SpoonflowerHacks
Welcome to Spoonflower Hacks month! What is a “hack,” you say? In the DIY world, a hack is a project solution that uses materials in a creative or unusual way. For the DIY fun we’re sharing on the blog this month our are hacks are out-of-the-box, personalized projects you can accomplish using custom-printed fabric, decal, and wallpaper. The first comes to you by way of Spoonflower team member Allie with a calendar for the marketing team she created using a decal! (Note: Spoonflower no longer sells decals, but you can recreate this project using our Peel and Stick wallpaper.) 


Decal Calendar
As our lives become increasingly digitized, the days of snail-mail are quickly disappearing along with the satisfaction of crossing off tasks on a hand-written to-do list, I find it nice to sometimes use real, tangible tools. Working for an internet company everything is digital and the world of Spoonflower is no different. What I love about Spoonflower though, is the ability to take a digital file and create something real, whether it be a custom skirt, plushie doll, or decal calendar!

In the marketing department we thought having a tangible editorial calendar for our blog content would be a great way to see quickly what’s happening each month, so I created a calendar design to print on a 30″x30″ decal. Read on for the simple steps to create your own! I chose to create in Adobe Illustrator, but scanning in a hand drawn calendar or using another design software would also produce awesome results!

The How To:

Sizing Image

1. Create new image: I sized mine to fill a 30″ x 30″ decal, but you can make yours any size! (Spoonflower decals are available in three sizes — 5″ x 5″, 15″ x 15″, and 30″ x 30″)

Create grid

2. Add grid: I created grid lines to distinguish each day of the month using the pen tool. Holding shift while using the pen tool creates a straight line.

Changing Grid Color

3. Change grid color: While the grid is selected, I edited the color, choosing one of the colors from the palette I chose for the calendar. 

Adding Details
4. Add hexagons: Using the polygon tool I added hexagons one a time building a design.

Changing Colors
Once I had all of the hexagons in place, I selected a few randoms ones to change the color.

Adding Text

5. Add banner and text: I then added a banner and text. When editing the text, I added a little arc the text similar to the banner’s arc.

Grouping

6. Grouping design elements: In Illustrator, being able to group elements together is very useful. For example, I grouped the text and banner together so they moved as a single item together. After selecting both the banner and text, I right clicked and chose group.

JulyPost

7. Adding days & dates: Using the text tool I added the days of the week and dates.

Spoonflower Page

8. Ordering from Spoonflower: Once my design was finished, I uploaded it to my Spoonflower account, chose the correct settings, and placed my order!

Printed Decal

Trimming Decal

9. Trimming decal: Using a straight edge and rotary cutter, I trimmed the edges of my printed calendar.

Hanging Decal
10. Hanging it up: Now you’re ready to choose the perfect spot for your calendar!

Finished Calendar

Luckily, Spoonflower decals are repositionable, so if you don’t get it right the first (or second or third) time you can easily peel it off and try again!

Hexagons
In addition to creating the calendar, I printed extra hexagons sized to fit in each square for writing what’s happening that day.


Hexagons

Using black and gold Sharpies, I filled in the blog content for each day.

Filling in Calendar
And started to fill in the calendar!

Decal Calendar
This lovely little calendar framed with washi tape lives in the marketing department at Spoonflower HQ and is quickly filling up with all our exciting upcoming blog content for July!