12 creative photo calendar ideas to start 2025
Another year, another million birthdays, appointments, events and other things to remember. Sigh.
Instead of getting lost in the whirlwind, organising the chaos is way more fun with a personalised calendar packed with your favourite smiles and memories. Hey, nobody wants to scribble down to-do’s in a boring calendar anymore, right?
Since you’ll be looking at it all year long, we’ve come up with our best photo calendar design ideas to get you inspired for 2025. Don’t worry, these DIY photo calendar ideas are all REALLY easy to make - and there are plenty of calendar photo ideas for each month!
1. Enjoy 365 days of summer holidays
Goodbye forever, dreary winter months! Fill a photo calendar with your sunniest snaps and relive your summer adventures every single month. Oh yes, this could be your neverending summer right here.
It might be dark and dull outside some days, but those memorable afternoons at the beach and sun-drenched holidays abroad will always brighten your day.
2. Turn adorable pets into calendar stars
Let’s be honest, your camera roll is jam-packed with cute photos of the dog, cat or any other furry friend you might have. Instead of leaving them trapped on your phone screen, their smushy, cuddly faces are the perfect way to start each month!
From playing with toys to being so naughty you can’t help but laugh, pets always do the funniest things. Catch these moments on camera and your amazing photo calendar is in serious business.
Since taking perfect pet photos can be a little tricky (especially when they just won't sit still), you could try one of our professional pet photoshoots instead. We'll capture your pet's biggest smiles, you'll take home perfect pet pics, and you can start making your pet photo calendar without any fuss!
3. Raise smiles with your funniest family photos
Dad’s silliest faces. Mum’s dodgy teenage hairdos. Crying kids ruining the perfect family photo when they should be saying “cheese”. You’ve collected all kinds of hilarious family photos over the years, so add them to a personalised photo calendar and get a good laugh every day!
Your parents, kids, siblings, and other family members might want to forget these embarrassing photos forever. But you definitely can’t let that happen.
Want to take perfect family portraits? Pop over to your local Max Spielmann store at any time that suits you for a family photoshoot – no appointment required!
4. Keep hold of the kids’ cutest drawings and artwork
They don’t just look great stuck on the fridge, your children’s most colourful drawings will also make a super-fun calendar. You’ll just need to simply scan their pictures to get started, although the hardest part might be choosing which of their million scribbles to include!
It doesn’t matter if it’s a simple paint handprint, a cute monster sketch, or a badly coloured-in drawing of the family, these adorable pictures will make you smile all year round.
5. Show off your favourite recipes
Mmm, something smells good! Since you’re such a whizz in the kitchen, design a photo calendar with snaps of your very best dishes.
It might be a delicious lasagne, a mouth-watering roast, or a shepherd’s pie that you insist is the BEST on the planet. Just remember to take a photo of your culinary masterpieces before attacking them with your knife and fork. Yum yum yum.
6. Recreate old family photos
Some childhood photos are just too good to be forgotten. You know the ones: they’ve been sitting on Grandma’s wall or Dad’s old photo albums for years, but they never fail to make the whole family laugh.
Whether they involve funny outfits, silly faces, or strange poses that seem impossible to replicate, try recreating these famous old photos and then gift them as a calendar the family will love!
7. Keep track of the little one’s milestone moments
Aww, they grow up so fast. It’s been a big year for the little ones, so make a photo calendar with their most memorable moments and show just how much they’ve grown.
There’s a good chance you’ve got photos of their first day at school, sunniest summer adventures, and everything else you’ll need already. Whether they’re 1 or 10 years old, now you can spend the whole of next year looking back at how far they’ve come!
8. Play around with seasonal scenery, props and costumes
Every great calendar has at least some kind of seasonal theme. Your phone might be jam-packed with wintry walks, sunny holidays or the dog dressed in an adorable Halloween costume - which are, of course, all straight-up photo calendar gold.
Even if you don’t have a photo for every season, it’s always nice to match your photos to your calendar month when possible. Huh, a Christmas selfie in March really wouldn’t make much sense at all.
9. Show off your 2024 highlights
What a year it’s been! No matter what you’ve been getting up to in 2024, we’re sure there are plenty of amazing highlights you can look back on in your camera roll.
So, why not put these photos into next year’s calendar to help you carry these positive vibes forward? Whether you’ve started a new job, expanded your family, or been on an amazing holiday, there are so many events and photos to choose from for your 2024 highlight reel.
10. Use your favourite quotes for inspiration
We all need a bit of motivation when the January blues hit. Even something as simple as your favourite inspirational quote can give you a much-needed boost on those dreary mornings.
Create your own inspiration board for each month by adding your favourite quotes to a personalised calendar. You can also keep it seasonal by tailoring each quote to a particular month, such as “No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn” for January or February.
11. Focus on your dream destinations
If motivational quotes don’t do it for you, why not inspire yourself with a photo of your dream holiday destination each month? Take yourself around the world without having to leave your home!
This is a fantastic idea if you haven’t had a chance to travel extensively yet. Instead of using actual holiday snaps, you can use your favourite photos of beautiful destinations you’d love to see one day, and use them as inspiration to follow your dreams and finally make those travel plans.
12. Reconnect with nature
Staying in touch with nature is so important for our mental and physical health. To keep nature with you even when you’re indoors, personalise your photo calendar with your favourite photos of the natural world throughout the seasons.
Whether you’ve taken these photos yourself, received them from travelling friends and family, or found them online, these nature photos are guaranteed to brighten up your mood.
Looking for more gift inspiration? Head over to the Max Inspiration blog to discover more gift ideas and photo tips for any occasion!
