Christmas Calendar/Advent Calendar

I really wanted to make a countdown to Christmas calendar.  I found a lot of great ideas, but when it came down to making a choice I had to go with materials I had on hand and how much time it would take.  Considering I only had a week left, I chose a fairly simple design.  Mine is adapted from this quilt pattern.  I cut out the stockings from red and green felt, used clear thread and a zig-zag stitch to attach them to the cream felt.  I still need to embroider red over the Merry Christmas at the bottom and it would look better with a border since it is almost the same color as our wall!  I made the numbers for each day by printing them on gold paper, punched them with a star paper punch, and glued them onto strips of black construction paper.  There is a little treat tucked into each stocking (a peppermint hershey’s kiss-they fit perfect stuck in upside down!) 

In progress:               

Other calendar ideas I liked:

Yo-Yo advent tree (3^rd down)

Advent Cone Garlands

Garnet Hill-Home for the Holidays Advent Calendar

Garnet Hill-Giving Tree Advent Calendar

Mini-Stockings-Martha Stewart

Christmas Quilt

Xmas tree block

Christmas Crafts

Christmas Project Links-AllCrafts.net

No waste Holiday ideas

Paper Globes-Shim +  sons

Yo yo christmas tree-I knew that!

Gingerbread Man/Houses

Gingerbread Heaven-links from creative ladies ministry

Getting ready for Christmas

I don’t like to start decorating for Christmas until Thanksgiving is over, but we are slowly showing signs of it around the house already.  I found a cute tub to store the Christmas books in at Wal-Mart so that is now out in the living room.  I am searching for a Christmas countdown calendar to make and I’m making a list of crafts to do with the boy. 

    

Our Turkeys

 

The first turkey we made- A hands and feet turkey from Enchanted Learning.

 

Turkey Cookies-idea from Better Homes and Gardens-although ours aren’t quite as perfect looking!  But they were still yummy!

I had plans to do more with Thanksgiving and turkeys, but we will have to save those for next year!

Thanksgiving/Turkey Projects

http://www.craftsitedirectory.com/Thanksgiving/index.html http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/thanksgiving/Hands and feet turkey

Painted handprint turkey

Handprint turkey here and here

Tom Turkey Plant Poke

Hand Turkey cookie

Felt stuffed turkey

Trick or Treat Bag

I wanted to make the boy a treat bag instead of buying him one (of course!).  So yesterday we went to Joann’s to get a little bit of halloween fabric-it was on sale and I got 1/2 yd. for $1!  I used scrap fabrics and interfacings for the rest too!  I made the bottom by tracing a basket and then measured around it to get how much I needed for the sides.  I used heavy interfacing for the sides and in the bottom I put a plastic top that I cut down a bit.  I figured this would hold the weight of all the goodies better than the interfacing.  We tested the bag out last night when we did “Trunk or Treat” at church.  (if you aren’t familiar with this, cars line up with their trunks all facing the same way and they open them and decorate the insides-the people stand by their trunks and the kids go down the line and get treats)  The bag held up great, and no saggy bottom!  Now we need to hide the candy from the boy!