I couldn't draw a smiley face on a sheet of paper to save my life (almost)

December 14, 2005 6:09 PM

I'm craft challenged. I'd like to make one of those daily calendars (where you tear off or flip back each day). Two questions...

(1) I'll print each one on paper. What's the best way to cut the paper into the correct little sizes? Will certain businesses do this for you? Is there a way to do it yourself?

(2) How do I bind the sheets to eachother, and the stack of sheets to the back, and actually make it... work So its not just a stack of papers.

posted by devilsbrigade to media & arts (6 comments total)

1. The crazy genius over at DIYPlanner.com has made a great page talking about template design. It's more philosophy than actual templates, but if you think you could learn this stuff, it's a wonderfully organized list of things to think about. Also, if you want to just use index cards, the 43 folders guys have got your reading list
2. as far as binding goes, you have a few options. The old tymey versions of these just had two-hole-punches at the top of them and all stayed on some sort of holder. The newer ones have glop holding it together at the end. You can make this yourself. You have to press all the pages together really tightly, like really tightly. Think binder clips. Then you have to put glue on the ends.... read the rest here
posted by jessamyn at 6:34 PM on December 14, 2005

Kinkos Fedex offer cutting services at $1 a cut in Canada. I give stacks of flyers to get cut there all the time, and honestly, instead of risking injury to your arm, $3 to cut stacks of A4s into quarters isn't a big deal.

The same company would heavy-duty staple it for you, or bind the end like a book. I'm not sure how much it costs anymore.
binding

I honestly would not try to glue bind myself...it'd probably just fall apart (I'm just as equally craft challenged).
posted by Sallysings at 6:35 PM on December 14, 2005

I would use a paper cutter to do it. It's possible that a kinkos type place would cut them for you.

Instead of binding them you could punch holes in them and use one of these

I made a calendar for my husband once and he really loved it.
posted by Biblio at 6:36 PM on December 14, 2005

I made tear-off calendars as gifts one year, and I used a local print/copy shop (not a Kinko's-type place, but it probably could have been. Docu-Mart, actually). Anyway, printed my sheets to letter-sized paper with crop marks and explained what I wanted to have done. I said "you know, like a tablet of paper" and he said "oh, you mean perfect binding" [google]
And they trimmed to the cropmarks. It's not exactly perfect binding I don't think, but that's what the guy called it.

I think it cost me a dollar per, for gluing and trimming. anyway, it was cheap.
posted by misterbrandt at 7:46 PM on December 14, 2005

Kinkos will cut and pad your calendar. You can even email them (Kinkos) the whole file (go to their website and download their software for emailing files) and they'll print, cut and pad it and probably even deliver it to you if you don't live too far away.
I once bought a special glue for making pads for myself but it was a huge mess of pink gloppy glue and pink stained notepads.
posted by lois1950 at 12:47 AM on December 15, 2005

I did a test with the rubber cement globbing. It wasn't amazingly secure, but I think it'll work well for this.

Talked to Kinkos, they'll do the cutting but not the padding. I'll definitely use them for cutting though ($1.50/cut though =/ ).

Thanks guys.
posted by devilsbrigade at 4:39 PM on December 16, 2005