I am constantly looking for new exciting ideas to treat my family to a special gift. When I manage to come up with a unique and personal present that makes my friend or family member happy, it makes my day! To see the smile on their faces is priceless! 

Last month my cousin had her birthday and I decided to make her a calendar for all her important dates, deadlines, and family holidays. She is a proud mother of two kids who have a busy schedule – piano lessons, Spanish lessons, volleyball sessions, and many more. She herself organizes a book club, goes to the gym, and takes French lessons – it’s a very tight schedule. So I added all her appointments to the calendar, and she was very much pleased with the amount of work I had put into it, so she must have thanked me like a hundred times. 

This time my kids asked me to help them with a calendar for the upcoming Father’s Day.

Where Do We Begin?

Well, you can use PowerPoint or Word for this purpose but the layout is different, and the quality will suffer. Besides, it will take way too much time. Another way is to find an online service, describe them your idea, and order a calendar. However, it seems to me that these services are overpriced and the delivery time is pretty high. So I decided to use a cool calendar making software which made my task super easy. 

What is Dad Most Proud of?

Firstly, we picked a theme for our calendar. It was meant as a present for Father’s Day, so we had several options: Father’s best travel pictures, Father’s great family moments, Father’s most important life accomplishments. My family and I decided to make a calendar of his best and proud accomplishments – graduation, first job, wedding, first child, etc. 

Calendar for the Wall or the Wallet?

When we opened the program we were surprised to see a big variety of layout options: wall poster, desk calendar, booklet, pocket calendar, etc. We decided to make a big A3 sized poster to fill the free space above our dining table. Then we chose a template we agreed on, selected several photographs, and put them on the calendar. Small tip: it is possible to alter the hues, background, frames, add some clipart, text, and other effects. But when you change the original design, make sure the colors still match and the calendar looks harmonious.

Did You Think of Everyone’s Birthday?

And we surely did not forget to add all the important dates to our work. The program offers a list of Public Holidays from many countries as well as an option to add your special dates: birthdays, anniversaries, important business deadlines, vacation days, and so on. You can also make your calendar bilingual and use different colors for various dates or celebrations.

Ready to Print?

That’s it! We saved our work and printed it at home. And we have a very good printer, so the quality was amazing. All pictures were sharp, even in A3 format, every frame and clipart looked professional. This is how my children and I made a great gift in less than 30 minutes.

Precious Family Time

Make sure to involve your family in this creative process, it will bring you together, make your bond even stronger and keep this fun and exciting day in your memory for a long time. Family bonding time is very important, even if your kids are too small to make a real contribution, ask them to choose a photo or a frame – something simple – to make them feel valued and heard.

Which interesting and unconventional thoughts on how to surprise your family on their special days do you have? Please, share your stories.