7 creative things you can do with an old calendar

It's the New Year, and by now you've just bought your new calendar, bedecked with adorable photos of sleepy babies or kittens hiding in garden pots. But as you hover over the trash can or recycling bin with last year's calendar, you flip through the old pages and a tinge of nostalgia rushes over you, as the glossy images of cute animal babies stare at you, as if to say "Are you really going to throw me away? After all those days together?"

That's it. You're guilt-ridden. Or maybe you just don't want to throw away 12 large sheets of good-quality paper. You could recycle it, but maybe you like the photographs. Whatever your reasons, you've decided you want to keep the year-old calendar. But what would you do with it besides place it in your desk drawer and then forget about it? Well, here are at least 7 things you can do with your old calendar.

My mom used to do this when I was in grade school. We each got to pick out our favorite pictures from the old calendars, and she'd turn them into book covers for our textbooks. Book covers are super easy to make, and one calendar can spit out about six. An open calendar is the perfect length for a book cover, so just take out the staples and you won't have to worry about ripping pages. The actual making of the book cover is a lot like wrapping a present. Just make sure to only wrap the cover, not the whole book.

This one is really a no-brainer. Whether it's for an art project at school, or you're feeling bored, a collage is a good solution to both. Your typical calendar is going to have at least 12 large pictures in it. Use them.

What's more fun than solving a puzzle? Making a puzzle! This is a good craft for kids. Tear out the pages in the calendars and have your kids scribble jigsaw designs on the side with the days. When they finish, cut out the pieces and turn them over. To reinforce the pieces so they don't bend, glue the page picture side up to a piece of cardboard before adding the jigsaw designs. Puzzles are as difficult as you want them to be. You can have either 12 individual puzzles or create one huge puzzle. It'll definitely keep the kids entertained on a rainy day.

A lot of calendars contain some really good artwork. Whether it's photography or painted, it's usually of some merit. After all, it has to keep your interest for a minimum of 28 days. So why not capitalize on it? Take out your paper and pencil and use your calendar images as a reference, either by drawing free-hand or tracing.

I actually did this. This project is a super-cure for boredom as it not only passes the time away, but it creates something beautiful in the process. And what does this process entail? Folding 400 strips of paper into triangles, and then stacking those triangles on top of each other. Obviously you need a lot of paper. Which is where the calendar comes in. The type of folding itself comes from China, and is known as Golden Venture (I would go into details, but it's sort of a long story). There are many different things you can fold using Golden Venture, but for now I will only include instructions for the swan, which can be found at the following link:

Have you ever wanted to make those pictures where it looks like you're at the Eiffel tower, but lack knowledge of photoshop? Now you don't need photoshop, or even a computer. So long as you have a calendar that depicts scenery or monuments, as well as photographs of yourself. Just cut yourself out of the photo and paste it strategically onto the calendar photo. Once you scan it into the computer, no one will know the difference. Or you can just frame them, with the same results.

This, like many of the previous activities, capitalizes on the fact that a lot of good artwork shows up in calendars. You can pull this off a number of ways as well. Tear out all the pages and make a border around your room. If you have a calendar with people, cut them out and make a scene for them above your headboard. Or combine your people calendar with your landscape calendar, using the DIY Photoshop method. If you want large silhouettes or a city-scape, combine several pages together, cut them as needed, and paint them black (I'd recommend on the days side, to make it reversible).

Of course, there are many other things you can do with a calendar (make bookmarks, use it for paper mache, practice your skills as a human paper shredder) but this is just a starter list. All the things on this list will not only eradicate boredom, but will also stimulate and increase the creativity within your household. So next year, when you're getting ready to throw away your calendars, think about it a little, and decide if you'd rather see those adorable kittens in your recycling bin or on a book cover.