made: Christmas idea {part 3}

Although I've had quite a few Christmas decorations that I've accumulated over the years (probably 6 bins worth!) I did not have an advent calendar. I'd seen a few cute calendars, but none were exactly what I wanted...so of course, I decided to make my own. Unfortunately, my camera battery died (in both cameras) so I don't have great pictures of the progress, but you'll be able to get the idea...

I started with a fat quarter of fabric my mother in law gave me (maybe a year or two ago) I LOVE LOVE LOVE this fabric, which seems very vintage with children playing in the snow. I have no idea who makes it, I'd buy more if I did...anyway, I figured this would be the perfect project for this fabric I've been holding onto.

Here's how I did it: I decided to use the wording "24 days of peace & joy" and the font "Pea Lovey Dovey" from the Blog Kevin and Amanda. Best of all, they provide a gazillion fonts for free!!! I printed the wording onto freezer paper and then used Pellon Craft Fuse to adhere the fabric. Unfortunately, not all of the letters adhered well (and I sort of burned a little part of the fabric-don't look too closely) so I used some glue that claimed to be okay for fabric to stick down the last few letters. I quilted a stipple (?) pattern although any pattern would work and then added a red binding (after I rounded all the corners using a CD spindle.) I used my sewing machine's "button" setting to sew on 24 red buttons. I also tried to imitate the "Pea Lovey Dovey" writing using a silver sharpie marker on 24 red mini ornaments. My son is a candy hound (who isn't, right?!) so I did not want to use a candy treat because he'd probably wake up at 7am asking for candy....instead, we'll turn the ornament to the number on the respective day. I also sewed on some snow flake buttons I had in my button stash, since this advent calendar wasn't busy enough already! Much to my dismay, hanging this little sucker was the hardest part. I probably could have played with the clothes pins more, but my math brain wasn't turned on last night....so I used packaging tape and an old chop stick along the top back edge to provide rigidity so it wouldn't bend. I also used packaging tape on the top corners to tape the top two corners down (to avoid movement) I hung this on the door to our garage which we use ALL the time! I don't have any pictures of the back (which I have the cutest plaid fabric! but if you are unsure and want more explanation, let me know and I can take pictures.