2012 Calendar

I've been working on this little guy for the better part of two months. I have a love/hate relationship with all calendars. The ones on my computer are great because they can automatically repeat events and insure that I don't forget someone's birthday or anniversary by inadvertently not copying down the date correctly (or at all). But the written ones are better for me to write down everyday events. I'm more likely to pull the calendar out of my purse and write it down than I am to put the event in my computer/phone calendar.

Here's the cover (obviously this was done before Paige came along):

Another problem I have with written calendars is that the "extra" pages that they have are usually overly complicated and, in my opinion, pretty unusable. For me, the simpler the better.

Take this menu and grocery list: I don't want the day broken down into breakfast/lunch/dinner. For us, it's all about dinner. We can eat cereal or leftovers or soup for breakfast and lunch. It's dinner that requires some planning.

A standard notes page.

 

And what To-Do list would be complete without check-boxes? (Right, Amy?!)

I honestly probably won't print very many of these, but sometimes you need some space to jot down an idea that crosses your mind. For me, I usually just snap a picture of it with my phone, though.

Here is the detailed monthly calendar pages.  It's very similar to the calendar pages I made for 2011 (and never ended up using for myself), but I think this one is a little fresher and more my style now.

And finally, these are the monthly overview pages. The "file folder" look was inspired by a calendar I saw on Shutterfly.

I have some other fun goodies that I added to the calendar when I printed the pages and put them in a binder (5.5" x 8.5"). I'm too tired to take pictures of it now, but I will tomorrow (hopefully). It includes some things that will hopefully help me with my New Year's Resolution!

I also want to share the recipe binders that I made for myself, my mom and my sister (for their birthday's). It's a work-in-progress, but I think it's worth sharing.