Christmas Advent Calendars

Matthew and Aidan's

Michael and Cody's

Random picture of Michael set for another blog entry but I can't seem to remove it..lol

finished.

steaming the iron on webbing along the sides.

Fold the top corners in and under.
Fold the sides under so the whole thing is about 4-5 inches wide, whichever you like best just make sure it's straight.

Fold the ends under and iron in place.

All the different ribbons and threads, glue sticks, iron on webbing and sticker letters to go on the wooden letters.

A few years ago my sister Amy had me come over and helped me make these cute advent calendars but sadly mine didn't hold up as well as I would have liked so this time around I took a bit more time and effort and am very pleased with them. On average the material cost $1.48-$2.00 for each calendar, then $0.47-$1.97 for each spool of ribbon ( it took about a spool and a tiny bit more for each calendar). $2.50 for each letter at the top, and $2.47 for the toll paint and polyurethane to give it a satin finish. Then between $0.47-$1.47 in buttons for each one. $2.00 box of 100 mini candy canes, and a $5.00 bag of mini tootsie rolls (which did enough candy for 15 advent calendars) I bought two larger pieces of candy to go at the top of each calendar for Christmas eve and Christmas day. My Mother in Law Lisa didn't do letters at the top of hers. She used a small ribbon looped and sewn on with a button and they looked adorable too!

Turn the material length wise and fold it in half. Iron it perfectly flat. Fold under the bottom edges about 1/4 inch and iron in place, fold sides under towards each other and iron in place. same with the top. Then on each side at the top fold the top two corners under at an angle and iron under. Using Iron on webbing cut stripes that are long enough for the top, bottom, sides and angles along the top. Using the iron on steam hold it in place on top of the material for 10 seconds until it fuses the sides together. Measure 25 spaces for each ribbon to be either hot glued or sewn in place. I sewed mine because frankly I'm on bed rest and have nothing better to do. Mean while each of the kids and I painted out own letters, and polyurethaned them. Using hot glue and ribbons we attached the wooden letters to the larger ribbons and then sewed the ribbons in place with buttons and all that's left is to tie on your candies and hang them. I love the look of them and each kid got to pick their own materials. Sadly all we have here to pick from is wally world. Had I been close to a hobby lobby or a Michael's or Hancock's fabric I'm sure we could have gone all out. But I'm rather pleased with how they tuned out. Email me at cute_sassafrass@yahoo.com if you have any questions. Have fun!