Making a wall calendar from printable pages

Choose the layout

Start with the month pages: our calendars print one month per landscape page, for 2027, 2028 or any month and year in the generator. Pick Sunday or Monday as the first day, add week numbers if your household uses them, and turn on note lines if several people will write in each day.

Choose the size

• Letter or A4: fits a kitchen wall or noticeboard and any home printer.
• Tabloid or A3: a big family planner with room for everyone’s plans, printed at a copy shop if needed.
• A5 or Half Letter: a desk calendar on a small stand.

Months with six rows

Most months fit in five week rows, but a 31-day month that starts late in the week spills into a sixth. Here is 2027 with weeks starting on Sunday, with the six-row months highlighted:

Our calendar pages size the rows to fit, so a six-row month simply has slightly shorter day boxes. If you write a lot in each day, a Monday start can change which months need six rows; it is worth comparing both before you print.

Paper

Card of 160–250 gsm makes the calendar sturdy and stops pages curling. Check the heaviest paper your printer accepts in its manual; the rear or manual feed tray often takes heavier card than the main tray. Matte paper takes ballpoint and pencil better than gloss.

Personalise it

• Glue a photo or a child’s drawing above each month.
• Mark birthdays and anniversaries in colour before you give it as a gift.
• Add a cover page with the year and a family photo.
• Use a yearly overview from the yearly calendar as the first page.

Binding

1. Stack the pages in order with the cover on top.
2. Punch two holes along the top edge, about a third of the way in from each side.
3. Thread binder rings, ribbon or twine through the holes, or simply use a large bulldog clip.
4. Add a hook or a loop of ribbon to hang it.

For a more permanent finish, the binding guide covers stapling and sewing.

A calendar as a gift

Home-made calendars are popular presents for grandparents. Ask children to draw a picture for each month, scan or photograph them, and print them above the calendar pages, or simply glue the original drawings in. Mark family birthdays in a different colour before wrapping, and include a blank page at the back for notes and phone numbers.

Keeping it useful

Hang the calendar where everyone passes, such as the kitchen or the hallway, with a pen on a string beside it. Agree on a colour for each person and write every appointment in the same place, so the calendar becomes the family’s single source of truth.

Reusing an old calendar

A calendar can be reused in any year where 1 January falls on the same weekday and the leap-year status matches. Leap years come every four years, except century years not divisible by 400, which is why matching years are 6, 11 or 28 years apart:

So a 2027 wall calendar, photos and all, will be correct again in 2038, and a 2028 one in 2056. Holidays that move, such as Easter, will not match.

Printing tips

Print at 100% / Actual size in landscape. Print a single test month first to check alignment and colour before printing all twelve on card.