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Here's a list (of links) of some of my favourite ideas for Advent calendars & ideas which I've gathered from past suggestions on SCS. I'd love to learn about some of your faves, too! =)
Here's another idea, great for kids!... a paper chain (idea from this website):
Quote:
Materials - paper, glue, scissors, pen
Cut 24 pieces of red and green colored paper app. 1x6 inches.
Glue the first piece together to make a ring.
Put the second piece through the first and then glue into ring shape.
Continue until the chain has 24 links.
The fun comes each morning when the kids get to take a link off the chain. They can watch as Christmas morning gets closer and closer!
Ideas to put on the papers
You can add this poem to a piece of paper or board that you hang your chain from.
December 1st until Christmas
Is the longest time of the year.
It seems as though old Santa
Never will appear.
How many days until Christmas?
It's mighty hard to count.
So this little chain of links
Will tell you the exact amount.
Please let me know if you have the authors name. I would like to give credit for the poem.
For more fun, plan out 24 Christmas activities that will each take about an hour. Write each idea on a piece of the chain. As a link is taken off the chain, read the activity you will do that day. Some ideas are:
singing Christmas carols,
putting up decorations in one room,
writing Christmas cards to 10 people,
making cookies,
writing a letter to Santa, or
going for a drive to look at Christmas lights.
If you would like your children to have a better understanding of the true meaning of Christmas, you could put of bible verse on each piece of paper telling the story of the Birth of Jesus.
Families celebrating other holidays at this time of the year could use the idea of a paper chain, but pick their own verses or stories to put on each paper.
the squares for the muffin advent are magnet sheets. or if you want to maybe try to save a buck or two you can use magnet "tape" -narrow strips of magnet and just apply it around the edges of the squares...not sure the extra work is worth the savings you might get though.
__________________ Shellie G
Aspire to be a better person than you were yesterday
Just in case you missed it, Beate has a recent tutorial, as featured in SCS's Holiday Project Showcase. She used metal tins for each day and velcro to attach them to the canvas. :cool:
You can get a pack of 100 magents at walmart for $16 and you only need 12 for each calendar - plus i like that they have adhesive on them so you save a little on that part too.
__________________ Heather Scott - aka stampez
check out my Blog - stampez.typepad.com
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These are some great ideas. I've been toying with the idea of making one and this just gave me some great ideas. Maybe I'll make a 'sleeps until winter break' one for my classroom too
I'm planning to make Beate's advent calendar. I just have 2 quesions...
1. Why do the tins need to be removable?
2. What are some ideas of things to put in the tins? (for 2 girls aged 7 and 10)
How about family/Christmas themed activities for your girls to do with the family? For example, one could be baking cookies. So each day when they open it they know something fun is in store. :-D
I'm planning to make Beate's advent calendar. I just have 2 quesions...
1. Why do the tins need to be removable?
2. What are some ideas of things to put in the tins? (for 2 girls aged 7 and 10)
1.)I made them removable so they are easier to fill and to empty. You don't want the content to fall out when opened.
2.)I have three kids (13, 11, 8 ). The tins won't hold the goodies I am planning on giving out each day. I decided to leave a scavenger hunt clue in each tin. I only will fill one tin a day (when they are in school) and they can go looking for their treat when they come home. I can't wait. I am already thinking of cool places to hide the treats and ways to word the hints. This will be so much fun!
My advent calendar is currently 'in the works'. It's a larger one...it'll fit in a 16 x 20 frame. I'm using the Making Memories St. Nick line...LOVE that stuff! Anyway...it'll have 25 removable chipboard pieces (with magnets on the back) which reveal another piece of paper that's decorated...so there's still something purty to look at after the 'number' piece is removed. Each year I'll put various activities underneath that I can do with my kids. I got several of my ideas from Ali Edwards' blog...things such as "make breakfast for dinner and eat in your pajamas" and "have a picnic dinner by the Christmas tree" and "have hot chocolate with all the fixins".
Just in case I don't get the advent calendar finished this year (as I'm busy getting ready for company), I did make a paper chain with my kids (ages 4, 2, and 1) with the activities on them. I went ahead and started it yesterday, allowing us to do things like, 'put Christmas lights up on the windows'. It is totally helping me get the holiday decorations out a little bit at a time without feeling overwhelmed. The best part of having the activities written down, is that it will help me be a bit more organized in doing so many fun things with my kids. So often I get to Christmas and realize I haven't done half of what I had hoped to. I did have a calendar by my side so I could be sure that certain activities when on certain days. Oh yes...my DH and one DD have birthdays in December, so the link for their birthday is a special color so it stands out...it helps the kids keep track of those big events too.
I'm sorry I don't have any pictures of my advent calendar, but will surely post when I'm finished. Maybe I'll just take a picture of the 'work in progress'...as it is definitely that. Sorry I'm so wordy today!!!
For those of you who have made an advent calendar following Beate's directions, what adhesive did you use to stick the squares to the canvas?
Kay
I used Terrific Tape (you can buy it from Scor-Pal). My advent calendar is falling apart, though. :-( Someone posted their advent calendar in the gallery and said they laminated the squares to make it more durable. I thought it was a brilliant idea so I copied them and did the same thing... but because it's laminated I can't get anything to stick. I may try crystal effects or crazy glue.
My friend and uber-talented stamper Ardyth made the Beate canvas calendars... I have them posted on my blog if anyone wants to check them out! blog link
Thanks so much for this. I'm always so amazed the efforts people go to on here to share ideas, I've never known such a place. I just don't know how it's possible to do any kind of papercrafting without coming on here. I'm the only person I know who crafts and it can be lonely but although it would be even better if you were all living on my road, coming on here is fantastic and I find myself making things and trying techniques I would never have had the confidence to before. I still feel scared doing them but excited too to see how they'll turn out and I've made some lovely things so thank you...how many days til Christmas-have I time to make all of these!!!;)
Oh wow avonlea, thanks for bumping this thread!!! I love looking at Christmas crafts! I just finished an advent/countdown calendar, probably the most labour-intensive project I've tackled since I started stamping.
here is my version . . . i made a star album and then used the diaper fold method to make pockets for the candy . . . soooooooooo love the way this turned out!!! it is a gift for my niece . . . but i totally want to keep it for myself . . . bwahahahahaha!
{i included a few of the pages below . . . but there are more in my gallery if you want to check it out!!}
Advent Calendars
.:Advent 2008:.
