DIY || 2015 Planner (Template Download)

Oh it's been far too long since I've done a craft/DIY post, but I'm so excited about this one! As I'm sure we're all well aware, 2015 is approaching us at the speed of light, so I've been starting to draw up my monthly calendars to at least try and start the year organised.

Every year I get myself a planner that I can organise myself in, but if you've ever gone on a planner hunt you'll know that it's almost impossible to find one that has everything you want in it. Do I want a planner with a monthly view or one with a weekly view? Why is there no space to write in this one? Why does this one have 100 extra pages of nonsense? WHY CAN'T I DECORATE IT MYSELF? So this year I decided to stop moaning and challenge myself to make my own, filled only with the things that I want in there, and so my 2015 planner was born!

I'm not even exaggerating when I say that this took me an entire day to make. For the whole day I did nothing else but type up each individual page and order them in a way that would print correctly with two pages to a piece of paper and double sided. What did I get myself into! But I actually strangely enjoyed the challenge...

Here's the things I put in my planner:

- Year view calendar

- 2 spaces to write New Year's resolutions (2015 at the front and 2016 at the back)

- "Seasonal Goals" pages: One page at the beginning of each season with a quote relating to that season and a space to write goals

- Monthly view calendar at the beginning of each month (feat. my own handwriting!)

- To Do List at the top of each week

- 4 pages for notes (2 in the middle and 2 at the back)

- Moon phases as well as a reminder on the days when there will be an eclipse

I kept it very minimalistic so there's plenty of room for stickers and random drawings around the edges.

Although it took a long time to make I am so so happy with how it turned out, there's something 10x more special about owning something when you made it yourself! I can't wait until next year to start using it! I thought maybe some of you would like to give making your own planner a go too, so I've uploaded a template for a planner for you to download and use. There's even two files: one for people who live in the Northern Hemisphere and one for the people who live in the Southern Hemisphere, just so the seasons are correct! Plus, the hard work of creating the pages has been done for you, so you have no excuse!

Northern Hemisphere Template

Southern Hemisphere Template

If you download the templates you might notice that it looks like the pages are all out of order, I promise they're not! This is because the planner is split into 5 sections: Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring & Summer 2016 (Or the other way around if you live up in the North). Once they're printed, everything should make sense! Each lot of 4 pages relates to one piece of paper, so when you print them they'll sit correctly. You should set your printer to print 2 pages on each side of the paper and double sided (It'll be 20 pieces of paper in total).

Once they're all printed fold your pages in half and use the page numbers to make sure they all sit in the correct order. You should be left with 5 sections that look like the ones in the bottom right photo.

To stick everything together I used this technique that I blogged about in January (here's a video if you need more guidance) But you could also staple your sections or anything else that will keep your planner together! Personally I think it'd be such an awesome gift idea to give someone a planner you made on your own, if only there was a gift-giving celebration coming up...

I've got doubts that anyone will try to make this, but if you do please let me know and I'd love to see photos! (tag @thehalfwaypoint on instagram)

Are you as excited for 2015 as I am?

x Erin