Thursday 6 December 2012

Advent Calendar

Aft'noon peepsicles!
I thought I would post a few piccies of an Advent calendar I made a couple of years ago. It always stands on the dresser in the kitchen and is very much part of the Christmas decorations. I bought the calendar from Craft Mill, it's still available and costs £31.99. It comes all assembled in bare pine, ready for you decorate. It's really sturdy and the doors open and close really easy and it will last for years.

Here's a few close ups of some of the doors.


I used a selection of retro themed papers from K & Company, My Mind's Eye, Basic Grey, Cosmo Cricket and American Crafts. Some of the embellishment are die-cuts that co-ordinate with the paper collections. Others are ribbons, gems, shaped buttons, brads, snowflakes and rub-on words/phrases. The numbers are a mix of black and white glittered and plain white (some I coloured in).

I waxed the whole calendar, except the door fronts. Then I sanded it back, more in some places than others, to give it a distressed look. I made a basic template in card and then used it to cut out the papers. The papers were then carefully glued onto the door fronts. When dry I again sanded the edges, to give the distressed look. 

To finish, I embellished each of the doors and added the numbers randomly. Ta da!

The most important job is to fill it with loads of choccies. I usually buy the chocolate coins, mini bars and little chocolate puddings, except for 24th December, when we have Lindt miniatures! Oooh yummy!

The good thing is, if it starts to look tatty in a few years time, I can remove the existing decor and do something different. Apart from the fact it's going to last years, and you get the pleasure of decorating it (and filling it - eating any left over choccies - rule #1) £31.99 doesn't seem that bad, especially when you think of how much the throw away calendars cost.

This could be your New Year's resolution, to buy and decorate one of these calendars ready for next year, or you could get one now, decorate and fill it, then have a catch up choccy fest. I think the second suggestion is the best:)

Right, that's me for the nonce. Off to make a coffee and get the fire going. Until next time....xx












1 comment:

lucretia said...

OOOH! Very impressive...