Day 1: Modern Christmas Advent Calendar

The in-laws adore my daughter, Charlotte. She is their only grandchild. In fact, they love her so much they flew us out to see them 2 weeks ago. We had so much fun. My favorite part (besides them of course) is the Goodwill in their small town. Last time we went to visit I found a Serger for $80! How cool is that!

I had so much fun looking for Christmas decorations but couldn't find an Advent Calendar that I liked. I knew I wanted to make one, but wasn't sure how. I kind of liked some of the knitted ones I've seen online, but wasn't willing to fork out the $70 to get one. I was talking with my MIL, Leslie, about it and she told me that they had an Advent Calendar that I could have because all of their kids are out of the house now.

So, after some dusting off of Christmas bins in the garage, we found it! The coolest part about this Advent Calendar was that it was hand cross-stitched by Leslie's sister. And instead of pockets to put the gifts in it had rings. Brilliant!!! It got me thinking. I had this idea to make this Advent calendar and just had to sketch it out. It took me about a week to cross-stitch it all, but I think it was so worth it.

Total out of pocket was less than $10. I found the Burlap in the scrap fabric at Walmart and some of the embroidery floss at the thrift store. The rings were the most expensive. We found them at TrueValue, a local hardware store. They are mini key rings and cost about $6 for 25 of them. I'm sure you can find them at any hardware store like Home Depot or Lowes.

So, are you ready to get started. Here are the steps!

1. Cut out a piece of Burlap (or whatever fabric you want) approximately 44 in x 21 in. Remember, this doesn't have to be exact. This will fit a small door. Or you can make it bigger or smaller. Your choice.

2. Print out these numbers . Cut them out and then trace them onto your fabric. I used a Sharpie Marker, probably not the best solution, but it was the only thing I could see real well on the Burlap.

















3. After tracing the numbers simply cross stitch them. I had no pattern and didn't really care if certain "x's" or "crosses" were bigger than their neighboring "cross". I'm somewhat of a perfectionist, but not enough that this would bother me.



4. Stitch on the rings.


























5. Wrap presents and tie to rings. This year I got Char lots of different art supplies to put in a Project Box. So that way when I'm working on a project, she can be in my office working on one too.

6. Fold & sew on top of Calendar to hold wooden dowel. Hang with ribbon or ricrac.

And can I just say that this Advent Calendar is going to be a life saver. My 4 year old asks every day if it's Christmas yet. Yikes! Whoever invented this idea, BRILLIANT!!!