Christmas Advent Calendar 2015

Well, it may be a week later than expected due to a last minute request to do some Stampbord shows for Hochanda TV but there is still time if you fancy creating your own advent calendar...

You may remember last year's was a felt wall hanging calendar which I created for my youngest nephew Ben (and which I have been asked for again this year...what a surprise, not!) It seems that although he's now football crazy he still has a little time left for Lego, lol!

Well this year I've decided to go for something a little different...

A Christmas Wish Advent Calendar

I don't think the photo really does it justice but hopefully you'll get the idea. I've created it using Efco's Star box which comes full of 24 mini star boxes - just perfect for decorating as your own personalised advent calendar. Advent calendars in my day only ever had 24 windows to open as Christmas Day was when you got all your wonderful pressies but these days so many of them seem to have 25. So, if you wanted, you could always use the large box as number 25!

Materials needed:
Papp Art Star Box Set (Efco Art no: 26 346 16)
Light Relief Paste (Efco Art no: 93 162 21)
White Decoupaint (Efco Art no: 93 164 01)
White Rose Napkins (Efco Art no: 16 608 45)
Matt Mod Podge (Efco Art no: 62 113 05)
Yellow & Gold Acrylic Paint
Brushes & Palette Knife 
Baby wipes & Soft Brush e.g. old blusher brush
Craft Knife & PVA Glue
Ultra fine Mother of Pearl Glitter (Efco Art no: 91 101 01)
Advent Numbers - I used my Silhouette to cut letters from gold foil and chipboard but you can use whatever you like
Words for the lid - Again I used my Silhouette to cut letters out of chipboard.

Step 1. Remove the back two layers from some napkins and place on one side.

Step 2. Decoupage the sides of a small star box with the top layer of a napkin. Align the edge of the napkin with the top edge of the box and use mat Mod Podge to stick in place.

Step 3. Use a wet brush to create a torn edge, removing the excess napkin from the side and bottom. But do leave a little excess to overlap on the side of the box and wrap around the base.

Step 4. Cover the napkin with a layer of mat Mod Podge to seal it and make sure that all the edges are stuck down. Leave to dry.

Repeat Steps 2-4 for all the other small boxes.

Step 5. Mix Light Relief Paste with some white Decoupaint (2:1).

Step 6. Use a palette knife to roughly spread the mixed paste over the box lids. You want to use just enough paste to block out the brown of the papier maché. Whilst it's still wet sprinkle a little ultra fine glitter in patches over the top and embed a number in the middle. (I cut numbers from thin chipboard and sticky backed gold foil using my latest toy...my Silhouette cutter.) :) Leave to dry.

Step 7. Mix up more paste if necessary and then cover the large star box lid in the same way. Do the edges first so that you can sprinkle a little ultra fine glitter over them before covering the top. Leave to dry.

Step 8. You can decorate the top however you wish. I chose to cut 'When you wish upon a star...' from some more thin chipboard using my Silhouette cutter which I then covered with some more paste and glitter and left to dry.

Step 9. Cut another napkin in strips and use them to cover the edges of the big star box base.

Step 10. When the big box lid is dry (you can speed this up with a hairdryer) use a baby wipe to apply some yellow acrylic in swirly patterns. It will dry very quickly as it is such a thin layer of paint. When dry, use another baby wipe to apply some gold paint over the top. Leave to dry.

Step 11. I used PVA glue to stick the decorated chipboard letters in position on the box lid. I added a little more sparkle by applying more PVA glue in a swirl, following the line of the words, and then covering it with more ultra fine glitter.

When everything is dry brush off the excess glitter from all the boxes using a soft brush e.g. an old blusher brush.

Then all that's left is to fill the little boxes with sweeties, chocolates or little gifts...

I had planned to publish this post this morning but my day went a little haywire with builders, deliveries, a skip removal, and tree surgeons who came to prune our poor neglected apple tree. Anyway I got there in the end and I hope you like this year's advent calendar!

Happy Crafting!