Earth Day is coming up on Sunday April 22nd and people like to celebrate by spring cleaning their home.

A close friend asked me to come over last week to help box up some things to donate. She wanted to take the clothing items to a Syrian fundraiser textile drive happening in our community, while throwing away some items she no longer used.

I was boxing up some things when I came across a perpetual calendar in the “Get Rid Of” pile. A perpetual calendar is a type of perennial device that is valid for many years, not just one. I asked why she was getting rid of it but she said with the convenience of cell phones, she never uses it anymore.

Lightbulb moment for me: why not convert the English numbers and months to Arabic to help my daughters practice more?

I asked if I could take it home and save it from the landfill and she said yes.

Once I got back to the studio, my daughter helped me use Mod Podge to make the magic happen of amending our months and numbers. Check out the rest of the materials used and how we are celebrating Earth Day by re-purposing things around us for a new use, in this case, a multilingual learning tool!

Supplies

Perpetual calendar

Arabic months and numbers print out

Foam brush

Mod Podge

Ruler

Xacto

We measured the size of our existing months and numbers pieces.

We added a tiny bit of overage to all the sides and cut everything down. It’s better to trim any extra later than try to make a small piece fit.

To adhere the paper to the wood, we added Mod Podge with the foam brush to the piece and also to the back of the paper. Once we added the paper, we also added an layer of Mod Podge to the top.

We did the same to the numbers, making sure to place a zero, 1 and 2 on both cubes. We placed the 3, 4, and 5 on one cube and the 6, 7, 8, and 9 on the other.

Just a reminder, similar to English, where the 6 can be turned upside down to become a 9, the Arabic language has that same ability with the ٧, which is 7 that becomes a ٨, an 8.

Our calendar was done and ready to go in our kitchen. We are going to start a tradition of saying the month and days in Arabic at dinner each night.

There is a slot in the back of the calendar (behind the numbers) that used to hold a note pad and pencil. But I am going to add the days of the week, when I get a chance to print them out.

If you enjoy re-purposing materials into new things, check out these other recycling projects we’ve made into calendars

Arabic Ramadan Countdown Calendar {Tutorial} – made from fencing materials

Ramadan Dates Calendar {Tutorial} – made from cardboard rolls

Be sure to visit A Crafty Arab on Pinterest for more DIY craft tutorials.