DIY Advent Calendar - Oh My Only 12 Days Till Christmas

Where did this month go?  Oh my' - there are only 12 days till Christmas!!!  Why didn't someone tell me?  Was I in some kind of time warp or something?  Well I have been getting a few little projects done here and there.  One of which I thought I'd share today.

I did manage to get an Advent calendar uh' sign or something done before the 24th.  Okay, so the grandkids got to double up on candy for the first few days.

 I BELIEVE I'll be using this for years to come.

I wish I would have thought take photo's so I could show you a simple tutorial, but hey I didn't even know that December was slipping away.

 It really is a pretty simple project.  Here's the basic steps:

1. Paint a board.  I found an old piece of plywood we had laying around and mixed up some old leftover blue and white paint to get the color I wanted.  $0.00 money there.  Oh' go ahead and paint your clothes pins here too.
2.  Using scrapbook paper I had on hand I glued it to the from of the clothes pins and trimmed them out with scissors.  $0.00 money there too.  I had the clothes pins on hand but you can buy a package of them at Family Dollar for around $2.00.
3. Using Dixie Cups, had them on hand too.  Just enough - 24 exactly after using one for the pattern! Whew!  I took one apart and traced the side to make a pattern.  I then cut out 24 in coordinating colors of scrapbook paper and glued them around the cups. Trim the bottom if it's a little long.  $0.00 money there.  Do you  see a pattern?
4. Glue ribbon around the tops and add a little bow. $0.00 again.
5. Punch holes on the sides of each cup and handles made with tinsel chenille stems/pipe cleaners.  $0.00
   
6. Using the cups to measure, space the clothes pins out on your board and glue.  Be sure to put something heavy, like dictionary's, boxes, whatever on top to weigh it down till it dries about 1 hour.  I hung my off the side so they  would tilt.  Added benefit is you now have a card holder too!
7. Using my cricut I cut out the numbers for the days out of a cereal box.  The weight makes great chipboard for painting and gluing.  $0.00, yes again!  You can buy chipboard #'s, stick on #'s or even paint your own with a paint or marker.  Get creative!
8. Now for the messy part.  Spread the numbers with glue and add glitter.  Then attach to the front of each cup. $0.00.
9. Add a phrase like Believe, I stenciled and painted.  Hang and your done.

There you go a easy,  do with what you've got, zero cost,  DIY project that will last!

I must have done something right because my granddaughter said "Grandma you finished it!  It's SO pretty"!!  Now that will put a smile on your face.

I hope you enjoyed it.  Come back tomorrow to see more Christmas projects.  If you made a Advent calendar of your own, I'd love to hear about it.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays Ya'll....

Tracy ♥