Adminswife

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

MY FIRST DIY PROJECT!!!!!

First, a picture of the birthday girls' dinner. We had Bulgogi, Cosmic Brownies, Vanilla ice cream and root beer. Quite a feast! Unlike her twins' choices (remember grapes, grape juice and peanuts?). At least Dad & I didn't have to raid the fridge after children's bedtime!


All right, just what you have been waiting for all these weeks: my first DIY project.

To the scrapbook store we go, buying a package of 6x6" colorful paper.


Print a template from a friend's blog:


Cut 24 copies from different colored paper:


Fold:


Trim each one:


Glue the edges together (my partner in crime):


One finished:


Twenty-four finished (actually 25 finished, because we can't count in our school):


Finished with the gluing:


Put the envelopes in colored order and glue numbers 1-24 on the front:


I typed up 24 things we could do each day in December. Dad & I checked our calendar for days we could do long projects. The other days were simple choices that could be done any time of day (we had to be careful of tutoring, school, basketball practices and games, church activities, etc.).

We hung the envelopes on the wall with green ribbon and cute little clothespins from Walmart.

I guess you could call this a family affair. My amazing photographer was Zachary.

The finished product, our Advent Calendar:


Have an amazing Christmas season remembering the birth of our Lord and Savior!

7 Comments:

At November 23, 2011 7:06 AM, Blogger Tim said...

Whew, I'm exhausted from all the work I put into that! ;-)

 
At November 23, 2011 8:32 AM, Blogger Emily said...

So cute! What an awesome idea! I'm way impressed with your first DIY project. I loved the advent calendar when we were young, and I hope Z&E do too!

 
At November 23, 2011 9:32 AM, Blogger Adminswife said...

This was a fun project. Plus, the best part, it will bring back memories of doing this with the first four children. Hope Z & E like it as much as the first four.

 
At November 23, 2011 11:35 AM, Anonymous Erin Bolton said...

Oh my goodness! I've been looking for an advent calendar like we had growing up, and it just doesn't exist! This is an AMAZING way to do the same sort of thing. I may have to copy you. I would love to do this sort of Christmas tradition for our little family too.

The final product is BEAUTIFUL! Great job, Elyse & Mom!

 
At November 23, 2011 12:00 PM, Blogger Adminswife said...

Erin - if you remember the advent boxes we had started falling apart. Instead of fixing them, I threw them out as the day passed. I was sure I could just order another set from Current. Nope! They don't sell them anymore. Rats! The envelope system I used this year is much easier to handle. I can stick a piece of paper inside and that doesn't take much work or brains. One thought I had AFTER I had it all put on the wall, was to write down each days activity so I could prepare the day before. Thankfully, Dad isn't oppose to helping out the blond in me. He took each one down and wrote the number of the day on my copy of the activities that I have on my computer. All that to say, it is finally done and done right.

 
At November 29, 2011 9:39 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Awesome work, Mom! Folding and cutting all those paper envelopes looks so time-consuming, but I agree with everyone else - the end result is beautiful! I am so impressed.

I do remember really liking our advent calendar as a kid, but I don't remember why. I have no specific memories of it, just that it's something everyone always talked positively about. Did we stop doing that when I was pretty young?

love you!
Betsey

 
At November 29, 2011 9:46 AM, Blogger Adminswife said...

Betsey - you probably were pretty young when we quit doing the Advent Calendar. We were using boxes for several years. When they started breaking, I threw them away each day - knowing I could get another set at the "after Christmas sale." However, Current didn't sell them anymore. Thus, we quit. Plus thinking up the activities and getting everyone together was a pain in the neck. Why I chose to do it again with these two, I'll never know. Especially when you add in the fact that Zachary is gone most days with basketball and Dad is tutoring in the evenings. We have to do many of the ideas in the afternoon. Bummer! But, we are carrying on the tradition anyway.

 

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