During the winter months its fun to display a winter scarf calendar that kids will love to make. Its so easy to make it that each child will want his or her own calendar. Thats okay, though, because the scarf calendar is so inexpensive that youll have no problem letting them make more than one.
Start with a long, knitted scarf and fold it in half. Lay it flat on a table with the folded part pointing upward. The two ends of the scarf should be hanging at equal lengths. Smooth the scarf out to where each half is laying completely flat.
Youll need a small, flat piece of wood for each month. Some people might want to only display the calendar during the winter months whereas others might choose to hang it on a wall year-round. Choosing neutral colors and non-winter themes will allow you to do just that. Scarves can be dress scarves instead of knitted ones so long as theyre long enough. You will cut thirty one small squares of fabric or felt. At some sewing supply stores you can purchase bags of the small squares. This makes it much easier for small kids to complete the project. The small squares will represent the days of the month. Use small, flat pieces of wood to create the month signs. Write "December" or "Dec.", "January" or "Jan.", and so on, for the months you want to display. On the back of each piece of wood glue a small, flat magnet. Glue another magnet to the scarf itself, at the top, near the fold. Stick the month sign to the magnet and exchange it with each new month. Cut a piece of twine that is slightly longer than one side of the scarf. Tie or glue any novelty at one end. The novelty could be a piece of wood in the shape of a heart, a plastic cartoon character, or any other trinket. Glue the bare end of the twine to the scarf, just below the magnet. The character or other novelty will dangle off the end of the long piece of twine. Use fabric numbers to create pockets from the fabric squares. The fabric numbers can be found at stores that sell sewing notions. Use one cloth square and glue a number to each square. Glue the number "1" to the first square, the number "2" to the second square, and so on. Create squares that are numbered 1 through 31. Glue the numbered squares to the scarf. Glue numbers 1 through 15 down the left side of the scarf and numbers 1 through 31 down the right side of the scarf. Glue only the two sides and bottom of the squares leaving top of the fabric square open. If youre an adult making the scarf calendar you can also stitch the fabric squares onto the scarf. After youve attached all the numbered squares your calendar is complete. Simply stick the month at the top, using the magnet, then place the trinket on a string, into one of the pockets. If its the 5th of the month, for example, place the novelty into the pocket marked "5". On the next day let children move the novelty to the 6th pocket, and so on. Each day the child will simply move the marker to the next days pocket. When the month changes the child can simply remove the previous months plaque and replace it with the new month. It just takes a second to pull the previous wooden plaque off the magnet and substitute it with the new one. The calendar can be further embellished by decorating the month plaques with rubber stamping or even magic marker designs. Pockets can be decorated by gluing on tiny silk flowers, fake jewels or other craft supplies. You - and the kids - will have lots of fun making this unique and easy calendar.
