Christmas Advent Calendar

December 21, 2012
Alright, it's not completely done, but I'll update you on the status of my Christmas Advent Calendar anyway...

Status update:
It's coming a long.

There ya have it! But just in case you're wondering, here's the detailed version of what I've done...

You will need:
LOTS of different colored felt
Sewing Machine, needle, thread, etc.
Velcro
Hot glue gun
Hard felt... stuff (can't remember what it's called, but you'll know what I'm talking about when you go to the felt section of the craft store)


Step 1: Cut out your background, squares (for pockets), tree, and numbers. Make sure you cut your numbers (1-24) out to a size that will fit easily on your squares.

Step 2: Sew or hot glue gun your numbers to your pocket squares.

Step 3: Measure carefully to get your squares on straight, and sew your pockets to your background. This time I would definitely sew because it will probably hold better than hot glue. I tried drawing little Ls around the corners, but ended up hand-stitching big basting stitches to hold the pockets down while I sewed. Try it any way you like.

Step 4: Cut out your tree and sew it to your background.

Step 5: Start in on your ornaments! For these, I would definitely use a hot glue gun. Hand stitching is taking WAY longer than I anticipated. Here are the ornaments I made/am making:

1. Gingerbread man
2. Snowman
3. Candle
4. Candy Cane
5. Baby Jesus
6. Santa Clause
7. Bow
8. Christmas Present-1
9. Christmas Present-2
10. Dove
11. Mitten-1
12. Mitten-2 (because I think the mittens are SO cute!)
13. Teddy bear
14. Snowflake
15. Peppermint candy
16. Bell
17. Stocking-1
18. Stocking-2
19. Holly/mistletoe
20. Reindeer
21. Mug of hot cocoa
22. Regular Christmas tree ornament (glass ball)
23. Mouse
24. Star

Step 6: Hot glue the hard felt to the back of your ornament (so it slides in and out of the pocket easily)





Step 7: Hot glue small pieces of Velcro to the tree and to the back of your ornament. GLUE THE SOFT SIDE OF THE VELCRO TO YOUR ORNAMENT! That way your ornament doesn't catch on the felt on the way into the pocket, you know what I mean?


Step 8: Sew a 1 inch "hem" along the top edge of the calendar for your rod to go through (unless your rod is thicker than that!). Before sliding the rod in, measure 2" in from each side (along the hem), and cut out two little rectangles (about 1/2") along the top, almost down to the seam. Slip the rod through, and tie a ribbon around the rod at the places where you cut out the rectangles. Make sense? Cut the ribbon to the length of your preference.

Step 9: When you store it, leave all the pieces up on the tree so the rough side of the Velcro doesn't mess up your calendar.


And there you have it! One, beautifully made Christmas Advent Calendar! You can add some nice scriptures of the Christmas story to read with each day as well! It helps remind me of the reason for this season. Merry Christmas!

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