An Advent Calendar

Whoa!  Two posts in one week.  I can’t remember the last time that happened — it’s been several years at least.  It’s Christmas though, and I like to keep a record of things we make and do, so I’m back again to record my biggest project for this Christmas.

I decided to make an Advent Calendar for FinallyAGirl this year. She’s definitely too young to get the concept of one-ornament-a-day, but I thought she might have fun playing with the ornaments this year, and the calendar will be ready when she knows what’s going on.

I started working on the ornaments during the last week of October.  I knew it would take awhile, but hoped that if I could finish one ornament a day, I’d be done with them by Thanksgiving.  Haha.  I couldn’t keep up.  I finally finished them the first week in December.  Pinterest was my best friend during the process — there’s tons of felt inspiration out there.

Of course, there had to be a little ornament to celebrate her best buddy, Winston.  The little gingerbread man is holding a string of beads that spell her name and the star doesn’t have a hanger because it has velcro on the back to stick it on the tree on the 24th of December.

When I saw felt puffins on Pinterest, I knew I had to include them.  And the same with the little llama (Llama Llama Red Pajama!). (And that orange bell is my very least favorite — it really MUST go.)

It really doesn’t matter what order the ornaments are put into the calendar, although the star really should be last.  And I prefer the little baby Jesus ornament to be saved for the 23rd too  — after all, you’re counting down to celebrate his birth.

After the ornaments were finished, I constructed the actual calendar and I was pretty much just winging it.  I wanted the pockets to be big enough to hold each ornament and maybe a little treat if her Mummy decides she’d like to do that each year.  The numbers were embroidered with my embroidery machine — I love love LOVE that Clarence font.  It’s so beautifully digitized and every time I use it I spend way too much time running my fingers over the letters and numbers because they feel so cool.  Clarence alone is a great reason to buy a Viking machine LOL.  (Note to self for next time I make one of these: the numbers are in a file called TheGirlsAdventCalendarNumbers.  I had to add this note because, two years later,  I’ve spent all day searching for the files and finally found them!)

I used a moda linen fabric for the background and attached the tree, the trunk and the star halo with a thin applique stitch on my machine and then I quilted the whole thing.  The very last step was to randomly attach 23 buttons to the tree — fortunately, I can sew buttons on with my machine.

I finished this little project around the 10th of December.  I didn’t worry that it was late, because, as I mentioned FinallyAGirl is too young to know what’s going on.  But, she loves to be busy and she sure gets the concept of playing around with something fun.  The calendar looks huge, but luckily, she won’t be this small forever.

This was a really fun project and I’m hoping to make more in the future. It was a ton of work though, so I need a little break LOL. Now, back to the wrapping, cleaning and baking and the last minute crunch. I hope it’s all going well for you!

XOXO,
Anna