Advent Treefound branches, glass jar, yarn, envelopes, glitter glue, paper fasteners.
Whew!
My first item for 25 days of Creativity (or 25 days of Christmas, if you want to go that way, which I kind of do) is this Advent tree. I was inspired by all sorts of things, but mostly by the materials I had on hand and which would look the best, work the best, and take the least amount of time. Shhh. Don't tell. I take short cuts.
Like the envelops I bought and cut in half, instead of making my own envelopes, tubes, cones, or what have you. Come to think of it, cones would have been super cool. (my repurposed menus would have been brilliant for that)
Or the glitter glue that I found and decided would be easier than paint, or glue plus glitter, and prettier than marker.
And I just went out into my yard and grabbed up some deadfall twigs. Yay for not being a good gardener.
Plus the big glass jar is swiped from the recycle bin at work, and is heavy enough to hold the glasses, but I had some of my kids collection of rocks that would have held them in place if it wasn't sturdy enough.
Oh, and I used my crochet yarn, instead of buying ribbon or twine or hooks or whatever.
Here are the tools.
Here are the tools.I cut the envelopes with decorative scissors, and folded/or cut them into shapes. Plain would have been fine, I think. Then I drew on numbers in alternating red and green. One color would have been chicer, but I chose red for the girl and green for the boy, so they know which one they will get to open.
And instead of using candy, which was my original plan, I decided to do activities for the kids. Like "string popcorn" or "go to the Christmas parade on Main Street" or "make cookies" or "get an extra bedtime story".
I decided that the traditions will be better than the candy. As will the time with mama or papa.
And there I go.
How are you doing on your Holiday crafting adventures? Bear with me while I get the side bar up and links all made. I have a boat load of work to do. On my next break, I'll get to the side bar.
Every year I say that I am going to make an advent calendar. And every year December somehow sneaks up on me and I have to settle for the chocolate advent calendar. I like your idea to use activities. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI love "Adventskalender" and grew up with them in Germany, but I never get around to making one. My daughter would be thrilled if I did. We always seem to be either traveling, or celebrating Hanukkah with family out of town. We celebrate both and invent out traditions together each year. Love your interpretation of the advent tree using twigs and envelopes. It was snowing today and your image reminded me a lot of the upstate NY winter landscape.
ReplyDeleteHave a great calm holiday season!