12 Days of Christmas Countdown Advent Calendar

Hello!  Shanna here again with a fun and festive Christmas project!!  

In my house we have a tradition of a countdown advent calendar... Similar to the chocolate ones you see in stores, we like to give little treats and toys as part of the fun!  I have varied in the past with a full 25 days of fun, or a simpler 12 days of counting fun.  This year, for my 5 year old's first advent calendar I chose to run with the 12 days of Christmas countdown as it will be a little more simplistic for him to follow as he is autistic and the more simplified it is, the less stressed he gets.  

I adored making this fun banner-style calendar with with fun and simple flair!

Here is what I used:

SRM Stickers Treat Bags in Red and Green, multiple patterns

SRM Stickers BIG Numbers clear stamp set

SRM Stickers Live Life/Christmas Stickers

Red and Green Scallop circles

Green Jute Twine

Distress Oxide inks in Lucky Clover, and Candied Apple

Mini Clothespins

I started by stamping directly onto the scallop circles the numbers 1-12 using the BIG Numbers Stamp Set.  I actually ended up embossing them in clear, but it down played the oxide colors unfortunately.  Good news is my 5 year old won't be nearly as critical of them as I am!  

Next was made easy peasy by utilizing the treat bags as the wrapping/holder for the goodies.  We keep things small and affordable.  I picked up a multi pack of trains (his fave) and some figurines from the dollar store along with a couple pencils that are helping him learn to write.  Fun stuff!!  I put candy in my older kids calendars sometimes to mix it up, but for this one I stuck with small toys. 

I folded down the bags to close them and then sealed them using one of the awesome stickers in the SRM Stickers Live Life/Christmas Stickers set!!  Super easy!  I attached my numbers to the bags with some double sided tape and then strung them on the jute twine clothesline-style.  I love how it turned out and will fit on our mantle perfectly this coming December!

What is a fun tradition you like to do in preparation for Christmas??

Until next time!!

Shanna

Renew The Love Within by Shannon

This may be a little late in the season to be sharing an Advent entry...but...the focus is right on time. I'm forever delayed on getting things done for myself on time. 

Guys, I really wanted to be the person who completed my December Daily album (wait, what...yeah that didn't happen) and I wanted to do a daily Advent entry...cue the laughter reel, again hilarity ensues. 

Anyone who knows me, knows I am incapable of saying no to a cry for help. Unless I have a bone protruding from my body somewhere or I am super ill, I will be there. This is what happened from August to December and is still ongoing. Guess what? I am more than ok with it, I am a helper, it's what I do. Yet there's that regret of not being able to focus on what I love most, creating. It's not my path at the moment. It's going to circle around. Which brings me to the relevance, on renewing the love. You deserve a few quiet moments to focus yourself each day, I'm working on loving myself a little bit this year. That means doing things that make me happy. Renewing the spirit inside myself so I can care and help others without feeling deflated. To help with renewed  joy and care. 

So in a weird way, this Advent message is a Valentine/Love message to you. Renew the love within you, look to things with a smile instead of a frown. I know that's easier said than done and I am guilty of frowning myself. When you're stuck and unable to say yes...say a quick prayer to God to renew your spirit and help you to be cheerful, to love others and yourself. 

This entry was incredibly easy to create, hearts are one of my favorite things, so it flowed out of me quite fluently. I used watercolor pencils, the wonderful new white pen and Le Pens for this entry. Thank you for letting me share with you.

❤ 

SRM PRODUCTS I USED ABOVE:

Black Le Pen

Reminisce Gel Pen in White

Watercolor Twist Pencils

Color In Watercolor Pencils

Advent Journal Cover by Karen

Hello!  Karen with you today.  I'm a big fan of upcycling or trying to use what I have before buying new. Such was the case with my Advent journal for this year. I had a little used journal, so I removed the used pages and freshened up the cover to create this notebook to record my daily devotions for December.

The cover was in pretty good shape, but after removing a couple of stickers, was in need of a refresh. I simply brushed on acrylic paint in a similar color to the original and it looks great. For the title, I grabbed some awesome and shiny SRM vinyl that I've been wanting to use. It cut beautifully in my die cut machine and adhered really well to my cover.

To finish it off, I added some great stickers from my Christmas stash. Now my journal is ready for the season!

For this project I used the following supplies:

Vinyl from SRM |  We've Got Your Sticker "Merry" | We've Got Your Border "Christmas"