The Painted Apron

Creations, Advent Calendar

Posted by the Painted Apron on November 23, 2014 · 18 Comments 

Because the calendar gods are against us this year, you know, luring us into a false sense of plenty of time with this extra week before Thanksgiving, then unmercifully plopping Dec 1 on the Monday after turkey day, which will send us all into sheer panic

I am trying to outwit the calendar gods, by getting a few things done now.  In November   😱

I am trying to figure out how to have my front door look all fallish and festive for Thanksgiving and then have the pumpkins turn into Christmas trees on Friday, when this whole town will be decorating and fa la la-ing all over the place and I won’t be here and my pumpkins will look

SO ORANGE

^^’

BUT, inside, I will be ready!  Bring on Dec 1!

I am retiring  our old worn out felt advent tree with ornaments that don’t stick any more

And replacing it with a new one.   And it’s life size!

This tree is for Super Boy and Big E, who are here almost everyday…

A little holiday fun countdown~

I started with a big piece of wood that was a sign from last year’s Fiesta, I turned it over and spray painted it lime green

Then I sprayed a free form Christmas tree with dark green…

“What’s with the graffiti Christmas tree, Mom?” asked HHjr      Some people have no vision

This board is a cheap pressed wood board that soaks up the paint so I used the dark as a primer so I wouldn’t need to use so much of my good acrylic paint to finish the tree.  I painted over the sprayed outline, and adjusted the shape

I sprayed clothes pins red and added some stripes and dots

Then using a hot glue gun I spaced them out on the tree

Instead of numbering every bag, I made a number for the day, that way I can clip two bags together, in the same spot for each day

I glued card stock to red chevron wrapping paper using adhesive spray.  3 pieces of 8 1/2 x 11″ cardstock, cut into 8 rectangles, for 24 tags. I printed big numbers for the days on additional card stock and glued them onto the chevron cards

I can reuse the numbers next year, clipping them back on the tree once the boys have gotten the bags for that day

After an outing to the Dollar store, I laid everything out and decided what would go in each day.  Some things were $1, but many were $.50 or less

Large items that won’t fit in a lunch sack will be found on a treasure hunt, like these coloring books.  They will find a small box of crayons in their sacks, and a note with a hint of where to look

All the surprises are holiday oriented, light-up reindeer noses, antlers,  books, ornaments, etc.  Little Christmas stockings holding a surprise lump of chocolate coal will be found close to Christmas to remind them to keep being good!

Sleigh bells are for December 24, when they can pretend to hear Santa and his sleigh on the roof

I have some empty bags, still to fill, with goodies and ideas I find as December rolls along

We are going to be “growing candy canes” and drinking “melted snowmen” and maybe baking a cookie or two

Right now the “tree” is hiding nearby behind a screen in the dining room, ready to put in the kitchen Dec 1

So there, calendar gods!

The Elf on the Shelf will be on duty to ensure there’s no mischief~Super Boy has great respect for the Elf and I’m sure he’ll have no problem telling his little brother not to peek

So are you ready for the countdown?

This calendar is easy to make and you could do it on a much smaller scale, on a small board or a bulletin board

Clothespins and lunch bags make quick and inexpensive sacks for surprises. A lot of calendars hold a special thought, or spiritual reference for the day, instead of an actual item.  I didn’t want to load mine up with sweets, but rather activities and imaginative play.

When they get a little older, I am going to give them more thoughtful tasks to do in a giving spirit, but for this year, we’re just going to have a little fun 🙂

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I will be joining the fabulous parties and blogs on my sidebar and:

Between Naps on the Porch

The Scoop

Posed Perfection