I set out to make an Advent Calendar in November of 2012. I found a lot of great ideas on Pinterest, mixed them with my own ideas, and got started.
First, I purchased 25 mini cardboard boxes from Hobby Lobby.
I really wanted it to look random, so I don't have the same number of each, and I think there are 7 different shapes. That idea had it's pro's and con's. (Maybe a lot more con's. It's amazing how difficult it is to make things look random).
After re-arranging them a couple hundred times, I finally got them in the order I wanted. Then it was time to cover them. I bought 10 different kinds of scrapbook paper to cover the tops with. I played around with those a few hundred times as well. Once I figured out where I wanted each kind, I cut out a net figure, glued it down with craft glue, and then painted over the entire thing with Modge Podge to make it shiny. Finally, I spray painted the bottom of the boxes red. That whole process was done by December of 2012, but I still had nothing to mount them on. Parker was only two years old, so I figured I would relax for this year and finish next November.
In the days leading up to Thanksgiving of 2013, I did a lot of research on what I wanted in the Advent Calendar. There are several different options, but I really wanted it to be Christ-focused. I ended up going with a model I found on Pinterest. Each day has a reading from the Bible and small trinket, (such as an angel, soft cloth for swaddling, a donkey, a cross, etc) that goes along with the story. After re-arranging the boxes again, I wrote out the Bible reference on a piece of paper for each day and stuffed the boxes with everything. I also made a few little cards that said fun things like, "Get a Christmas Tree," "Make Gingerbread Men," "Watch a Christmas Movie," and I've just been putting them in when it works out.
So, now what am I going to put these boxes on? I thought about gluing them to a dry-erase board and painting the frame red, or fastening them to a white canvas, or even a picture frame with a glass background, but my husband had a clear vision - which turned out to be way better than my ideas! He decided to make me a frame out of a pallet. My brother-in-law is a contractor, so he has an amazing shop to work in, and happened to have an old pallet in his burn pile =)
We took it all apart, laid things out and Ryan took over from there. After assembling, he sprayed it with lacquer to make it nice and shiny. It turned out PERFECT! I actually want a couple dozen more for other things! (And of course I forgot to take a picture of just the frame. Boo)
After drying for about 24 hours, it was finally time to glue the boxes to the frame. You'll never believe this, but I rearranged the boxes again...and again...and again. It is NEARLY impossible to make things really look random! And of course I had wanted the one with the Santa's on it for #24 and the Christmas tree one for #25. After a while, we decided it was impossible for that to happen, so we put #25 in the #1 slot. It was perfect! Then we realized that if we just turn the frame around, #1 would be in the #25 spot again. We turned it around, and guess what? We rearranged it again. Ryan was just about to give up when we finally got it just right. There is literally no other way for the boxes to work out perfectly random =)
Then we realized we need numbers. Ryan made them all on Photoshop. We printed them out, glued and modge-podged them all on and finally glued the boxes to the frame. Ryan bought some crazy adhesive and those suckers are NOT moving.
Ta daaa!
After one year and 50,000 arrangements, the Advent Calendar is finished! And it's way better than my original thoughts, thanks to my husband =)
In summary, to make something like this, you will need:
- 25 mini cardboard boxes
- At least 5 kinds of scrapbook paper
- Craft glue
- Modge Podge
- Red spray paint
- A pallet
- Lacquer
- Strong adhesive to stick the boxes to the frame
We are enjoying it very much this year and are excited for it to become a family tradition!
Merry Christmas!
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