Over the last months our readers were complaining about the low quality of wallpapers featured in the Desktop Wallpaper Calendar series here on Smashing Magazine. To keep the very high quality of the competition and motivate artists and designers to put more thoughts and ideas into creating original and beautiful wallpapers, we carefully reviewed our quality guidelines and decided to select featured wallpapers more strictly. Consequently, over 65% of wallpapers submitted to us in November unfortunately didn’t make it to this post.
We may have been a bit too strict or we may have been not strict enough – please let us know what you think and please also let us know how we can improve the quality of this series!
This post features 45 free desktop wallpapers, created by designers across the globe. Both versions with a calendar and without a calendar can be downloaded for free.
Please notice:
- all images can be clicked and lead to the preview of the wallpaper;
- you can feature your work in our magazine by taking part in our desktop wallpaper calendar series. We are regularly looking for creative designers and artists to be featured on Smashing Magazine. Are you one of them?
Christmas couple
“Wallpaper Christmas couple is devoted to the coming holidays.” Designed by Egor Kosten from Ukraine.
- preview
- with calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
- without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
Xmas Tree
Designed by Vlad Gerasimov from Irkutsk, Russia.
- preview
- with calendar: 800×600, 1024×768, 1152×864, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600
Santa’s Beach
"“Dear kids of the World: No gifts this christmas, just big waves. Santa”" Designed by Cafundo Estudio Criativo from Brazil.
- preview
- with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900
- without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900
Merry Skipmass
“Skipvine Interactive December’s Calendar.” Designed by Ionut Zamfir from Romania.
- preview
- with calendar: 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
- without calendar: 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
Snow queen
Designed by Helena Lunding from Sweden.
- preview
- with calendar: 1280×1024, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200
- without calendar: 320×480, 1280×1024, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200
TwoThousandTen
“Designed by Xabiso Ndaba” Designed by Xabiso Ndaba from United Kingdom.
- preview
- with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
- without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
Fake Rudolf
Designed by Monica Corduneanu from Romania.
- preview
- with calendar: 640×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1152×864, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1600
- without calendar: 640×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1152×864, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 1920×1440, 2560×1600
X-mas
“Winter is my favourite season and December is the heart of winters, it gives us shortest sunny days and longest cold nights , no doubt its the month of laziness but Christmas isthe most enjoyable and colorful event of this month so this wallpaper is a gift for last celebration of this year with this hope that new year will bring good days for all of us.” Designed by NarjisNaqvi from Pakistan.
- preview
- with calendar: 320×480, 800×600, 1024×640, 1024×768, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200
- without calendar: 320×480, 800×600, 1024×640, 1024×768, 1152×864, 1280×720, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1080, 1920×1200
Red december
Designed by Catherine Galeano from Bogota, Colombia.
- preview
- with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
- without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
Christmas Ribbons
“I love winter so much. It is all about Christmas season. Red colored ribbon signify the waiting for the Christmas.” Designed by vamsiraco from India.
- preview
- with calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
Where Jelly Beans Are Born
Designed by Vlad Gerasimov from Irkutsk, Russia.
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- with calendar: 800×600, 1024×768, 1152×864, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600
Crazy Santa
“This Santa I made for Xmas game in coopeation with Digibrand.” Designed by Alexander Bickov from Latvia.
- preview
- with calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
- without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
Christmas Snowman
“I wanted to make something different for this Christmas , so this turned out! I like it very much , especially the collors, so i hope that you will love it too!” Designed by Alexandra Ipate from Romania.
- preview
- with calendar: 1024×640, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600
- without calendar: 1024×640, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600
Numbers
“Large numbers on a paper background.” Designed by Valerie Morgan from USA.
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- with calendar: 320×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600
- without calendar: 320×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600
Starrain
“A calendar for December wih a nice little girl standing in a rain of stars.” Designed by mooti from Germany.
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- with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050
- without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050
swing girl
Designed by Soodabeh Amirakbari from Iran.
- preview
- with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
- without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
Whychristmas
“A calendar showing the special days in December. Get in the seasonal mood by visiting - one of the biggest Christmas sites on the web!” Designed by James Cooper from UK.
- preview
- with calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
- without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
Dance around Christmas
“Everyone is having a Merry Christmas with friends and family.” Designed by Chris Alexander (Yipori) from England.
- preview
- with calendar: 800×600, 1024×768, 1152×864, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 1920×1440
- without calendar: 800×600, 1024×768, 1152×864, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 1920×1440
Santa’s searching
“For so long, I ’ve been wondering how Santa managed to collect all the gifts for the good guys among us. And now I’m convinced maybe he’s using some hi-tech help. May you all have a beautiful and inspirational Xmas time!” Designed by Samoo from Italy.
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- with calendar: 320×480, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
- without calendar: 320×480, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
Snow Deers
““A month of love and joy for all, beneath the white snow fall… Its cold, snowy and icy on the outside, but christmas keeps us all warm on the inside.” Designed by Arjun Raj Kumar.S from India.
Stars and Stripes
Designed by Fabio Toscani from Italy.
- preview
- with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
- without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
Rounded Xmas
“I wish all Smashing Magazine readers a wonderful Christmas time!” Designed by Federica Sibella from Italy.
- preview
- with calendar: 1024×640, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600
- without calendar: 1024×640, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600
Christmas
“A Christmas Celebration.” Designed by Karna Shukla from India.
- preview
- with calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200
- without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1680×1200, 1920×1080, 1920×1200
Hurry up, Rudolph!
“Well, the economic crisis even hit Santa Claus and he had to sell his sleigh and fire aaaaaall the reindeers - except for Rudolph, who now has to drag all the presents through the snow on his own….:) Initially I was inspired by a little Santa Claus ceramic figure I had bought recently. I just loved it so much, I had to make some kind of artwork out of it. Merry Christmas!” Designed by Nicole Bauer from Germany.
- preview
- with calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
- without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
uh Oh Snow
“The snowmen are the only ones unhappy about the situation. Happy holidays.” Designed by Kristen M. Leonard from USA.
- preview
- with calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×600, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1900×1200
- without calendar: 320×480, 640×480, 800×600, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1900×1200
Seek Him
“I designed this wallpaper for inspiration during this Christmas season. It really encourages me to live in faith and hope.” Designed by Millicent Bowman from USA.
- preview
- with calendar: 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
- without calendar: 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×768, 1280×800, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
Grass killer
“My wallpaper Grass Killer was inspired by sad and cold weather this month.” Designed by Egor Kosten from Ukraine.
- preview
- with calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
- without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
Santa Lost His Hat
“With the rush of the holidays, how can you blame him.” Designed by Phidev Inc. from USA.
Xmas in Happy World
“A simple wallpaper to celebrate December and Xmas in a happy way.” Designed by Denis from Hong Kong.
- preview
- with calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050
- without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050
Electricity
“The magic of Christmas light.” Designed by Giada Degli Agostini from Italy.
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- with calendar: 320×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×960, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
- without calendar: 320×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×960, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
Anyway it’s my Umbrella.
“I draw this from seeing a beautiful thai woman walk with her umbrella on the street.” Designed by Chorkaew Patanukom from Thailand.
- preview
- with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
- without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
Winter Magic
Designed by Pietje Precies from The Netherlands.
- preview
- with calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
- without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
Sad Mushroom
“Sometimes the holidays can make you feel blue ^__^Love hurts….♥ ouch!” Designed by Martha Garzon from Colombia, USA.
- preview
- with calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
- without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
Nyc Grunge
“Image taken with iPhone in NYC. Grunge design appied.” Designed by Corey Cassaw from USA.
- preview
- with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1440×1024
- without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900
Happy Families are Made in China
“Outsourcing at it’s finest. Since all of our appliances and machines are made far east for the buying people far west, this wallpaper ironically briefly glimpses in the future of Mankind, but it is also homage to Tolstoy’s Ana Karenina and his thoughts on happy families: “Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.All of this was compiled from free resources around the Web. Background snow photo courtesy of Got3d” Designed by Antonio Hadrovic from Croatia.
Kiss
"Keep it smashingly simple." Designed by Umut Isbilir from Turkey.
Holiday Homeboys
“the festive frat boys, home for the holidays. make them apart of your december!” Designed by Justin Wright from USA.
- preview
- with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
- without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
Feast of Desserts
“Desktop wallpapers with whimsical flair.” Designed by April Joy E. Jasmin from Philippines.
- preview
- with calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 3000×1875
- without calendar: 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 3000×1875
Letter to Santa
“This wallpaper is one panel of a dark Christmas comic that we’ve been working on lately. We were inspired by old style Coca Cola commercials and wanted to give it a similar look. We’re planning to unveil the whole comic in a month on the Wet Raspberry Comics website.” Designed by Stefan and Xenia from USA.
- preview
- with calendar: 320×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1440×900
- without calendar: 320×480, 800×600, 1024×768, 1280×800, 1280×960, 1280×1024, 1440×900
Colorful Christmas
““Colorful Christmas” is just my vision about this holiday, everything shines and it’s so colorful!” Designed by Tha’s Trizoli from Brazil.
- preview
- with calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
- without calendar: 320×480, 1024×768, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1200
Merry Christmas
“Though we hate to admit it, Christmas is all about dropping our design shield and basking in the glory of gawdy lights, terrible tunes, and even worse Christmas cards. This wallpaper celebrates in ‘in-your-face’ side of Christmas, with enough lights to bring down the power grid. Have a great holiday.” Designed by chopeh from UK.
- preview
- with calendar: 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080
- without calendar: 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1440×900, 1680×1050, 1920×1080
Xmas Gifts
Designed by Vlad Gerasimov from Irkutsk, Russia.
- preview
- with calendar: 800×600, 1024×768, 1152×864, 1280×800, 1280×1024, 1400×1050, 1440×900, 1600×1200, 1680×1050, 1920×1200, 2560×1600
Join in next month!
Please notice that we respect the ideas and motivation behind artists’ work which is why we’ve given artists full freedom to explore their creativity and express emotions and experience through their works. And this is also why the themes of the wallpapers weren’t anyhow influenced by us, but designed from scratch by the artists themselves.Thanks to all designers for participation. Join in next month! And smashing December and a smashing new year, folks!