DIY Sliding Perpetual Calendar

I am so excited for today's project!  I have been wanting to make one of these for forever, and I finally did! Plus, it turned out better than I ever imagined...bonus! So, what the heck is a perpetual calendar? It's a calendar that can be used year after year! There's no need to buy a new calendar....I guess unless you want the year on the calendar :) I fell in love with this sliding one and knew it would be so easy to make one. Here's how I did it!

Supplies: 

2  -1x2 pieces cut at 10.75"

3  -1/2x2 (measures 1/2" by 1.5") pieces cut at 20"

2  -1/2x2 pieces cut at 3/4"

4  -1/2x2 pieces cut at 2"

2  -1/2x2 pieces cut at 1.5"

1  -1x3 cut at 21"

They should all lay out like below:

 Additional supplies:
Wood glue
Stain
Metal 1/8" flat pieces (Found in the car/hobby section at Hobby Lobby)
Metal label holders (Mine are from Hobby Lobby)
Dremel with round metal cut disc
Super Glue
Spray Paint
Vinyl
Painter's tape
6 black 1/4" screws

Step 1: Use the picture from above and place all the wood pieces together like a puzzle. The 1x2 10.75" pieces are the bottom with the smaller pieces glued on top. Make sure all the edges are square so the entire piece keeps straight.

 Step 2 & 3: These steps I reversed just since I thought it would be easier to stain before placing the base, but it really doesn't matter. I stained my wood use DecoArt Americana Walnut stain.

 I then glued the piece to the 1x3 base. You can either just leave it with the glue, or secure it from the underside with nails or screws. I used a nail gun and 1" brad nails into the base of mine.

 Then of course, make sure you stain the base if you haven't already.

Step 4: Making the sliders. This is probably the most complex part of it. Maybe :)

 I cut each metal piece 5". So, two 5" piece for each label holder

 I cut the a portion of the brad off to make it shorter so it wouldn't poke out under the label holder.

 I then placed the brads into the each hole and spread them.

Next, I glued the metal pieces to the back of the label holder.

 That is for the first two label holders. The last one is a lot smaller, so I had to make some cuts to make it smaller. I roughly marked where I wanted to cut. I then used my Dremel to cut the middle parts out.

 I was left with the two end pieces.

 I used the super glue to join the two pieces. I then followed the same steps from above with the brads and the metal strips. Just make sure this is set before moving on to the next step.

Once the glue was set, I placed the label holder onto one of the wood pieces, and eyed where I wanted it to sit, I then bent the metal pieces over the wood, on the top side only.

 I did this to all the pieces.

 Next, I spray painted them with oil rubbed bronze. I didn't want to do this initially, but it help with the look of the smaller cut piece.

Step 5: Now cut out all the words and numbers with vinyl. Here are my rough measurements for each part:
Days of the week: 16" long total with about 3/4" between each day. These are 1/2" tall.
Months: 15.5" long with 3/8" between each month and 3/8" tall.
Numbers: 15.5" long with 1/4" between each number and  1/4" tall.

I used transfer tape for each line to save my sanity.

I marked the middle part of each horizontal wood piece, then placed a piece of tape 1/4" below it on each side. These made a good spot for me to place the bottom of the letters/numbers. If you notice, the words/numbers shouldn't fall right in the middle of the wood or else the label holders won't show them. The windows of the label holders aren't centered. So, to be sure you are placing the vinyl on the right spot, just test it. Place the transfer tape on the wood with the backing still on and put a label holder over it. Adjust if needed.

 I did do notches along the bottom of each word on the sides of each piece of vinyl. With this, I could easily see and line the bottom up with the tape.

 Here it is with all the lettering on: Oh, and make sure you don't put the lettering all the way to the sides, the label holder won't go the far. I tried to start mine in 2" from each side.

 Step 6: Next, I placed a screw on each side of the horizontal pieces, about 3/4" in on each side.

 Step 7: I then put the label holders back on, and bent them completely around.

And that's it! Lots of steps, but easy ones :)

 Here's a close up of the label holders, especially the smaller one. If you are super careful while cutting it, you won't hardly be able to tell. Spray painting helped :)

 My favorite part of this piece is oddly the sides. I love how this looks. The way each side/piece of wood took the stain is just beautiful to me.

 The total size of this sliding perpetual calendar is 21" long, 11.5" high, and 2.5" wide. I was going to make a bigger base for this, but kind of love the simplicity as is. It took everything I had in me not to paint this white though. I like it so much that I may just make another one and do it white; put it in my office...or the my future office :)

I got all my wood from the molding section in Lowes. They carry high quality smaller wood pieces like these. You can pick some up that are about 2 feet long. So, great for smaller projects.

This ended up costing me under $15. Not bad, since I've seen them going for over $40!