Advent Calendar 2015

In my last post I introduced you to the new Christmas Joy line from Creative Memories. Today I want to show you an easy Advent Calendar/Christmas Countdown project I made with these fun products!

Over the years I've made and used lots of different Advent calendars. This one used a mini-muffin tin, paper covered magnets and had treats inside each muffin cup. We've also done store-bought chocolate filled calendars and Lego Advent Calendars for the boys.  But my favorites have been Christmas Countdowns which combine family activities and service projects for the days leading up to Christmas. Typically there was some kind of calendar or chart that I mounted on our Creative Memories Everyday Display magnetic board, and then selected an activity to do each day. It turns out that the boys loved the idea of "doing" something each day, even more than they liked the idea of a chocolate each day!

When I opened the Christmas Joy Paper Pack I knew that the numbers page would be a perfect backdrop for this year's countdown.

It was super simple to make as there are only a few components - the background paper itself, an "arrow" to point to each date and a pocket to hold the activities. As for supplies, they were minimal too...I only used one the one paper from the Christmas Joy Paper Pack, a couple of the Christmas Joy stickers and some red cardstock (old CM - "Cranberry").

Let's make it:

• Place the whole sheet of the number paper on the magnetic part of the Everyday Display (you could use any other magnetic or bulletin board for this, or place the paper in a frame if you aren't lucky enough to have an Everyday Display!)

 

• Select the "December" sticker from the Christmas Joy Sticker Pack. Mount it onto the cardstock and trim one end to resemble an arrow. Glue a magnet or a piece of magnetic tape to the back of the arrow.

• Cut a piece of cardstock to 4" x 8". Score at 3", and fold along score line. Adhere both sides with some tape runner to make a pocket. Select and add a sticker to the front of the pocket. (You could also distress is with ink or add a small piece of patterned paper as I did.) Pin the pocket on the ribbon that goes across the Everyday Display (or, use magnets, push pins or tape to add it to your board).

• As for the daily activities, I've been using these printable activities from www.iheartorganizing.com for the past few years, but in addition to creating a new countdown backdrop, I decided to make my own activity strips this year!
  

You can download my activity sheet here and use it yourself if you like! Print them onto some white cardstock, cut them apart and place the strips in the pocket. Pull a strip everyday from December 1-24 and have fun! You can even save them and reuse them next year!

I hope you have fun creating your own EASY Advent Calendar this year. I'd love to hear from you in the comments below if you do, or if you take this idea and make it your own!

I'll be back in a day or so with some ideas how to use the CM Christmas Joy products for your 2015 December Daily! Make sure to subscribe via email (see sidebar) or bookmark this blog and visit again soon!

Have a great day!