Okay, so I wanted to make a Chinese zodiac calendar for 2016, the Year of the Monkey, right? I figured it would be a fun little project, and maybe I could even print it out and use it.
Finding the Info
First, I needed to get all the dates and stuff. I hit up Google and just searched for “Chinese zodiac calendar 2016”.
- I found some websites that listed out all the dates, the animal signs, and the elements associated with each date. It was a bit overwhelming at first, all those dates and Chinese characters!
Organizing the Data
Then, I opened up a spreadsheet program. I’m no Excel whiz, but I figured it was the best way to keep everything organized.
I started typing in the dates, making sure to get the Lunar dates right (those were tricky!).
I also added columns for the corresponding animal and element for each date.
- It took a while, lots of double-checking, but I finally got all the info into the spreadsheet. It looked pretty messy, but at least it was all there.
Making it Look Nice
Next, I wanted to make it look, you know, like an actual calendar. I messed around with different fonts and colors. I even tried to find some nice, free-to-use images of monkeys to add a little flair.
It wasn’t exactly professional-looking, but hey, I made it myself! I played with different layouts, trying to make it easy to read and understand. I mostly just eyeballed what formats are appealing.
The Final Result
Finally, I had something that resembled a calendar. I could see each month, the corresponding animal and element, and the Lunar dates. I even printed out a copy, just to see how it looked in real life.
- It wasn’t perfect, but it was functional. And I learned a lot along the way, about Lunar dates, the Chinese zodiac, and even a little bit about spreadsheet formatting!
It was a pretty satisfying project. It’s kind of cool to look back at 2016 and see all the different animal signs and elements throughout the year. Maybe I’ll try making another one for a different year sometime!
