Yes, you read that right—I love wall calendars! Not trendy planners, or amazingly creative bullet journals, or even fashionable digital calendar widgets. But instead two very specific, beautiful, and useful […] The post Two uniquely special wall calendars that...
Yes, you read that right—I love wall calendars! Not trendy planners, or amazingly creative bullet journals, or even fashionable digital calendar widgets. But instead two very specific, beautiful, and useful wall calendars.
With 2024 quickly approaching, now is the time to discuss them (pun intended)! We are about to turn the page on a new year. If you are a What Should I Read Next Patreon member, you may have already heard about my fondness for New Year’s Eve books on Friday’s bonus episode. (Make sure to hop over there to vote on which New Year’s Eve title I should read this year.) I am delighted to be sharing another fun aspect of the New Year: these lovely wall calendars!
Don’t get me wrong; I am a huge proponent of my Google calendar. I still get a little swoony when I think back to my now-husband Chad asking after mere weeks of dating if we could share our Google calendars. (Readers, best believe I married him.) Nowadays, we have all our family’s events and reminders on it. If it’s not on the calendar, it doesn’t exist.
However, in a world that is increasingly digital, I have found that the analog version is often more helpful and decidedly more gleeful to use. Of course, keeping a digital calendar with all the moving parts of our days is useful for sending virtual reminders. However, using two different hands-on wall calendars to visually track time really helps keep our house on the same page in a way digital calendars cannot. MMD team member Shannan and I were just discussing how the simple act of writing down all the events, activities, and calendar items is a great tool for noticing when we have overbooked ourselves. And since we are talking time here, it is interesting to note that one of the calendars is “older” since I have been using it for many years and the other is “newer” to our home!
The first is Olympia artist and writer Nikki McClure’s annual calendar. My best friend introduced me to her gorgeous and intricate papercutting back in college when she gifted me one of her calendars. Thankfully, I was recently reminded of her beautiful art after author Kerry Winfrey posted about it on Instagram a few years ago. Now, I ask for the new calendar every year for my birthday in October so I am all set by the time December 31st rolls around. Nikki’s uplifting creations are extremely detailed and amazing. The calendars are truly pieces of art to treasure and delight in. She began making them in 1998 and I recently found one I had saved for over 20 years!
The papercuttings Nikki creates are often stark contrasts of black and white images of nature and people with a pop of color and a powerful verb. Her art reminds me of the illustrations in the classic children’s book Blueberries for Sal and feels nostalgic yet fresh at the same time. The days and month are listed in a modern way with the new and full moons notated, making it easy to reference the day at a glance. And the lovely simplicity of the calendar makes it perfect to hang above my desk in our small but cozy bedroom. This is not a calendar to list all one’s daily to-do’s but instead to reflect on the passing of time and find inspiration for what’s to come.
The second wall calendar is Grace Farris’s Mom’s Family Wall Calendar and it sure puts the fun in functional! It is a uniquely laid out vertical calendar filled with Grace’s hilarious and heartfelt art that our whole family loves. We are able to personalize the columns with each family member’s name and daily activities, making it customizable for all types of families and ages. And while “Mom” is in the title, I think the ability to personalize the entries means you don’t have to be a mom to use and enjoy this calendar. Did I mention it comes with adorable stickers?! There are two full sheets of her drawings of cute items like Gold Stars, timeless reminders like “Return library books!” and “Take a DEEP BREATH” that I can’t wait to use each month.
Grace is a doctor/artist/bookworm/cartoonist/mom/author; I was introduced to her work by another one of my best friends who attended residency with her. We love to follow Grace on Instagram at @coupdegracefarris, where she shares her popular “Weekend Mom” series and reading life insights that are amusing and oh so relatable. The Mom’s Family Wall Calendar takes Grace’s seasonal art and laugh-out-loud cartoons and adds the ability to quickly track our busy schedules.
Plus, this visual and tangible calendar is much easier for the youngest in our family to use. We hang it right by our high traffic dining table and our kiddos love using it to countdown the days to upcoming events. It truly is a shared family calendar and I have often caught them adding various “Yes Days” and “No School” to random days in their adorable little handwriting.
I am so grateful to Nikki and Grace for creating such accessible works of everyday art. These two wall calendars bring so much joy and much-needed organization to our home. I look forward to starting a brand new one every New Year!
Do you use wall calendars? How do you keep your days and weeks organized? Please share in the comments.
P.S. My first year with the bullet journal and 7 ways I’m minimizing decision fatigue in my daily life.
About the author
Brigid Misselhorn is our MMD Book Club Community Administrator. Her go-to genres are mystery, romance, and sci-fi. You can find Brigid on Instagram @brigid_emily.
The post Two uniquely special wall calendars that make me so very happy and organized appeared first on Modern Mrs Darcy.