I didn't know where to put this, but then I thought what better place than where parents post? I've cross-posted this to Crafts as well.

What could be a nicer December gift for a grandparent than a wall calendar you made yourself with a photo of your family for every month? You'll want a copy for yourself too, as this will give you a perfect photographic record by month and year of your children's growth throughout their childhood.

Here's how to make this treasure:

1.) Take twelve 8.5" x 11" colored sheets of cardstock and print out a calendar from your computer. Each card should get only one month, so there's plenty of room to write on it. Be sure to add in all the family birthdays and anniversaries on the correct dates.

2.) Take another twelve cards, and print a fancy border around the outside edge of each.

3.) Print one additional card with the year centered on it, printed in a large attractive font, and put a nice border around it. This will be the "cover" for your calendar.

4.) Now stack your cards like this... the year card goes on top with the text facing you. Next is a card with a frame that faces downward in the stack, with the printing away from you. Next is your January month. Then another frame card facing away from you. Then February, and so on through December. Put one blank card on the back, or you can print your family name on it, or whatever you want. This is the back of the calendar and will face the wall. The reason for the photo card being separate is so that someone can write on the calendar part without putting dents in the photos.

5.) Take these to a local print shop like Kinko's or Costco's and have them comb-bound cut on the top edge. This isn't expensive. You can install the comb binders, or they can do it for you.

6.) Now, open your calendar to January and you will have a framed card above it. Glue a 5 x 7 glossy (real, not computer printer) photo of your kids (or your whole family) taken in January, wearing their winter clothes, playing in the snow, or whatever is appropriate to the season. Turn to February and do the same. Summer months have pics of the kids playing at the beach, or in their shorts. December has a pic of the kids on Santa's lap.

This makes THE most appreciated gift you could possibly give a grandparent! You will also love this calendar yourself. After a few years you will have a whole treasured stack of them, each labeled with the correct year -- a marvelous record of your childrens' childhood, and of your whole family if you include the parent pictures.

I have a big stack of these myself, and our family is still making them even now that the kids are grown. Now there are grandkid pics in them as well. :)

Enjoy!