Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Homemade Advent Calendar


Having lived over in Germany for so long, I really grew fond of the German Adventskalender, or in English advent calendar. Most Americans are familiar with the calendars that you can buy at Aldi, which are filled with little pieces of chocolate behind little doors for every day of the month of December until the 24th. However, there are a lot of other calendars that are far more creative. I've seen friends pack a basket full of gifts all numbered from 1 to 24, sew up little pouches that are hung up on a string, or even give a case of beer where each beer is numbered. There are endless possibilities.

The calendar that I decided to make is a very traditional one, which is often hung up on the back of a door or above the fireplace. It consists of 24 little pouches which can be filled with different gifts every year. I decided to make this kind of calendar, because it will allow me to vary the gifts from year to year. This year, for instance, I have a combination of chocolate for my husband, and cheerios for my one year old son.

How to:

1. First, I did the numbers and letters. I decided to cut a few corners on this project and use Wonderunder and material for the letters and numbers. Wonderunder allows you to take normal material and iron it on to other material, without having to sew anything. I figure, if I have time next year, I can always sew around the numbers and letters. But, it's not necessary.

2. Then, I did the number pouches. I cut out little squares of black felt to add contrast to the pouches. The pouches were sewn up out of little squares of colorful material. I ironed all of the corners first, which really helped to make the sewing go faster, and then sewed the pouches onto the felt.

3. Finally, I used some quilting backing and sewed up the background just like a little blanket. I kept a piece at the top open for a dowel (not pictured).

This project actually went a lot faster than I had anticipated and now I have an advent calendar for many years to come. It's worth the time and kids and adults love the anticipation of opening a gift every day. Enjoy!

1 comment:

Jen Carter said...

You are so creative! I LOVE Advent Calendars, in fact we have 3 we are using this year (one for Mason, one for Sadie and one I made several years ago). They are just so much fun and I love how you created yours! The colors are fabulous! What a fun treasure this will be each year! (I wish I could sew, LOL!)