A 'Nostalgia' & 'Jingle' Advent Calendar With Tutorial

For today's post I have a project that I've been wanting to try for years!  Every year around this time I start seeing all the Advent Calendars that come out both in the crafting community & in the stores & every year I think "Hmmm I should try to make one of those", but of course Christmas comes & goes & I never actually sit down to make one.

Well here it finally is!  This is my very first Advent Calendar & I'm really happy how it turned out.  I've used papers & elements from both the 'Nostalgia' & 'Jingle' collections for my calendar.  

It's a fairly large Advent Calendar measuring 8 1/2" x 11" inches with a 3" inch spine.  Both the covers & spine are made from heavy weight chipboard.

When closed it looks like a large book.  I got the idea for making this sort of Advent Calendar from Pinterest.  I saw several Advent Calendars made in this style where it's shaped like a book that opens up.  What I liked most about this style of calendar is that it can be displayed on any shelf, mantle, desk etc.  

Calendar is held closed with red organza ribbon.

I've decorated the cover with a Christmas spray that I had in my stash plus two fabric Poinsettias & a mini pinecone.  I also added some random rhinestones & a sticker element from the 'Jingle' collection.

On the spine, I punched a hole with my Crop-a-Dile & strung several different Christmas themed ribbons & twine along with three jingle bells.  :-)

Each little box measures approximately 2 1/8" x 2 1/8 inches & are about 1" inch deep.

As you can see you can store any sort of treat or mini items inside the boxes.  I threw in a couple of leftover Halloween candies inside two of the boxes.

Below you will find two videos.  One showcases the Advent Calendar.  It's fairly large & it was hard to photograph.  The video is the best way to show it.

The second is a tutorial I put together showing the process I used in creating the calendar.

Thanks for stopping by & enjoy!

 

Supplies Used: Nostalgia Collection, Nostalgia Elements Card Stock Stickers, Nostalgia 6" x 6" inch paper pad, Jingle Collection, Jingle Elements, Jingle 6" x 6" inch paper pad, Other: Winter Spray, Fabric Flowers, Mini Pinecone, Organza Ribbon, Ribbon, Twine