Power Tools Rater: Watercolor Printable 2018 Calendar + Easy DIY Desk Calendar Tutorial

Can you believe it’s only 3 weeks until we ring in the new year — 2018?! already?! I was just getting used to writing the 7 in 2017! It’s also less than two weeks until Christmas, so today’s last-minute gift tutorial and free printable 2018 calendar will help you cross those last few friends, neighbors, and coworkers off your gifting list AND get excited for January to come rolling around — AND you can do it all for nearly FREE with a trip to the scrap wood pile. If your scrap pile is dwindling, it’s still only a couple bucks to make an easy DIY desk calendar like this:

And, bonus, it can also double as a photo display stand — a perfect easy gift for the grandparents!

If you’ve been a Remodelaholic long, you’ll notice that these 2018 printable calendars bear a striking resemblance to the extra-large boutique style wall calendars we made last year…

And you’d be totally right! Because we loved them so much, we partnered with Canon again this year to give these pretty pennant calendars a colorful update and add a desk-sized version, so you can choose from the new colored watercolor version (to match our holiday printable set and countdown calendar) or last year’s simpler version, in 4×6, 8.5×11, and 13×19. Each version includes a cover page, monthly calendar pages, and a year-at-a-glance calendar for 2018.

DIY Desk Calendar Tutorial + Free Printable 2018 Calendar

To see how we made these super easy desktop calendar stands, watch the tutorial here on our YouTube channel, and please subscribe so you can be the first to see our new videos each week!

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As you can see in the video, the Canon TS-9020 printer handles the beautiful watercolor ink style beautifully, whether you’re printing on letter-sized cardstock or matte photo paper or using the print-to-edge to print directly on 4×6 matte photo paper (which also saves a little bit of trimming time). And if you want to print the 13×19 poster size calendar, we recommend the Canon PIXMA iP8720 crafting printer — printing poster-sized art prints at home is amazing!

We made several different calendar stands to show you just how versatile and easy these scrap wood desk calendars are to make, and you have your choice of full-color watercolor style or minimalist black and white calendar printable, too — in THREE sizes, so you can make a pennant wall calendar like we made last year using the bigger sizes, or a smaller desktop calendar with the smallest size.

Download the printable below, print, and trim using a cork-backed ruler and a craft knife (and don’t forget a cutting mat!). Use a piece of scrap pallet wood and some jute twine (with optional clothespins) for a super easy rustic look:

Unfinished plywood scraps make for a more modern Scandinavian look with the visible banded edge — and if you’ve built with plywood, you have random scraps like this!

We used these clips and a clipboard clip like this — but here’s a money-saving tip: ours came from a cheap dollar store clipboard! It took a few minutes of elbow grease to get it off the board… but it’s cheaper than buying the clip alone, even at the best price we could find on Amazon.

Of course, you can add some paint for color, using our go-to color washing stain technique on a scrap of 2×6:

Let your inner artist shine with a woodburning tool and a rough pallet scrap board — did you know that woodburning is also called pyrography? Fun fact. We used a clip with a pin-back, meant for cork message boards, but it would be easier to use a regular black bulldog clip.

or a stained scrap of 2×6 and a white paint pen — and a gold paint pen makes boring nails look fancy!

All of the details are in the video above — leave us a comment telling us what style you like best and grab the free printable file below in both styles, all 3 sizes!

Click here to download the 2018 calendar (all sizes, both styles)

We’re so pleased to partner with Canon each month to show you fun and easy print-at-home projects for holidays and every day.

Please check out our full FREE printable library and pin and share your favorites for year-round easy decorating and crafting! And don’t miss these coordinating watercolor style prints so you can have the same lovely style framed on your wall, counting down to the next holiday, and on your desk calendar.