Advent Calender

I thought I'd better get my butt in gear and get this Advent Calender posted in case there was anyone out there that wanted to tackle it. This pattern came from an old magazine that I don't know the name of, so I can't give credit. I got my hands on a copy of it from my sister-in-law who was also making it at the time (Aubrey, is yours finished yet????).

So here is my plan - in lieu of writing out a long and drawn out tutorial, I will post pictures of my finished product to get you inspired to create, and then I will mail you a pattern and set of directions. Just drop me a note in the comment section if you're interested and I will be more than happy to set you up to make your own. Here is the finished product:


This pattern is great, as you can change it up a lot of different ways to suit your needs and sewing skills. I used wool felt and the total cost for the wool felt was about $15.00, though if you wanted to use acrylic felt, your cost would most likely be half of that (maybe even less, as Joann often has their acrylic felt on sale).

The calender in the magazine used red and white as their main colors, though you can truly make this any color you'd like. I choose two reds, two greens, with accents in brown. The calender has a very basic set up, with 5 rows, each with 5 pockets totaling 25 days for your countdown, and a simple design above.

The numbers, as well as the reindeer/snow scene is all stuck on with iron on adhesive (I prefer Heat 'n Bond Ultrahold), so once you have them cut out, they go on pretty fast. I simply enlarged numbers on my computer, printed them out to the desired size, and cut them out for a pattern.


Now, if you're feeling lazy, you can stop here and simply fill up the pockets with candy for each countdown day. OR, if you're feeling crafty, you can whip up some felt ornaments.

I will include the pattern for each of these ornaments with the calender directions. I have one of those little mini fake trees that I use, so that each day, my boys can get an ornament off the calender to put on the tree, and by Christmas day you will have decorated the tree. I have 25 ornaments, one for each day, though since I have two kids, I put two ornaments in each pocket (so they each get to hang one) and fill the rest of the empty pockets with candy.

You will need basic sewing skills, but that is it. The required sewing is all pretty simple (just straight lines!) so anyone can tackle this. The ornaments are either hand stitched, or stuck together with Heat 'n Bond. It took me two weekends (about 4 or 5 day) to finish this so you have plenty of time to make one for your kiddos before December 1st.

Who's going to make one????

Next up? Tree skirt for your mini tree!