Homemade Gift Idea - Personalized Photo Calendars
Personalized calendars make great homemade gift ideas because they are so easy to, well... personalize. Basically you take your own photos and print them on the back of dated calendar pages, get them bound at a place like Kinko's (err... Fedx Kinko's, FedEx Office, or whatever it is now) and you are done.
Now there are a few ways you could go about this. The easiest, but most expensive and less "homemade" option is to take 12 photos to Kinko's, and have them do all of the printing and binding. You can also upload your photos to Kinko's calendar site, and them pick them up at a later time. I worked at Kinko's many years ago, and I remember doing tons of these every holiday season. They do a pretty good job, but it is a bit expensive. I think they start off at least $19.99.
If you want to spend less money, and have the satisfaction of doing them yourself, then use the following process:
- You will need to download calendar templates to print out. There are tons out there. Just Google "free calendar templates" and you'll find a large variety. For this tutorial, you'll need a template will fit on an 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper landscaped, meaning when the paper is turned so it is wide and not tall. I personally like the templates at the calendar template site for Microsoft Word. If you are using a Mac and you get a message that your operating system does not support it, the downloaded file should still work provided that you have an archive file expansion program like Stuffit. Your Mac might even have an application already built into the operating system.
- Print out your calendar pages.
- Compile your photos on your computer. Horizontal photos work best, because the pages will be oriented horizontally. You can use vertical photos, but there will be a lot of white space on the left and right when you finish.
- Now here is the tricky part. You need to print your photos on the back sides of the calendar pages so that when flipped they appear right side up in relationship to the month below it. Also, if you want a particular photo to go with a particular month, you'll need to print that photo on the back of the previous month. For example, if you want a halloween costume photo to go with October, that photo needs to be printed on the back of September. If you haven't done this before, it might take a few tries, so you will probably end up wasting the first couple of pages. It will make sense the more you do it.
- For binding the calendar I would suggest just going to Kinko's to have them coil bind it. It costs four or five dollars per bind, but they do a good job, it looks nice, and I think they still put a clear protective cover on the front and back for you. And unless you have a comb binder at home this might be the only option.
There are also tons of online companies that will put them together for you. All you would have to do is upload your photos to them.
Questions and Answers
Article Tags:
homemade gift ideas
,homemade gifts
,gift ideas
,personalized calendars
,photo calendars
Personalised gift ideas for your friends and family. Photo gifts have great sentimental value.
If you are looking for an inexpensive and very personal gift for Father’s Day, the perfect solution is a homemade, handcrafted photo magnet for his refrigerator. Fathers love current photos of their children and grandchildren. I will show you how to recycle old unused calendar refrigerator magnets into a handsome fridge photo magnet for Dad.
Do you want to get a head-start on Christmas gifts this year? And do you also want to save a little money? Handcrafted gifts may be your answer.
Whenever a woman is out with her girlfriends, they love to chat about any and all things going on in their lives. They go to the bathroom together to hold secret meetings about their boyfriends and to gossip about one another.
Inspirational gifts tell someone special that you put thought and care into choosing their gift. There are so many inspirational gifts for him or her, for birthdays, for Christmas, anniversaries, weddings and special occasions.
Discover coconut oil benefits! Coconut oil is used in many ways. Some use it for making homemade soap. It has outstanding skin care properties. Learn different types of coconut oil and choose the best for you. Homemade skin care products made with coconut oil differ, greatly, from commercial products with harsh foaming agents. Don't miss this important skin care and soap making information!
Ever since I was a child, it has always bothered me why certain disparities between men and women exist when it has long ago been established by the Almighty that every human being has been created equal.
In my hometown, the natives of the land and the Malays would usually engage in trading and sell goods that are considered homegrown in their respective places. This is made possible because it would only take a ferry-ride to reach their destination. Hence, the bartering of goods usually happens on the shore; and, most of the time these goods would include textiles. They were not just ordinary textiles, though. They were first class cloths interwoven by the very hands of man.
While origami is native to the Japanese, the reach of this paper craft has gone globally, even to us Americans who find the sequences of folding paper almost intoxicating. Of particular importance is how to follow the easy origami crane paper folding process; a treasured tradition that is almost considered holy in Japan.
In the event you like arts and crafts and choose to decorate your stuff at household then all you'll need is a computer, a printer and some specific waterslide decal paper. This short article explains the kind of tasks you could do and explains the way to do it. This article will explain to you concerning the four kinds of waterslide paper, their differences, how to use them and some well-known tasks.
There could be free movie making software on your computer already.
Here's an easy and fun homemade gift idea: Sunprinting
This is a homemade gift idea we had some fun with a number of years back. Tie-dye clothing makes a good homemade gift idea because each one is unique, you can customize the colors, they are fun to make, fairly easy and many people love to receive them. This might be one of those elusive homemade gift that men would like. You can apply tie-dye to almost anything that is cotton... T-shirts, socks, clothing for toddlers.
Two qualities I strive for in making homemade gifts is that they are useful, and that they impress the recipient. When done with some thought and a little effort, homemade greeting cards can easily achieve both of those qualities.
Discuss this Article
Comments on this article