Hand Towel Advent Calendar

     Do you have an old hand towel that is in fairly good condition, but not perfect?  Perhaps it has a stain that you just cannot remove, or some other imperfection.  Here is an excellent project you can make with that towel.

Materials:

*Hand towel

*Felt in various colors

*Glitter glue

*All purpose adhesive

*Scissors

*Ribbon

*Foam board or cardboard

Directions:

*Cut out 24 felt squares

*Using glitter glue, number the squares from 1 to 24.  Let dry

*Arrange the squares on the hand towel in a pattern you find pleasing

*Using the all purpose adhesive, glue down the bottom section and the two sides of each square.  Do not glue down the top part, as this is where you will insert your treats.  Let dry

*Glue a loop of ribbon to the back of the towel using the all purpose adhesive. 

*Using foam board or cardboard, cut out a strip about an inch or two long that is as wide as your curtain.  Glue the foam or cardboard to the top of your calendar on the backside.  This will prevent the calendar from folding in on itself when you hang it up.

*Once dry, you can hang up your calendar.  Fill pockets with goodies of your choice

Homemade Stocking

     After several years of use, my Christmas stocking had started to fall apart, and I decided it was time for a new stocking.  I wanted a stocking that would be meaningful to me, like my old one was, and not a generic store bought stocking.  Originally I considered buying a plain stocking and decorating it, but then I decided to make the stocking as well and here are the results.

Materials for stocking:

*Durable fabric

*Felt

*All purpose adhesive

*Sewing machine or needle and thread (optional)

*Old stocking or stocking stencil

*Chalk

*Scissors

*Glitter glue

Additional materials for tree and presents decoration:

*Felt in various colors

*Ribbon

*Rhinestones

Directions for creating the stocking:

*Using your old stocking or stencil, trace the stocking shape with chalk onto the piece of fabric.  Flip the stocking or pattern over and trace the other side

*Cut out the stocking halves and turn the halves so that the part you want to have visible is facing up

*Using all purpose glue, adhere a felt strip of your preferred width to the top of each stocking half.  Let dry

*Cut out a thin strip of fabric.  You will use this to create the loop that you hang the stocking up by

*Optional step: Sew the top part of each stocking to prevent fabric from fraying

*Place the two stocking halves on top of one another, with the sides with the felt facing one another.  Fold the strip of fabric in half to form a loop and insert it in between the two stocking halves in the top corner

*Sew together the two stocking halves.  Alternately, you could glue them together.

Directions for creating the tree decoration:

*Find a Christmas tree pattern (a Google image search should give you plenty of results) or design your own and trace it onto a piece of green felt 

*Cut out your tree and adhere it to your stocking using the all purpose adhesive

*Glue on strips of ribbon for garlands and rhinestones for presents

*Cut out squares and rectangles of varying sizes from different colored pieces of felt.  Position them around the tree and glue down

*Glue on strips of ribbon to form the ribbon on the presents

Special thanks to my boyfriend, Brian, for sewing the stocking together for me :)

Update: I found a little star at the Orono Thrift Shop to complete my tree:

Decorative Tree

Materials:

*Styrofoam cone

*Monochromatic fabric

*Two or more types of ribbons

*Rhinestones

*Other embellishments (optional)

*Scissors

*All purpose glue

Directions:

*Cut out a semicircle of fabric with a radius somewhat longer than your Styrofoam cone is tall. 

*Wrap fabric around the Styrofoam cone and glue down.  If there is excess fabric at the bottom of the cone, trim it off or glue it to the bottom of the cone.

*Starting from the top of the tree, wrap a ribbon around it.  Glue the ribbon down as you go. 

*Repeat for your other ribbons

*Glue rhinestones onto the tree

*You may wish to top it off with something.  A metallic pompom might work nicely for a star  

Quote Book

     Here is a craft that can be as simple or complex as you would like to make it.  It can make a great keepsake, or is can serve as a wonderful gift for a friend.

Materials:

*Miniature scrapbook album

*Photos or images

*Quotations

*Adhesive (e.g. mounting squares, acid-free glue)

*Embellishments (e.g. stickers, paper scraps, glitter, markers, etc)

Directions:

*Select quotes for your quotation book.  For months I have been jotting down silly things said by friends and family members, so I decided to use these quotes in my quote book.  However, you can also find tons of quotes online

*Find or make pictures to go along with your quotes.  I chose to use silly images of the people I was quoting, but there are so many other choices you can make

*Format your quote book.  Find some way to arrange images and quotations in a manner you find pleasing, then adhere the images and quotes to the pages of the album

*Add embellishments to decorate your album

Magnetic calendar

     Instead of buying a paper calendar that lasts for only one year, why not make a calendar that you can reuse each year?

Materials:

*Printable magnetic sheets (3-4 sheets should be fine)

*Printer

*Scissors

Directions:

*On your computer, design at least 31 2”x2” squares (you may want to design additional squares for holidays, birthdays, etc.) that will form the basis of your calendar.  Overlay numbers on top of the images for the squares, labeling the squares from 1-31. 

*Design 7 days of the week headings that are slightly wider than your calendar squares.

*Design 12 month headings

*Print all of these images onto the printable magnetic sheets (it may be easiest to import all of the images into a word document and print from there)

*Arrange squares on your refrigerator or other magnetic surface.

Creepy Doll Halloween Decoration

     Halloween is just around the corner.  Here’s a decoration that will make any house seem spookier.

Materials:

*Old doll

*Red acrylic paint

*Brown or black acrylic paint

*Fine paintbrush

Directions:

*Using red acrylic paint, paint the doll’s eyes red

*Mix the red and brown (or black) paints together until you get a crimson color

*Use the crimson paint to paint “blood” onto the doll’s face, hands, and clothing

Note: if you don’t have a doll you would be willing to convert into a Halloween decoration, thrift shops can be great places to find inexpensive dolls.

Fuse Bead Halloween Magnets

     I have fond memories from my childhood of making fuse bead creations with my mom and siblings and I think this craft can be a great activity if you have children and you’re looking for Halloween crafts you can make with them.

Materials:

*Fuse Beads kit

*Magnetic backing

*Adhesive (if your magnetic backing does not have an adhesive backing)

*Scissors

*Iron

Directions:

*Design your fuse bead creations by arranging beads on a peg board, then cover with a sheet of waxed paper and iron the first side.  Remove the fuse bead project from its peg board, cover with waxed paper, and iron the other side.  For more detailed instructions, visit http://www.eksuccessbrands.com/perlerbeads/creative/4-easy-steps.htm. 

*Cut a small section of the magnetic backing for each fuse bead critter you have made. 

*If magnetic backing has a built-in adhesive, affix the backing to the fuse bead creatures.  Some of the built-in adhesives on such magnetic backings can be rather weak, so you may need some all purpose glue to get it to stick properly

*If your magnetic backing does not have a built-in adhesive, or if the built-in adhesive does not work well, dab a small amount of all purpose adhesive on the back of the magnet, then adhere to the fuse bead creation.  Let dry.  Once the glue has dried, you can decorate your refrigerator with these fuse bead creatures.