Advent Calendar Tutorial

I wanted to share a project I worked on at the recent Harvest Crop. I found this beautiful Graphic 45 Christmas Past paper at Captured Moments, and all of my plans for the day changed. I decided to try my hand at making an advent calendar.

Tools needed to complete the project include adhesive, ink, Stickles glitter, stapler, ruler, paper trimmer, scissors, pencil, and circle punches(2 sizes).

I cut strips of paper from the coordinating designs and made little
"windows" that I stapled on top of the designs on the Santa paper. There are 24 little designs that go around the edge - perfect for counting the days until Christmas. I stapled the "windows" all along the edges, so when they open, you still will see the main design. Mix up the patterns for a nice effect, and distress the edges if you like that look.

Add a bit of glitter to some of the elements in the main design for a nice effect.

The next step is to print numbers from 1 - 24 on the computer that you will punch out. Or, you could stamp the numbers also.
Mine are printed on a cream cardstock and punched out with the
1 1/4" circle punch. Punch out enough circles for your numbers with a background circle (I used black for this one) with a 1 3/8" circle punch. The Stampin Up punches are perfect for this. Adhere the circles together.

The final step is to adhere the numbers to the windows of the
Advent Calendar. If you wish, back the calendar with cardboard or
a sheet of plastic to make it a bit sturdier. I attached a ribbon to the cardboard backing to hang the calendar. I think these will make a nice gift for the holidays...ssshhhh, Sheila don't say anything....