Make a Christmas Advent Calendar!

Back in 2008, I made an Advent Calendar of activities for my family and shared how I made it on the crafty blog I used to write.

Today I pulled out the calendar and set it up for this year. It reminded me of that old blog, so here is a re-posting from it.  All of the text from here on is a copy-and-paste from the old blog:

This year I decided I wanted to make an Advent/Activity Calendar. I don’t know if it really counts as an Advent calendar since it’s not religious-based, but I wanted a countdown to Christmas with activities that could be done as a family each and every day. (see the end of the post for the list of activities I choose)

I was inspired by this example I saw online and followed it as an example. I made my wider (a full 12″ in the middle) so that my tags would be big enough to write on. I like that the tags are completely removable and separate from the numbers, so that I can decide exactly when I want each activity to happen, depending on our schedule for December that year.

How to make an advent calendar

 Materials used: Die Cuts With a View Glitter Christmas Stack, CTMH cardstock, CTMH ribbon, CTMH stamps and inks, CTMH fiber, Liquid Glass, glitter, pop dots, misc brads, etc. A Wishblade or similar electronic cutting system will be helpful but not absolutely necessary if you don’t mind some hand cutting.

Unfortunately I didn’t think to take photos for each step, but I’ll try to describe each step.

The Overall Structure

  • One 12 x 12 sheet of cardstock is used for the background of the middle section (the green paper the folders are attached to) – paper A
  • Two 12 x 12 sheets of cardstock on used on either side of the middle section (the red and green “Joy” paper you see in the image below) – paper B
  • One 12 x 12 sheet of cardstock for the back (not shown in photo) – paper C
Put it together like this:

  • Score the two B papers at 6″. On one of the sheets, the left side will show, and on the other, the right side will show.
  • Lay paper C face down on the table.
  • Take one paper B and adhere the front of it to the wrong side of paper C, so that the score line at 6″ is at the left edge. Paper B will extend 6″ past paper C and fold back over it.
  • Do the same thing with the 2nd paper B on the right side of the paper C.
  • Take paper A and adhere it in the middle, between the two score lines, covering the seam created by the two paper Bs.
  • In the end, half of each paper B will be sandwiched between papers A and C. The other half of each paper B will fold over, meeting in the middle to cover paper A.

The Front

The front closure needs to be done before the inside.

I punched two circles (1″ I think) from light green, and four smaller circles (3/4″ I think). I adhered two small circles and one large circle together in a stack, and then attached the snowflake with a brad, through the three circles AND paper B. The smaller circles give a little space for the fiber to fit under.

Repeat with the remaining circles on the other side. Wind some waxy flax around the left side for a closure.

When the inside is done, it will cover the prongs from the brads.

The Left Side, Inside

To cover the wrong side of the scored paper used for the cover, I cut another piece of 12×12 cardstock, paper D (the striped cardstock in the above photo), in half and adhered one to each side. But before you stick it down, see the grommet in the top with the ribbon through it? I wanted it to look finished on both sides, so I put a grommet in paper D and a 2nd grommet in the cover (paper B) each facing the right side of the paper. Then I adhered paper D to paper B, and threaded the ribbon through.

Repeat this on the right side, so a total of 4 grommets will be used.

For the NOEL, I stamped the letters on white paper with red ink, then covered lightly with Liquid Glass and sprinkled with glitter. It doesn’t show very well in the picture, I know. I originally wanted to emboss the letters but my embossing never comes out how I want it. *sigh*

Cut out the letters and adhere to green cardstock (I forget the size, I think there’s about 3/4″ around all four sides) and inked the edges with dark green ink.

The Right Side, Inside

The envelope on the right side for holding the leftover tags took me a lot of time. I had to create the template for the envelope and I’m not very good with spacial thinking, and I wanted it to be thick enough to hold all 24 tags, so it’s actually 1/4″ deep. I used my CraftRobob (similar to Wishblade) to cut out the envelope. I originally intended to just make it red, but ended up lining it with green paper, to cover the wrong side of the brads.

So, once you have a piece cut out of each green and red, put the brads into the red paper. Leave them a little bit loose so there’s room underneith hem for the fiber for closure. It’s easier to do that before you assemble the envelope. Once the brads are in, assemble the red and green envelopes separately. Then put the green envelope into the red envelope and adhere. It’s a tight fit (because they are cut the same size) and the green pokes out of the red a little. You could make the red template a smidge bigger if you wanted to keep the green totally inside.

The Believe tag was simply cut out from one of the papers included in the DCWV stack.

I wrapped some CTMH waxy flax around the brad in the flap, to use as a closure.

Download GSD file for envelope
(NOTE: this file was created in RoboMaster 2.4 and I have no idea what other software it will work in.)

Tags and Folders

The tags are simply punched out using the Marvy punch on dark green paper and inked with black ink. Then I punched squares (1 1/4″ I think, I’ll have to check) from light green paper and inked with red ink and wrote the activity with a red pen. Adhere the light green squares to the tags and add fiber.

The folders I also used my CraftRobo for. Cut them out and assemble them. I inked the edges because the white from the back of the paper showed through the scored edges and I didn’t like how it looked.

I punched 12 pink and 12 light green circles (3/4″) and inked in red and green, respectively. Then, alternating numbers, stamped in red and green, respectively. Adhere to folders with pop dots.

Adhere folders to paper A evenly, 6 across and 4 down. I drew lines with a vanishing ink pen and eyeballed the placement of each folder within the grid.

Download GSD file for library pocket folders
(NOTE: this file was created in RoboMaster 2.4 and I have no idea what other software it will work in.)

 

List of Activities

Here is the list of activities I wrote onto the tags. I also plan to make some extra, blank tags to keep with the calendar, to make new activities as our family grows. This way I won’t have to worry about having the same supplies to match several years down the road.

Visit Santa at the mall
Buy a toy for Toys for Tots
Watch a christmas movie with popcorn
Drive around neighborhoods to see Christmas lights
bake cookies
make ornaments
make gifts for teachers
letter to santa
Family Game Night
Watch a christmas movie with popcorn
Decorate outside
Deck the Halls and Trim the Tree
Symphony of Lights
Choose a toy to donate
Deliver cookies to the neighbor
Fill out Christmas Cards (bulk)
Put gifts under the tree
Fill out family Christmas Cards
Read the Christmas Story/The Greatest Story Ever Told
Wrap Gifts for Mommy
Wrap Gifts for Daddy
Choose 3 toys to donate
Choose 2 toys to donate
Choose one gift to open

christiespeich 2 Comments

Six Sentence Sunday: NaNo Week 3 (November 25, 2012)

Being out of town for two weekends in a row makes for low activity on the blog. I’m way behind on my NaNoWriMo story, but I’m continuing to plug away. And so, I have six more sentences to share for Six Sentence Sunday.

The last two weeks have been scenes from Jeremy’s point of view. Although Brett and Jeremy are both heroes of the story, I consider Brett to be the “more” main character. Here’s six sentences from his point of view:

(And remember, it’s NaNo — that means it’s fast-drafted and unedited!)

Jeremy’s hands on his back have always felt good, but Brett could swear they felt extra good today. Not only did the pressure on his aching muscles help to work out the tension, but every touch sent chills down Brett’s spine. More than once he shivered under Jeremy’s fingers.

“Everything okay?” Jeremy asked.

Brett moaned in response. He loved that he could tell Jeremy was smiling just by the way he said it.

 

The working title is Shots On Goal  and the tentative summary is

Brett has just weeks left on his contract with his minor league team to prove he deserves a spot in the NHL when a wrong move aggravates an old injury. When he learns the figure skater he’s admired from afar is also a skilled massage therapist, he sees a chance to save his dream.

Jeremy loves dancing on the ice, but his dream to be a professional figure skater died before it began.  To keep his massage therapy business alive, he’ll need to take on more clients, which leaves less time for preparing for the upcoming skating competition.  So when Brett offers to pay Jeremy double for his treatment, saying no is difficult even though Jeremy usually refuses to treat male athletes. Especially huge hockey players who sneer at gay figure skaters.

As Jeremy’s hands work their magic over Brett’s muscles, Brett must break through Jeremy’s walls and convince him  he’s not the homophobic jerk he appears to be…while also hiding his injury from his coach and his sexuality from everyone but Jeremy.

Hope you enjoyed the little snippet. Be sure to check out the other Six-Sentence Sunday participants!

christiespeich 1 Comment

Six Sentence Sunday: NaNo Week 2 (November 18, 2012)

During November, I’m participating in Six-Sentence Sunday and sharing some of my NaNo story.  I had been planning to write a young adult novel involving a robotics competition.  Then 12:01 AM November 1st, after the magic of Halloween had come to an end, I suddenly decided I didn’t want to work on that story after all.

Instead, I decided to pick up on an old short story I had wanted to write a couple years ago and expand it into a short novel.  It’s an adult romance, not young adult.

(And remember, it’s NaNo — that means it’s fast-drafted and unedited!)

He had Brett now, and Brett was three hundred times better than Seth. A better kisser. A better talker. Brett could even skate, dammit!

Not a better dancer, though, Jeremy thought as Brett leaned against him, making him stop his movements. Or wait … was Jeremy leaning against him?

(Jeremy is a little bit drunk. Heehee.)

The working title is Shots On Goal  and the tenative summary is

Brett has just weeks left on his contract with his minor league team to prove he deserves a spot in the NHL when a wrong move aggravates an old injury. When he learns the figure skater he’s admired from afar is also a skilled massage therapist, he sees a chance to save his dream.

Jeremy loves dancing on the ice, but his dream to be a professional figure skater died before it began.  To keep his massage therapy business alive, he’ll need to take on more clients, which leaves less time for preparing for the upcoming skating competition.  So when Brett offers to pay Jeremy double for his treatment, saying no is difficult even though Jeremy usually refuses to treat male athletes. Especially huge hockey players who sneer at gay figure skaters.

As Jeremy’s hands work their magic over Brett’s muscles, Brett must break through Jeremy’s walls and convince him  he’s not the homophobic jerk he appears to be…while also hiding his injury from his coach and his sexuality from everyone but Jeremy.

Hope you enjoyed the little snippet. Be sure to check out the other Six-Sentence Sunday participants!

christiespeich 2 Comments

Friday Finds: 3 Romances: 1 Contemporary YA, 1 Paranormal/Gothic YA, 1 LGBT; 2 Writing Craft (11/16/2012)

FRIDAY FINDS is hosted by Should Be Reading and showcases the books you ‘found’ and added to your To Be Read (TBR) list… whether you found them online, or in a bookstore, or in the library — wherever! (they aren’t necessarily books you purchased).

Some weeks I add several books to my list. I’ll be limiting my Friday Finds posts to 5 books each week. Those that don’t make this week’s list will be on next week’s. So many books, so little time!

Shrapnel by Stephanie Lawton

Goodreads

Summary:

It’s been six years since Dylanie and her family visited a Civil War site and the place came alive with cannon fire. Problem was, no one could hear it but her.

Now she’s sixteen, her dad’s moved out, her mom’s come out of the closet and Dylan’s got a spot on Paranormal Teen, a reality TV show filming at historic Oakleigh Mansion. She’ll spend a weekend with two other psychic teens—Jake and Ashley—learning how to control her abilities.

None of them realized how much their emotional baggage would put them at the mercy of Oakleigh’s resident spirits, or that they’d find themselves pawns in the 150-year-old battle for the South’s legendary Confederate gold. Each must conquer their personal ghosts to face down Jackson, a seductive spirit who will do anything to protect the gold’s current location and avenge a heinous attack that destroyed his family.

Dangerous Ground by Josh Lanyon

Amazon.com | Goodreads

Summary:

Special Agents for the Department of Diplomatic Security, Taylor MacAllister and Will Brandt have been partners and best friends for three years, but everything changed the night Taylor admitted the truth about his feelings for Will. And when Taylor was shot a few hours later, Will felt his reluctance to get involved was vindicated. For Will, the team and the friendship have to come first–despite the fact that he hasn’t failed to notice just how…hot Taylor is.

Taylor has been in love with his partner and best friend since they were first partnered. There isn’t much he wouldn’t do for Will–but he doesn’t know how much longer they can stay teamed feeling the way he does. Still, he agreed to a camping trip in the High Sierras–despite the fact that he hates camping–because Will wanted a chance to save their partnership.

But the trip is a disaster from the first, and things rapidly go from bad to worse when they find a crashed plane and a couple of million dollars in stolen money. With a trio of murderous robbers trailing them, Will and Taylor are on dangerous ground, fighting for their partnership, their passion…and their lives.

Writing for Emotional Impact by Karl Iglesias

Amazon | Goodreads

Summary:

Karl Iglesias breaks new ground by focusing on the psychology of the reader. Based on his acclaimed classes at UCLA Extension, Writing for Emotional Impact goes beyond the basics and argues that Hollywood is in the emotion-delivery business, selling emotional experiences packaged in movies and TV shows. Iglesias not only encourages you to deliver emtional impact on as many pages as possible, he shows you how, offering hundreds of dramatic techniques to take your writing to the professional level.

Mugging the Muse by Holly Lisle

Amazon | Goodreads

Summary:

Want to Get PAID for Writing What You LOVE?

In this collection of thirty-one essays, workshops, quizzes, Q&As, and how-to-do-it articles, novelist Holly Lisle — who went pro with her award-winning first novel, Fire in the Mist, in 1992 and who’s been writing full-time ever since (more than thirty novels published by major publishers, and still writing) offers help, comfort, and wry practical advice to the beginning fiction writer looking for answers.

In the second edition of this book, Holly walks writers through Preparation, Practice, Writing & Selling, and Frequently Asked Questions, offering end-of-chapter exercises, workshops, and free downloadable worksheets designed to get the individual writer or members of writers’ groups working productively with publication as the goal.

In this newly updated writing course, you will discover:

Why you want to write…
What you want to write…
Who you want to write for…
How to write only what you love and what matters to YOU…
How to make your work good…
And how to get paid for doing it.

Writing is a learnable skill, not a magical process only those touched by the Book Fairy, or the Muse, can ever reach.

If you want to write fiction, you can.

Unmaking Hunter Kennedy by Anne Eliot

Amazon | Goodreads

Summary:

After a car accident–an event he considers a prank gone bad–pop star, Hunter Kennedy is forced to hide out with his aunt in small-town Colorado. He’s supposed to rest, heal his scars and attend high school in disguise until the press dies down. But he only wants to get back to work.

Worse, the girl who’s been assigned to make him over into a geek is a major geek herself. Vere Roth is a chattering pixie, a blushing tornado and a complete social disaster. He’s never met a girl who’s never-been-kissed, believes in romance and thinks Hunter’s a ‘nice’ guy.

Funny thing is…Hunter is nice around Vere because she’s his first real friend. He also can’t seem to stop sharing his secrets or keep her out of his heart. Knowing he’d never deserve a girl as sweet as Vere, he resigns himself to the friend zone, and helps his new bestie with her own makeover.

She tortures him daily for ridiculous guy advice on how to snag her life-long crush. A guy Hunter thinks is totally wrong for Vere, and sadly, one who has taken note of Vere’s transformation.

When Vere asks her best friend for some kissing advice, Hunter can’t resist…

And that’s when things get out of control…

christiespeich 1 Comment