IT IS TIME.
Isn’t it odd, thinking of us at this time last year, browsing calendars with no idea what 2020 was going to be like? My calendar is full from January until mid-March with normal stuff; then it is full of crossed-out things from mid-March through April (with more cross-outs later as we cancelled later and later stuff, but the real THICKET of cross-outs is the first 4-6 weeks); then it is full of contract-tracing-type information (when/where we went, and at what time).
Well! We shall hope for better for 2021. Or at least part of 2021. Or anyway it’s fun to have a new picture to look at each month!
I use my calendar to keep track of my schedule, so I need one with squares to write in, but I don’t need one of those “”””MOM”””” calendars that have no room for the picture because they’re all squares. I look for a nice balance of picture on top, squares on the bottom, so that’s my screening process for these choices. LET’S GO.
[I might continue adding to this post, but am posting it NOW because calendars were dropping from “Only 9 left!” to “Only 7 left!,” etc., AS I WAS ADDING THEM TO THE POST. Apparently this is calendar-buying week. It was making me jumpy and unwilling to wait to post.]
(image from Target.com)
Fresh from the Garden calendar (Target) (Amazon). This is so bright and colorful with so many things to look at, and I feel like Fresh Produce is a cheery theme almost no matter what the new year brings. (If it brings a massive produce shortage, then never mind.)
(image from Target.com)
Happy Hedgehogs calendar (Target) (Amazon). Similarly, I feel as if we will not be SORRY to see a hedgehog each time we glance at the calendar. (Though if 2021 brings us an invasive attack of hedgehogs—and who among us could muster the surprise at this point?—then never mind.)
(image from Target.com)
Space Cats calendar (Target) (Amazon). Last year I actually DECIDED ON this calendar (in large part because of imagining how surprised my Fundraiser Calendar Twins would be, receiving that in the mail!), and it had SOLD OUT. That experience gives this calendar a head start in the running this year.
(image from Target.com)
Take Me There calendar (Target) (Amazon). Are you someone who PINES to travel again, and will only be cruelly taunted by these photos of beautiful places you can’t go right now? Then this may not be the right calendar for you. Are you on the contrary a person who would like to think of themselves as someone who travels, but you never actually do, and so you would like to look at beautiful places and for once not feel as if you ought to actually go? Then this seems IDEAL.
(image from Target.com)
Flowers calendar (Target) (Amazon). Nice and colorful and won’t taunt you with what you can’t have (unless 2021 is the year the bees die off and there are no more flowers).
(image from Target.com)
Nature’s Bouquet calendar (Target) (Amazon). Flowers again, but more field-of than zoomed-in-example-of.
(image from Amazon.com)
Birds & Botanicals calendar (Amazon). Miss Grace drew my attention to this one and I LOVE it. I like the Parlor Wallpaper vibe. [The link broke when it sold out; it didn’t originally go to an owl calendar!]
(image from Amazon.com)
Llewellyn’s 2021 Greenwitch Botanical calendar (Amazon). HOW CHARMING IS THIS??
(image from Amazon.com)
Botanical Gardens calendar (Amazon). This is so frilly and extra and I am so here for it. Writing spaces are kind of small because of all the decoration.
(image from Amazon.com)
Illustrated Order of the Animals calendar (Amazon). I love this and I think I would LEARN from it, but I need more writing space than that.
(image from Amazon.com)
Inside Poland’s Majestic Churches calendar (Amazon). This is not a calendar I would have predicted I’d be including. But just LOOK at those churches!!
(image from Target.com)
Furry Friends calendar (Target) (Amazon). They are furry; they are friends; perhaps all could be right in the world.
(image from Target.com)
Home Sweet Home: Our Happy Place calendar (Target) (Amazon). So. Okay. For ME, this feels a bit too on-the-nose/bright-siding. But Elizabeth has a friend whose house is just FULL of Live Laugh Love, Faith Friends Family, With Coffee All Things Are Possible, In This House We…, etc., and I would think this could be just the calendar for emphasizing the cozy positive side of being housebound? Or it might be too much even for that.
(image from Amazon.com)
World of Color calendar (Amazon). Sometimes when I see something that is a mad riot of color, I think “My eyes were STARVED for color and I hadn’t realized!”
(image from Amazon.com)
The Art of Daniel Merriam calendar (Amazon). This is not quite my style, but I think this passes the test for “a page that would be interesting to look at for an entire month.”
(image from Amazon.com)
Farm portraits calendar (Amazon). I feel that the duck is the shot and the widdle bunny is the chaser—but without feeling entirely sure I understand the metaphor of shot/chaser.
(image from Target.com)
That Dood Squad calendar (Target) (Amazon). I don’t know what’s going on here, but it’s making me feel happy to look at it.
(image from Target.com)
Corgis calendar (Target) (Amazon). Edward wants a corgi very badly, based on their cute appearance; I have looked into the breed and have broken the news to him that, while undeniably VERY VERY CUTE, a corgi is Not The Right Dog For Us. Perhaps a calendar instead, for admiring their undeniable cuteness.
(image from Target.com)
Unicornucopia calendar (Target) (Amazon). I don’t know either, but I added it to my cart. This feels like pure 2021 energy to me.
(image from Target.com)
Sweet and Sassy calendar (Target) (Amazon). Elizabeth happened to be passing by, and she and I both liked the cover page. Then we saw one about how girls want to have fun, and also nice handbags, and also equal pay, and we were like “Ooooooooo pretty good?” Then we saw the one about how all you need is love…and also a million dollars and fabulous shoes, and in unison we both said sarcastically “GIRLS AMIRITE??” And then we saw the one about how what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, except bears which will kill you—and I would have to put a different calendar page over that one because THAT IS NOT A PLACE IN WHICH THE WORD “EXCEPT” MAKES SENSE. IF BEARS WILL KILL YOU, THEY ARE ALREADY EXCEPTED BY THE PHRASE “WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU.” Then we were looking at the whole back cover and Elizabeth said, “Hm, and they’re all white.” EVERY SINGLE WOMAN IN THIS CALENDAR IS WHITE. IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 2021. Which may not be 100% accurate (I don’t know their genes, and the pictures are small), but. Anyway, I just wanted to make you feel mad too.
(image from Amazon.com)
The previous calendar could learn a lot from the Hot Guys with Cute Animals calendar (Amazon), which I use purely as a good example of better diversity.
(image from Amazon.com)
Posters for Change calendar (Target). I think this is such a cool idea, but January’s poster would make me sad and anxious all month, and I don’t think that’s what January needs. Also, Elizabeth, who had gotten sucked into this calendar-choosing project, thought some of the posters “looked like middle-school projects.” If I DID get this calendar, I think it would be neat to combine it with the goal to make a donation each month to a cause related to that month’s design.
(image from Target.com)
Christmas is Coming calendar (Target) (Amazon). The entire calendar is Christmas-themed. I admire and enjoy the thinking of whoever came up with this idea and then just went with it.
(image from Target.com)
It’s a Good Day To Crochet calendar (Target) (Amazon). Oh, this is so fresh and pretty.
(image from Target.com)
Landscapes calendar (Target) (Amazon). Tranquil and pretty—and it’s a little sad how comforting it is now to see wide open spaces with NO PEOPLE in them. Too many of my bad dreams this year have involved being in a crowd.
(image from Amazon.com)
The Legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg calendar (Amazon). *WEEP*
(image from Target.com)
Can’t Kill Me calendar (Target) (Amazon). The cover of this doesn’t appeal to me per se (I don’t have a cubicle, I am not known for killing plants), but I love the pictures: just an entire plant on a plain white background, being a plant. This is a strong candidate.
(image from Target.com)
Farm Yoga calendar (Target) (Amazon). I am briefly drawn to each funny yoga calendar (Cow Yoga, Horse Yoga, Sloth Yoga, Llama Yoga, Unicorn Yoga, etc.), but, because it’s the same kind of animal each month, the calendar doesn’t seem visually interesting enough to last a whole year. THIS one has a different animal each month, which puts it into much stronger consideration.
(image from Target.com)
Peaky Blinders calendar (Target) (Amazon). My understanding is that some of you have a bit of a thing for the gentleman on the cover.
(image from Amazon.com)
Animal Crossing calendar (Amazon). If we’d been choosing calendars back in April or May, I think this would have been the household’s choice.
(image from Amazon.com)
Star Trek Cats calendar (Amazon). Omg.
(image from Amazon.com)
Bob Ross calendar (Amazon). I bought a Bob Ross calendar one year and found it a very soothing choice.
(image from Amazon.com)
Teapot calendar (Amazon). To go with all the tea I am drinking.
(image from Amazon.com)
Mandalorian calendar (Amazon). Did I mention we’re watching this? Sure is a lot of shooting and killing and racing and crashing and swaggering and being all tough-guy, considering how many of us are only watching it for the cute baby.
(image from Amazon.com)
Pusheen calendar (Amazon). We had a Pusheen calendar one year, and it was such a satisfying calendar I almost buy it again each year.
(image from Amazon.com)
Backyard Foraging calendar (Amazon). Oh, that’s a fun concept, and also I really like the artwork. I don’t like how small the squares are.
(image from Amazon.com)
Feathered Friends calendar (Amazon). I can’t remember if I’ve actually had this calendar, or if I’ve just had it in my top three so many years in a row it FEELS like I’ve already had it.
(image from Amazon.com)
Este MacLeode calendar (Amazon). Gorgeous. A finalist last year, but sold out before I could decide.
(image from Amazon.com)
Masha D’Yans calendar (Amazon). I have had a Masha D’Yans calendar twice, which is the most I have ever had a calendar by the same artist or else I might be tempted to choose it again.
(image from Amazon.com)
Klimt Landscapes calendar (Amazon). I was strongly considering this one last year, but waited too long (“Is it…too many little dots of color?”), and then I had regrets—which makes it a stronger finalist this year.
I’d say I’m down to Space Cats, Can’t Kill Me, Este MacLeode, and Klimt Landscapes—and most strongly toward the last two, especially since Elizabeth thinks she wants Can’t Kill Me for her room.
If you use calendars: what are you choosing this year?
I am going with the bloom daily calendar for the 3rd year in a row. I’ve been very happy with it.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B087YPTY63/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_Jtu0FbT6ZE89P
Out of curiosity how many do you get each year, one for yourself and each child?
We normally get a free calendar because we donate to a certain charity yearly and it is almost always baby animals. Which I’m just fine with. Some of these look gorgeous though! Love the teapot on the front of the tea one and… baby yoda!
It has changed so much over the years! At maximum, I was buying five: one for the kitchen, one for next to my computer, one for Elizabeth’s room, and one for each of the boys’ rooms (two boys per room). (In those days, I waited for half-price or better.) At the lowest, I was buying one: just for the kitchen. This year it will be one, two, or three: one for the kitchen definitely, and then Elizabeth thinks she wants one but may lose interest, and also we just moved things around so now there isn’t space next to my desk for a calendar so I have to decide if I want one across the room or if that’s not worth it.
I’ve usually gotten two – work and home. But now they are one and the same, so the decision was much harder!
Haven’t read the post yet but saw the title and had to come say: YAAAAAYYYY!!!
I’ve been waiting for the calendar post! We got Pusheen for one daughter, baby farm animals for another. Haven’t decided on family calendar yet.
I got these as gag gifts last year and they were big hits (NSFW):
https://www.amazon.com/Natures-Dick-Pics-2019-Calendar/dp/B07GFST448/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=nature%27s+dick+pics&qid=1607551161&sr=8-2
https://www.amazon.com/Big-Cocks-2019-Wall-Calendar/dp/B07JKR5FD2/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=nature%27s+dick+pics&qid=1607551161&sr=8-4
Despite not buying a calendar, ever, I always love your calendar posts! This year, the captions are especially delightful.
The hedgehogs calendar (and your comment about hedgehog invasion) reminded me of this very charming article about hedgehog highways and the people who maintain them: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/17/prickly-business-hedgehog-highway-knits-a-village-together-kirtlington-oxfordshire-aoe
Just in case you haven’t read it and need some light hedgehog content.
That was a fun article. It’s lovely to live in a world that cares enough about hedgehogs to build them little highways!
For 2020 we got a free calendar from the zoo and my children were Very Invested in the changing of the calendar each month and what the new animal would be. So I can very much agree that calendars with a bunch of the same animal, no matter how charming, would not be as fun.
ALSO, I too really love how cute and fluffy corgis are, would you mind sharing why they are not the right dog for you? We have very limited dog experience.
These were the three things that lingered about corgis (though if we were On The Verge of actually getting an actual dog, I would re-investigate to be sure):
1. That they’re not medium dogs as they appear to be: they’re large dogs with stumpy legs.
2. That they’re working/herding dogs, so people report their corgis nipping at them to herd them back to bed at night, or trying to herd all the people in the house into the same room.
3. That they’re confident, and more dog than an inexperienced dog owner might be prepared for. (We’re zero-experienced.)
We have a corgi. He’s around the 30lb mark—actually a small dog who WOULD be medium if he were taller. They can have herding tendencies, but it’s something that can be discouraged. For example, ours likes to follow behind me in the morning and “boop” the back of my leg with his nose. I think this is from being a ‘herder’, but I tell him “no” and he stops. Like any dog, I think that you get out of them what you put into them for training and attention. They are smart and pick up commands easily which makes them easier to train than other breeds.
If someone were interested in a corgi, the biggest thing I would say is to commit to their exercise. Jax gets walked nearly every day for at least a mile. And he loves to play fetch in the backyard. Outside of that, he’s content to lay around wherever his people are, but he does need near daily exercise.
For what it’s worth, he’s my first dog, too. I found taking him to training at the Humane Society was good for us both. We learned more about dogs and he learned what was expected of him.
So it depends, Pembrokes are more medium than cardigans. Pems–stumpy/nub tails, Queen. Cardis-larger, big brushy tail, less popular. The only place where we consider them to be “large” dogs is when they are sharing the bed/couch/chair with us. Then they are not medium! They do grow overnight, I’m sure of it! Our three do not herd, have never herd, and laugh at the idea of herding. They might watch it on TV if I could fluff up their pillows and turn it on for them. I really think it depends on the dog, their training, and what they might have around in their formative times. A bunch of small kids? Perhaps. Full grown people? No way. As for confidence, yeah, I mean they are pretty full of themselves. Our experience has been that they are very easy going, prefer the couch to actual dog stuff, walk well, potty train easily, etc. One of them may actually be a cat from his mannerisms. That said, we have good breeders for support. My nearly 16 year old is having some issues so we talk and strategize so that we first time dog owners get him the best care and quality of life. They shed, three plus cats is a bit much. If your kid is dead set on a corgi, look for corgi meet ups in your areas or at least talk to a breeder when normal times resume. You might be surprised (or utterly repulsed!!) Love my guys!
I’m not a physical calendar user – everything is on my phone. But I just purchased the RBG one because of this post.
Yassss!!! I’ve been waiting for this post!
I think we maybe started getting these Hedgehog calendars for my daughter because of a Swistle post, and I just bought the 2021 version. This is her third year with one. She and I like turning the pages together all year long to find out what the next month’s hedgehogs are up to.
https://www.amazon.com/Hedgehogs-2021-Calendar-Zebra-Publishing/dp/1772185213/ref=sr_1_1
I am a strange one that feels pretty unsettled if I don’t get the exact same calendar every year. It is this one: https://www.amazon.com/Reading-Woman-2021-Wall-Calendar/dp/0764998668/ref=sr_1_1?crid=UZEOPKH6PAU3&dchild=1&keywords=reading+women+calendar+2021&qid=1607561468&sprefix=reading+women+%2Coffice-products%2C153&sr=8-1. One year my spouse forgot to buy it and it was sold out, and I had a very lovely Charley Harper calendar, and I have never let him forget his mistake.
I buy the kids calendars each year. This year my younger son ended up with the Animal Crossing calendar that you showed and my older ended up with the Steven Universe movie calendar because we loved Steven Universe so much this year, and it really helped us deal with everything: amazon.com/Steven-Universe-2021-Wall-Calendar/dp/0789338858/ref=sr_1_3?crid=3SSAF4Z3CS8WC&dchild=1&keywords=steven+universe+calendar+2021&qid=1607561567&sprefix=steven+universe+calen%2Caps%2C166&sr=8-3
I got my husband this, which is pop-out calendar that you build every two months: https://www.amazon.com/good-morning-Desktop-Calendar-Aquarium/dp/B08D66Z3YC?tag=slate-picks-gifts-universal-112020-20&th=1
I love the calendar posts (despite always buying mine at 50% off in January) and your comments are hilarious.
I’m not a fan of wordy wall art, especially ‘In this house we…’ because every example I’ve seen includes ‘We do real’ and I could not live with that tortured grammar on the wall.
My favourite is the first ‘Fresh from the Garden’ one. The hedgehogs are cute but the (I think) August picture? makes me feel quite anxious for the little thing.
My favorite post! Thank goodness for your work on this because my initial random amazon searches yielded nothing and I assumed that Amazon just didn’t even MAKE any good calendars this year.
Enter Swistle, and oh, yes, Feathered Friends! I’ve gotten that one before, at your suggestion, and I think that’s what I will get this year and be done thinking about it. That one is exactly the kind of art I like.
I was just thinking about this post! Then I got anxious and ordered calendars for my two calendar people (husband and daughter) because I reached the tipping point between “I have plenty of time” and “pandemic – packages- gotta order now”. I got a calendar from effin’ birds for my daughter (she’s 21, so swearing is allowed) and went old school with a Far Side calendar for my husband, because even though 2021 should be better, we may still need a laugh. I love seeing your options!
I like MANY of these and my Most Important Question is this: do all of these calendars have day squares a person can write in? I keep buying paper source calendars (which I love) for exactly this reason.
I don’t use a wall calendar for writing events on, I keep all that stuff on my phone, so I don’t need squares. Last year I bought a letterpress calendar from Brown Parcel Press on Etsy (seasonal plants) and I loved it so much that this year NINE people on my list are getting this year’s calendar for Christmas (Plant More Seeds.) And one of those people is me!
I feel like this might be the right place to mention my calendar-related dilemma that I have been fretting over. I like to get a calendar to hang in my cubicle at work. But I am currently working from home and will be for the foreseeable future. But maybe, just maybe, at some point during 2021, we will be able to resume working at the office, at which point I will want a calendar when there are probably no 2021 calendars to be had. So do I buy one now and then store it, risking that it might not end up being used? Such a dilemma. (I will buy one for home use anyway, so that rules out the option to buy one, use it at home while I’m there, then take it work if/when I go back.) The calendar that’s been hanging in my cubicle across town, stuck on March 2020 for the past nine months, haunts me a bit.
Back when Paul and I were poorer, I used to wait until calendars went down to $3, and there was a certain fun and satisfaction in choosing my favorite from what was available—but that was when I used to go into stores at least once a week, so I never MISSED the $3 moment. I think in your shoes what I would do this year is wait until some of the calendars go to half-off (I wasn’t looking at calendars at Target last year, so I don’t know if they drop in price, but I know some of Amazon’s calendars go to half-off maybe even in later December? I wish I could remember) and pick one of those. Then you’re only out six or seven dollars, and if you never use it, well, it was $7 of Calendar Insurance you didn’t need. But if you DO need it, you’ll be so glad to have it! And even if the selection is low, there is a certain charm in having a calendar you never would have chosen otherwise—like the time an address-label company accidentally sent me a whole set decorated with sheltie dogs. I have never had a sheltie dog, I would NEVER have chosen the labels—but there was a certain fun in using them anyway.
I usually get a floral watercolor style one for my desk (think Rifle Paper Co. knockoffs); this is this year’s: https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/paper/2020-2021-17-month-wall/846307061432-item.html
And I love these vintage travel poster ones for the kitchen (sometimes I go global, sometimes Canadian): https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/paper/2021-12-month-wall-calendar/9781772185256-item.html
I already have my Feathered Friends ready to go. I have been a Feathered Friends loyalist for several years, except last year when I had it in my “save for later” cart and then got the other, *also* pleasantly bird-themed Calendar Twins calendar in the mail and for many weeks thought I had just bumped Feathered Friends up into my cart mid-holiday shopping and forgotten about it before I realized you had sent me a bird calendar. I don’t like birds in real life because they are weird scary little dinosaurs but I can’t get enough drawings of them.
Also, every December I think about the food art calendar that said “Life is short, eat dessert first” and made me depressed all month and I think that’s why I have avoided anything with words since.
Seeing this post makes me feel that SOME things are right with the world. Love the Feathered Friends. We receive a family photo calendar every year, and I got this onefor the fridge, though I am a little salty about it being $10. Last year I found a very similar one in the dollar section at Target. It might have been $3, but still. Anyway, the photo one just hangs on the wall (though it helpfully has everyone’s birthday), the fridge one is for family plans and notes, and I have a planner for myself. I also suggested the math calendar that you usually link to as a gift for my husband. I think he will think that he won’t like it, but will then get sucked in.
ADORE this post!
I too used to be one of the “shop for calendar after Dec 25 and pick from what is available at 50% off” gang, which felt smart and money-saving and also like a little bit of a treasure hunt. Then I decided life was too short to not get a calendar I REALLY wanted even if I had to pay more – I am not a poor college student anymore – after all, I’m looking at this thing ALL YEAR! And I have been happily choosing my calendar early ever since.
This year I went with “Natural Art Japanese Blockprints” – that tulip one on the front is SO YUMMY:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0789338904/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
This for my son:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1524862983/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
And this for my daughter, who is Slothilda in human form:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1524855375/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
But Landscapes would have been a strong contender. So much so that I have added it to my wish list to remember to look for it next year. I just hope they have as good pictures as they do this year!
We are doing 3 calendar things this year.
First! I was thrilled, thrilled to discover that there is again a page-a-day Far Side calendar, which has not been on offer for some years. My middle schooler is a HUGE fan of the Far Side and we have ordered one for him.
Second, my sibling and I have coordinated over Zoom to “get the cousins together” and have them create a calendar for their grandmother (our mother) on Shutterfly. She lives near my household but not near the other grandkids and has been very bummed not to be able to travel to visit them or have them visit us (both of which are usual annual rituals) because of the pandemic. Clearly not a replacement for that, but still.
Third, I always ask for (and usually get) a calendar with pictures from a nearby natural area that is a fundraiser for said natural area and that I love. Indeed, last year’s is still hanging in my office and, presumably, still showing March. But this year’s will go up in my home and allow me to track the passage of time as we progress through and hopefully toward the end of the pandemic era.
I love the calendar post and look through all of them and the comments for suggestions. Do I buy one? No. I use a bullet journal type setup for work that works for me, and we get free Bank Calendars that have scenic Colorado pictures that my husband uses. And we have a month erasable planner on the wall for the 2 of us to use. But I love calendars! But I don’t use them (and the one at work now hangs lonely and I don’t even know what month it is on). So I can vicariously enjoy calendars this way.
I like a snarky kitchen calendar, but it’s somewhat pointless because it winds up getting covered with notices/appointment cards/etc. The kids know enough to clip things to the calendar if they want them added, but then no one really bothers to take them down off the calendar once recorded, until the end of the month when they get thrown away. I think I’m leaning towards the Anne Taintor 2021 calendar.
I just bought the Masha D’Yans one, thanks for the recommendation! I can see myself saving some of those and framing them and hanging them in my bathroom, which is a cheap house-artwork hack that I thought was lame when my parents did it as a kid but now I think is ingenious. (For years they had the cover of a phonebook framed and hung on their wall because it was a print of a painting from a local artist that they liked, and then years later they were actually able to afford to buy one of his original paintings!)
For the last two years we’ve enjoyed the Mary Engeldark calendars, but about partway through 2020 they were a bit too dark considering the state of affairs. Of course I’m hoping that things will really be looking up in 2021, but decided to get a more neutral calendar, just in case. I went with an owl calendar. I adore owls, the pictures were beautiful, and I can’t imagine a likely situation where I’ll be sorry to see an adorable or majestic photograph of an owl on the wall.
These are the calendars I bought for next year!
Praise for the Pollinators: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/1631367242/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_giO0Fb72HJCNZ?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
National Parks Classic Posters: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/1772185264/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_1aM0Fb3AMYNXM?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Pooch: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/1631366793/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_0aM0FbVNVSX9C?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
and the Backyard Foraging one you linked to.
But now I’m having some second thoughts because you have some cool ones here that I hadn’t seen!
I bought that Klimt Landscapes one about a month ago and am delighted to see it here too!
Always love your calendar post.
I always feel foolish for my calendar particularities (like last year when I got a Maude Lewis calendar (beautiful eastern Canadian folk art) for myself but then had to pass it on to my MIL because the date squares were too dark and small) but I feel that I am among my people here. This is one of my standards – which I feel Swistle has featured before? Definitely recommend.
https://www.amazon.ca/2021-Flower-Spirits-Radiographs-16-Month/dp/1531910122/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&qid=1607643715&refinements=p_27%3ASteven+N.+Meyers&s=books&sr=1-2&text=Steven+N.+Meyers
I always love the calendar post.
(and re: the Sweet and Sassy calendar, have you not previously gotten the memo that while photogenic young white women can possibly be allowed, sometimes, to (*gasp*) want things or (*double gasp*) do or say things other than what they’re “supposed to” – it’s not allowed for anyone not white, young, and photogenic?)(I mean: some of the things would actually probably look like offensive stereotypes if they were paired with some photos – give someone chubby the “cake” line to reinforce the societal concept that everyone who is not slim is merely lacking in the willpower to choose to not eat an entire cake and would like to be slim, or an older, slightly haggard women the wine line, or someone black one of the implicitly-kinda-lazy lines. But with white skinny women! It’s all just Sassy!)(yes, I hate this so much. I would love it if we could actually, you know, make progress. And I would also kind of love it if all the lines in the calendar were things that *any woman* could be pictured saying, without it denigrating that woman, like the “and equal pay” or even the “you’re probably thriving online” line.)
(I also agree re: bears not making sense, and just desperately disagree with the entire “whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” thing because sometimes what doesn’t kill you leaves you with permanent damage that you will struggle with for apparently/probably the rest of your life and sure, that struggle can in itself be very strengthening in one nice metaphorical way but in terms of actually getting things visibly done and/or lifting weights and/or earning money and/or winning things, you do not end up “stronger” but way way “weaker” and I hate that this is glossed over. Hard stuff often makes life hard for people; this is one of the reasons we don’t all have an equal shake here and that needs to be dealt with rather than glossed over by glossy calendars. Even if they do have some good funny lines in them…)
We enjoyed this one so much last year (2019) that we bought another for this year (where it seemed even more appropriate, considering the f’d up world we’re living in) and I’ve already ordered the same for 2021.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1728206332
My 2020 kitchen calendar is Sandra Boynton’s Every day is a Holiday. I love her humor and cartoons. Everyone in my house likes to see what the holidays are each month. The problem is that so many of the squares have bonus drawings on them. I’m trying to decide if the lack of writing space in the squares is enough to disqualify it for 2021. But I really want to see if Sandra came up with even more funny holidays.
A few years ago we had a Pusheen calendar and that is always high on my list, too. I like the Sothilda calendar someone linked to in the comments. That could be fun, too.
My son always wants a Mario calendar for his room. My daughter always wants some kind of animals. One year it was predator animals. Last year it was wolves. My favorite was the Baby Goats in Sweaters.
My husband used to get a calendar from his alma mater but they stopped making them. So now he gets vintage ski posters.
I have hit that spot where I think I should order calendars to be able to get the ones we want. But yet it feels a bit early. Or maybe it’s just my dithering over the Sandra Boynton calendar that is keeping me from just getting them.
Love this post every year! Now that I have a son, and a niece, I make a photo calendar every year. I have a fancy camera and some skills, and so so rarely use those things but now that I know the calendar tradition exists it makes me haul the camera out more. Which makes me happy! Plus it’s a nice sappy moment when all the adults open their new calendars and look at the photos and marvel at the kids.
I will live vicariously through you when it comes to endearing and fun premade calendars. Looking forward to the update!
I immediately zipped over to amazon only to find out that the Dood Squad is unavailable in Canada! Noooooo! I comforted myself by ordering a We Rate Dogs and a Dogma, Wisdom of Dogs. The Dood Squad though. *let it go, let it go*
Do a google search! It’s available from a bunch of places in Canada!
https://www.amazon.ca/TF-PUBLISHING-Squad-Monthly-Calendar/dp/B08BNJN3F6
Like Emily, I also do family photo calendars. Being a photographer, how could I not?
It’s a many-hours-long endeavour though: I go through all our photos for the year and tag the best ones, then copy all the ones with the tags to a separate folder, then pull up the best of those that I think will work the best for the calendar in photoshop and edit them, then open a blank template in the dimensions of the final calendar photo page and jigsaw the best photos onto the template, flatten, and save. I make a collage per month, plus photos for the front and back covers.
I do one for my dad (which can’t have photos of my mother or obviously at my mother’s house because they are acrimoniously divorced), one for my mom (vice versa), and one for us with pictures from everywhere plus more heavy on photos of our dog. They are labours of love and one of my favourite Christmas moments is watching them being opened and passed around.
But my kids still want the fun calendars for their rooms, so I get to pick out those too! Win-win!
I like to buy a Parks Project or National Park Foundation calendar every year – more expensive, but for a good cause and makes me smile every day!
This year, I didn’t love their options, so I went with this one from a small local business: https://www.andersondesigngroupstore.com/collections/calendar/products/copy-of-2021-wall-calendar-national-parks
“If there’s a massive produce shortage then never mind ” HA HA lolsob. I actually bought luggage tags with books on them for my book club on the “we WILL travel again someday, and these will make us happy then” principle I love Space Cats and Birds and Botanicals and Corgis. I love this post but find the whole issue overwhelming, so I’ve been buying the Windows and Doors one every year , but two years ago I didn’t really LIKE the windows and doors they picked that much, so… Interesting aside: the calendar “frequently bought” with the Daniel Merriam is by Catrin Welz-Stein, whose art I have all over my house.
p,s. I have a knee-jerk reaction against the word ‘sassy’ when used unironically, and I just now got the ‘dood squad’ thing.
I don’t “use” calendars in the sense that, unless it’s something I wouldn’t typically schedule in my phone, I don’t write on them. But I still like to have them, because I like having an analog way to check the day/date randomly in the same way I like having a clock in most rooms. I now keep one by my bed to track my cycle and also because I like having a pretty picture to look at right before I fall asleep, and one in our kitchen, on the door to our garage, which I try to make appealing to a majority of the family.
For the past couple of years, my kids and I have had a post-Christmas, “What do we do with the rest of our winter break?” tradition of going to the calendar store at our local mall and each picking out something to buy once they’ve gone %40-%50 off (and then going to Wetzels Pretzels, obviously). The drawback is that many of the “better” calendars are sold out, but the benefit is maybe being forced to look at something you might not otherwise have chosen. I’m bummed we won’t be doing that this year, and, given that the “store” had moved from an actual space to a kiosk space just last year, even before the pandemic, maybe never again.
Anyway, last year, I ended up with this calendar, which I didn’t really think I’d like that much, but which I have thoroughly enjoyed all year:
https://amzn.to/3neDl2t
I never got tired of the pictures, and I’m considering getting it again this year, since only one of the pictures appears to be a repeat, but I’m hoping for a discount before they sell out.
The other kitchen option is this one:
https://amzn.to/2W5QUW2
I am very picky about my landscapes, but I can’t actually put my finger on what makes or breaks a picture for me. This one SEEMS like I wouldn’t get tired of most of the pictures, but I’m not entirely sure, so I might go with the safe choice that I know I’ll enjoy.
I always enjoy reading these calendar posts even though I always do a photo calendar. But I make that when my kids are at school and fill it with photos from the past year and now my kids don’t go to school – so I have zero free time – and I don’t think I want to look at photos from the past year at all. So I don’t even have a calendar ordered yet.
I appreciate you including Target ones because I don’t have Amazon prime. Though I clicked on the hedgehog one and it’s sold out. :( That caught my eye because my Nanna just died and I asked my Mum what her favourite animal was and it was hedgehogs – which my teen daughter also loved and that was one of the things she wanted to do when we visited the UK this summer – see a wild hedgehog – but we had to cancel the whole trip. So maybe the calendar would just make me sad instead of happy?! But I do need a calendar. I will have to browse the rest later when I have more time.