SO, last night I was feeling a little guilty because EVERY year I talk about making an advent calendar, and it never ends up happening. I also feel a little funny because I design box templates, and yet I didn’t want to sit there and put together 24 or 25 little masterpieces. That’s a lot of cutting and scoring! I didn’t plan far enough ahead. Well, actually, I did, but I also ran out of ink, which I JUST replenished yesterday.

Anywho! I was at the Dollar Tree yesterday and came across some little round tins. Words of caution: They are SUPER cheap. They are sharp. They could cut your fingers when you try to pry the lid off the bottom. The plastic part of the lid comes out. They are CHEAP, but what do you expect when you buy them from the Dollar Tree? I bought 24 of them, because I figured that day 25 will be one of my pretty stars.

Next, I opened up Photoshop Elements and grabbed some fun date stamps by Kelley Mickus (from her November Grab Bag, which will probably be opened tomorrow), and A Time of Wonder digital kit by Danielle Engebretson. (I just LOVE these two ladies! Seriously. They are so sweet, and their designs ROCK!)

I did a little bit of designing (mostly just using the rectangular marqui tool to make 2×2 inch squares, which I then clipped paper to). Oops! I forgot to turn the grid off in the second screen shot, but you get the picture. Notice that I added some extra embellishments and a bunch of extra paper to add to the edges of the tins.

Then, I printed the two sheets out on Matte Photo Paper. I usually use Epson Premium Presentation Paper Matte, however I’ve been using the Ilfordbrand lately, and I really love it. I buy my paper in my local camera store, and they were all out of the Epson, so they recommended the Ilford. I think it ended up being a little less expensive, and a little bit sturdier. I might just switch. I don’t know.

Then, I used my scalloped punch to punch out the numbers. I flipped the punch over to make sure my number was centered. I used the punch by Stampin’ Up, but its the EXACT same one as this punch by Ek Success. (I paid a lot more for mine!)

After that, I just used some Glue Dots to attach the punched paper to the lid of the tin. I LOVE Glue Dots. Can’t create without them. Well, okay, I suppose if I have my Tombow Mono Adhesive, I can make my projects work, but I just LOVE the Glue Dots!!

I filled each of the tins with two chocolates, and I plan on putting a little slip of paper in each of them with a little family activity written on it. I was thinking things like: Take a drive to look at Christmas lights, make some Christmas cookies, Watch Elf, go to the Live Nativity, etc. I want to be deliberate about creating some memories with the family this year.

Here is the “almost done” project:

Notice that I didn’t decorate the edges yet or put the extra embellishments on them. Super simplistic right now. But, I don’t know. It’s kinda working for me! I might just leave it as it is. For now, the tins are in a little wire bowl, but I might tuck them into the little tree I just set up in the family room. I’m HOPING that we can go get our big Christmas tree this afternoon, and as soon as that happens it will look like the Christmas season has barfed all over my house. Well, at least I hope so.

If you haven’t created an advent calendar yet, no need to stress. #1 - If you get up the energy to make one (or buy one) today, your kids probably won’t even notice that you are a day late. #2 - You could just wait until 12 days out or even a week out and have a week-long advent calendar. Either way, your kids will be thrilled!

My boys just LOVE this little project, and so do I!

Linking to:

and Kimba’s DIY party!

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. When you use them, you help support this site! Thank you!

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

• Tweet