count-down calender 2009

Yay! It's here... my new countdown calendar: the 2009 Toilet Paper Tube Advent is ready for December. Last year's advent calender gained a lot of recognition on crafty blogs and even continues to be part of advent round ups for this year. I think part of its popularity was due to the use of the common toilet paper tube. We all have them, and they won't stop filling up our recycling bins anytime soon! Therefore, they're one of my favorite resources. This year's design is so simple to customize to your own style and what you might have stashed around the house. It was also much easier to involve my children... so many steps my littlest could be part of. If you'd like to make your own and don' t have enough tubes, ask your friends! Wrapping paper tubes can be cut to size, or you can always make a few extra from heavy paper in the recycling bin. Here we go!

Count Down Calendar

Materials

• 24 cardboard tubes (or as many as the days you will count.- for example: only 8 for Chanukah, etc.)
• acrylic craft paint
• security envelopes
• snowflake hole punch
• sewing machine, stapler, or glue gun
  
• cork board
• mini clothespins(available at craft stores)
  
• ribbons or lace
• fabric for covering board
• stamp pad and numeral stamps
  

Make

1. Close one end of your tube. I loved running mine through my sewing machine with a zigzag stitch. Quick and satisfying. Alternately, use a stapler or a glue gun.
   
2. Decide if you want to paint them. I knew I wanted a snow and frosty blue palette and opted for white. We painted them on a blanket of newspaper next to our wood stove to speed up the drying process and stay cozy. (Please ignore my not so tidy floor.) This is the perfect step to enlist a helper. (My assistant got bored with white quickly and shifted over to a cracker box in perfect pink.)
   
3. The next step was everyone's favorite: punch out snowflakes (with our brand new Martha snowflake puncher) from blue security envelopes, of course!! I have a feeling we'll be making snowflakes all winter.
   
4. Adorn your tubes with whatever suits you. We pasted our snowflakes right on. Although we kept our decorating simple, this is where you could go to town with rickrack, pompoms, buttons, etc.
   
5. Number them. Numeral stamps are easy. Printing numbers on stickers would work nicely, too.
6. Choose your method of display. Ideas: suspended on a ribbon, hung from branches, or on a cork board. My first thought was to just tack them all on a cork board. That seemed super easy, but needed a little oomph. When I went in search of a scrap of white fabric for covering, I spotted my suitcase filled with vintage lace. I bought a collection of crocheted pillow trims at a church sale years ago. They were cut right off of the pillow cases to salvage all of the hard work someone had done. They've felt too special to use, until now! I could use them without cutting into them.
   

I wrapped my fabric around the cork board and then tacked the loops of lace in rows. You could do this with your favorite ribbons.

I'm even in love with the raw edges and even fancy the delicate, drapey backside.

All that's left is to attach your little numbered pockets.

We'll fill ours with new time tickets and bits of chocolate. Have fun! I'd love to see yours if you give it a try...