the Facebook era. Now we're all in FB! So fun to see/hear how their families are growing.

I cover inappropriate images (if any) & show the ones worth keeping on the calendar side. (See me with my short, red hair below?  Pretty rad, huh =.)

There you have it--a homemade coffee table book. You can be elaborate by adding ribbons, scrap paper, etc. to each page. But my motto is, "Keep it simple and useful."

Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom. ~Psalm 90:12