Family calendar...

one of the challenges about getting married in your mid-30s is that you get used to your way of doing things. I kept a calendar at work, but for personal stuff I just tucked it away in my brain and I always remembered. When I tell my husband we have something this day, or something that day, I just figured he'd remember. Not the case. So to keep us on the same page, we needed a family calendar.

UPDATE: To be clear, it's not that my husband doesn't pay attention, it's just that I have a ridiculously good memory. It's like a steel trap. I can hear something once and it's locked in. 

As intriguing as a yoga cat calendar sounds, I wanted something bigger and more unique than a standard wall calendar. Something that looked more like decor. After some Pinteresting, I decided to create my own using a picture frame.

It's very simple to do. All you need is a frame ( I chose 16x20, but you can use whatever size best fills your space), a calendar template, fabric, tape and permanent marker. The fabric is a great way to customize your calendar to fit in with your decor. I chose a green that matches my family room accents.

After removing the back of the frame, I wrapped it in fabric and taped it securely in place.

Then it was time to create the calendar template. After cleaning the glass, I used a page of my desk calendar and cut it to the size I wanted. I then taped it to the outside of the frame. This is important to do because it will allow you trace the grid on the INSIDE of the frame. This will protect it from rubbing off when you are writing on or cleaning off your finished calendar.

Flip it over to reveal the calendar page. 

Then using a straightedge and a permanent marker, trace the calendar grid onto the inside of the glass.

This is what my finished grid looked like. 

I then reassembled the frame to reveal the the fabric. 

After it was assembled, I wrote the days on the front of the glass with the permanent marker. It was just easier than trying to write them backwards on the inside of the glass. 

Now that you have a finished permanent calendar template it's time to break out the dry erase markers. Each month write on the dates and month name with the dry erase marker. This way you can keep this calendar year after year and it can evolve with your decor. I recommend creating the grid in a neutral, dark color but then using fun colors for your dry erase markers. Use a different color for each family member so you can easily recognize important dates and events. 

If your colors and style change, simply switch out the fabric for a different one. Or blow up a family photo on the computer, ghost it back to about 25% brightness or make it black and white, and use that as your background. It's so easy to customize and change with the season! 

This is how it looks in the room. The background doesn't work as well as I thought it would with the other accents. But I'm going to live with it for a while and decide what I want to do with it. I have been wanting to change out the fabric on the chairs, so I might wait until I make a decision on that. 

Regardless of the fabric, this new calendar will keep us organized, connected and hopefully eliminate the words "but I told you the other day..." from our vocabulary.