This is my favorite post of the year. I usually prefer to do it the Wednesday after Christmas, because that’s when it’s nice to have something fun and interesting to help counter the after-holiday slumpy feelings, and because a lot of calendars get marked down to 50% off the day after Christmas. But on the other hand I like to have the calendar in my hands before New Year’s Eve, and not all of us have Prime shipping. Plus, even if we didn’t want to BUY the calendar until it goes on sale, certainly we’d want to be READY to buy it, rather than scrambling to decide as favorites sell out. And finally, calendars are not all that expensive full-price, and they make very nice last-minute gifts for anyone you still haven’t found something for.
All of this is to say, “Hi! We’re talking about calendars today!”
Little Critters calendar (photo from Amazon.com). I chose the 2012 version of this calendar last year, and I have enjoyed it very much and would recommend it to others. Each picture was cheerful and whimsical without feeling too babyish—and yet it would also be cute in a child’s room. (I used to put up a calendar over the changing table just to have something to look at as I stood there two dozen times a day.)
This is San Francisco calendar (photo from Amazon.com). I’ve visited San Francisco several times and I had such a nice time there that now I have a soft spot for it. This calendar is a frontrunner for me this year. I love the style of art. There’s also a This is New York calendar and a This is London calendar by the same artist.
Lego: The Calendar (photo from Amazon.com). This isn’t one I want for my kitchen, but I can see putting this in one of the kids’ rooms.
Master of Illusion calendar (photo from Amazon.com). William and Henry will probably want this for their room: they both love optical illusions.
Elements calendar (photo from Amazon.com). I had William look at the Illusions calendar, and he says maybe that, or maybe the Domo calendar, or else maybe the Elements calendar he had last year. It IS pretty neat, and comes with a little elements poster.
Paper Paintings calendar (photo from Amazon.com). The cover photo on this one didn’t win me over, but when I clicked so I could see a shot of the back, I really liked the way the paintings looked.
Kandinsky calendar (photo from Amazon.com). I consider a Kandinsky almost every year, but so far haven’t chosen it. I think I prefer Kandinsky as one page of a multi-artist calendar.
Joan Miró calendar (photo from Amazon.com). Ditto Miró.
The Golden Age of Travel calendar (photo from Amazon.com). This is another strong contender for me this year. I must be in the mood for retro.
Hello Kitty calendar (photo from Amazon.com). Last year I waited too long to buy a Hello Kitty calendar and they went out of stock. Instead I bought Elizabeth a kitten calendar from the dollar section of Target. I was pleased at how adorable the pictures were; I also got a wild animal babies calendar for Rob and Edward’s room. Both calendars curled so badly they were unusable by the end of spring, so this year I’m buying regular calendars.
Downton Abbey calendar (photo from Amazon.com). This would make a nice gift idea for someone who’s dying for the next season to start.
Wimpy Kid calendar (photo from Amazon.com). The Wimpy Kid series is a big hit at our house; I like that they’ve been coming out with a new book just before Christmas each year. The calendar would make a nice gift set with the new book.
Everything is Going to Be Okay calendar (photo from Amazon.com). I love the cover of this calendar so much, I might buy it just to frame the cover. But the Amazon listing doesn’t have a view of the back, and when I found one here, I didn’t see many other pages I’d want.
Fold Your Own Zombies calendar (photo from Amazon.com). Paul had the robots version of this last year, and he loved it so much he wanted a second copy so he could have one at home and one at work. Unfortunately for him, there’s no robot calendar this year. Fortunately for those of you who enjoy zombies, there’s a zombie one instead. There’s also a unicorn version.
The Peeps Show calendar (photo from Amazon.com). I feel anything I could write about this would be inadequate.
Edward Gorey calendar (photo from Amazon.com). We had an Edward Gorey book when I was little, and it simultaneously fascinated me and freaked me out. (I felt the same about the Shel Silverstein book.)
(You can see an image of the back of the calendar here.)
Galactic Travel Posters calendar (photo from Amazon.com). I think everyone in the family would like this one.
Charley Harper calendar (photo from Amazon.com). I had a Charley Harper calendar two or three years ago and thought it was great. I’m not quite ready to repeat, though.
Bent Objects calendar (photo from Amazon.com). This looks both whimsical and creative.
Ukulele calendar (photo from Amazon.com). This caught my eye because my mom and brother both took up the ukulele this year. But twelve months of nothing but ukuleles seems like it overshoots their interest levels.
Rob Ryan Papercuts calendar (photo from Amazon.com). This one was THIS CLOSE to going on my finalists list: it seemed really cool and like nothing I’ve had before, and I liked it even better when I saw what the grid pages looked like. But then I clicked to see some of the pictures larger, and I saw they have little messages written in them: “I miss being a small girl,” “Our adventure is about to begin,” etc. I greatly dislike little messages of that sort.
Farmer’s Market calendar (photo from Amazon.com). I instantly loved this one, nearly enough to call game-over and buy it—and I loved it even more when I saw Amazon was out of stock so I would have to pay several hundred dollars to get it. [Lower-priced options have since been added, I see.] I found it at the Barnes & Noble web site, though, and I have a Barnes & Noble near me, so I might check for it there.
The Art of Valentina calendar (photo from Amazon.com). Like the Papercuts calendar above, this one has some little sayings on some of the pictures (you can see the back of the calendar here). But it looks like it’s just on two of the months, and the sayings aren’t too bad: one “Today is my lucky day” and one “Today I will trust that everything will be okay.” I think that might be all right, or it might be enough to bother me on the latter month: that sort of sentiment makes me feel argumentative rather than soothed. But I really like the colors and art. Dilemma.
Pantone calendar (photo from Amazon.com). When I saw that a Pantone calendar existed, I thought it would be The One: I bought the Pantone Colors board book for my nephew for Christmas and have been tempted to keep it for myself. But then I saw the back (you can see it here), and I don’t like the pixely thing at all—it makes me feel like my eyes aren’t focusing right. Which is very sad, because I love how each day is a different shade of that month’s color.
Fox calendar (photo from Amazon.com). I have been on a bit of a fox kick lately, so this calendar caught my eye.
Owl calendar (photo from Amazon.com). Also: owl kick. (You can see the back of the calendar here.)
Sesame Street calendar (photo from Amazon.com). This seems like it would be a friendly and comforting choice.
Will & Kate calendar (photo from Amazon.com). Hey, we all have our interests.
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Now for my favorite part of my favorite post of the year: What calendar are YOU choosing for 2013??
So fun! I spent a ridiculous amount of time looking at calendars on amazon yesterday after discovering that dh had hung one of those calendars you get at work from some vendor who wants your business. I have no desire to look at whatever machinery this company builds for the rest of the year so we need a new idea stat. I mostly use a giant desk calendar on the fridge to organize “The Calendar” as I call the family cluster-f**k of activities but I also like to have something pretty to glance at that isn’t cluttered with four colors of highlighter and every soccer game in the next four weeks.
SO - love this post. I’m a little gaga over the elements one since my newly turned sixth grader is loving chemistry right now.
Thanks Swistle.
Amanda | December 19th, 2012 at 12:10 pm
The Farmer’s Market calendar looks like the illustrations on the back of every issue of Cook’s Illustrated. If anything were ever going to tempt me away from my Mary Engelbreit, that might be it. And the Lego calendar is good to know about for when the boys move beyond their John Deere calendar. Animals and American Girl are in the other bedrooms.
Nowheymama | December 19th, 2012 at 12:33 pm
I got this one as a gift from my frog club (excuse to get together and drink frog-tinis). http://www.amazon.com/12×12-Fabulous-Frogs-2013-Calendar/dp/B0088WA0M0
Shelly | December 19th, 2012 at 1:10 pm
Totally my favorite post too! I have been waiting for this!
I really, really enjoyed Little Critters (on your rec!) this year but I don’t want to repeat. Golden Age of Travel was a contender for me too. I like the Farmers Market, but the calendar squares look a little on the small side.
This year I have picked Country Roosters. Something about it just calls to me.
http://www.amazon.com/Country-Roosters-2013-Wall-Calendar/dp/B007FRE8EU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1354574634&sr=8-1&keywords=country+roosters+calendar
Jennifer B | December 19th, 2012 at 2:42 pm
I’ve been using the Farmers Market calendar for my office calender this year, and I LOVE IT. I’m going with the boring old Ansel Adams this year at the office, mainly because the date squares are HUGE and that’s my #1 criteria for a work calendar.
Tessie | December 19th, 2012 at 3:07 pm
I want a fancy unicorn calendar for my office because I think that would be funny. I have a feeling no one else would find it funny though and would just be like “Huh. Mary must really like unicorns…” But I might get it anyway. I usually hold off on my calender buying until February or March, when they’re practically giving them away. My calendar this year is kittens and I think I paid 30 cents for it.
Mary | December 19th, 2012 at 5:06 pm
I love the vintage travel calendar, but I am torn: I really want (need?) a full-size calendar, but I like the pictures in the mini version of the travel calendar so much better! Maybe I’ll get the mini and a larger utilitarian one.
Ali | December 19th, 2012 at 5:34 pm
I have this on my Christmas wish list, and just noticed it’s already sold out! I wonder if any of my Christmas gift givers would have already gotten it… http://riflepaperco.com/item/2013_Cities_Calendar/290/c44
marilyn | December 19th, 2012 at 7:40 pm
I didn’t realize you usually did it after Christmas — sorry for bugging you! I was anxious to get calendars for work and now I’m having deep calendar regret. I love the Golden Age of Travel one and wish I’d seen it before ordering. (Benefit to ordering for work–I get to get lots of them!)
I did get two of the Elements calendar again this year. It’s super cool. I also got The Haunted Realm: (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1602376174/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i03).
And underwater dogs, just because it cracked me up and I knew the person who works where it hangs will like it: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1607556863/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i04
I think you featured Wanderlust last year, which I got for myself again this year. And also, Vintage Airplanes for my brother.
Kristin H | December 19th, 2012 at 9:00 pm
I’ve asked for a calendar of sci-fi and fantasy characters drawn in a pin-up style. It’s a charity calendar and has pictures in it based on characters from Neil Gaiman and N K Jemisin, among others.
Cayt | December 19th, 2012 at 9:24 pm
Not gonna lie, I’ve been waiting for this post..
Jenny | December 20th, 2012 at 1:15 am
I bought this beautiful sea glass calendar for myself: http://www.amazon.com/2013-SEA-GLASS-BEACH-GLASS/dp/B008LPQ81G
My daughter wants a cute baby animals calendar - did you find any of those that you particularly like?
lynn342 | December 20th, 2012 at 7:03 pm
lynn342- Baby Animals looks pretty good (you can get a look at the back here). I saw some others I liked better (and of course there’s Hot Guys and Baby Animals for those of us who are of age), but they all seem to be of the “out of stock but you can buy one for $50 from some Marketplace Seller” variety. I’ve had some luck in previous years finding cute baby-animal-type calendars on excellent clearances at mall kiosks and card stores after Christmas.
swistle | December 20th, 2012 at 7:15 pm
lynn342- Oh, I found another one with the same name: Baby Animals.
swistle | December 20th, 2012 at 7:45 pm
I’m another person who has been looking forward to this post! I so enjoyed my Charlie Harper calendar last year (recommended by you, of course). I love the Paper Painting one that you recommend, but I wish it wasn’t all birds. This year I am torn between these two:
http://www.amazon.com/Wayne-Thiebaud-2013-Calendar/dp/0764961314/ref=pd_sim_sbs_hg_1
and
http://www.amazon.com/Arts-Crafts-Tiles-2013-Calendar/dp/0764960873/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=2I9BQQ1FAPHBG&coliid=I1AVQ17RH14EME
Actually, looking at them again, I think I’m going to go with the Thiebaud calendar. A little moodier and more interesting, which is exactly what I want at work.
Kate | December 21st, 2012 at 3:48 am
Paper Source’s Wall Art calendar. I bought it this year, hemming and hawing until mid-January over whether it was worth $30, and I can conclusively say in December that it was. I loved every month, even the less exciting ones, because the colors are bold and cheery, and the motifs are at least 30-days’-worth of interesting. And I love the possibility of folding the used calendar pages into other paper goods, which I haven’t done yet but intend to do soon. Found here: http://www.paper-source.com/cgi-bin/paper/item/2013-Paper-Source-Wall-Art-Calendar/3303_019/842612043378.html
Buttercup | December 21st, 2012 at 8:03 pm
Why oh why does Amazon neglect to include a back view of so many calendars? It drives me nuts and sends me a-googling. One cannot pick a calendar based on the cover shot alone, Amazon.
(Love this annual post regardless!)
swimmermom | December 26th, 2012 at 4:18 pm
I just got Kate Beaton’s “There She Blows” literary calendar for Christmas and I wholeheartedly endorse it, especially if you like book-character-jokes and silly drawings.
http://www.topatoco.com/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=TO&Product_Code=BEAT-2013-CALENDARS&Category_Code=BEAT
I bet the Beethoven one would be amazing too.
Meggan | December 27th, 2012 at 11:27 pm
I love your annual calendar posts!
This year I went to the mall after New Year’s, and my options were few, but I came out with a real winner! It was between Extraordinary Chickens and Painted Hands. I loved the look of Painted Hands, and can’t believe how big and detailed the images are.
http://www.amazon.com/Orange-Circle-Calendar-Painted-51081/dp/B0081W2XI6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1357531684&sr=8-1&keywords=painted+hands+calendar
Jenny | January 7th, 2013 at 3:49 am
Jenny- Oooooo, I LOVE that one!
Swistle | January 7th, 2013 at 10:46 am