Monday, November 26, 2012

DIY Advent Calendar



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Boy, am I glad to finish this advent calendar just in time for the Christmas countdown! I fell in love with the bark stars a looong time ago (in February, I think...) and I was dying to use them to welcome the winter charm into my home. The Advent calendar seemed like a good idea: a white, red and natural little project following my traditional Christmas inspiration.







For each day, we've got a bark star or a wooden heart pinned on the wall, in a Christmas tree shaped calendar. I don't have any kids and the size of my elements is quite small, so I started wondering what to prepare for the backside of each one. My first impulse was to go with mint candy, because everybody loves it. But then, I thought why not use the Advent Calendar as a practice tool for my carol singing? I wrote the name of a carol on the back of each calendar day!




In my family there is a huge tradition of singing carols on the Christmas Eve. When I was a child, I would go singing carols with all my cousins and we would have loads of fun. Now, we let other little ones sing the old songs. Then, we have dinner on the Christmas Eve. And then, we do some singing of our own, which can go on for hours. We start with the most notorious carols, but after a while we don't remember all the forgotten words and carols are more... hummed than sang. But not this year, because every day I'm gonna rehearse one carol :)






Do you need a tutorial for this advent calendar? It is so easy to make! 
1. Gather your supplies. All you need is decorations (I used bark stars, bark hearts, felt reindeer), a lovely ribbon in Christmas colors, a white gel pen and poster tack.
2. Apply a little tack on the ribbon and on the overlapped decorations. Press down firmly to attach the ribbon to the decorations.
3. Write the name of a song on the back of each decoration.
4. Display them on the wall also using Blu Tack. They come off very easy and they don't leave any trace.




Update! The bark Advent calendar was just featured at Homework, Cedar Hill Ranch, JAQS Studio, Romance On A Dime, Crafty Scrappy Happy, Made In A Day, My Repurposed Life, Little Inspiration, Five Days...5 Ways. It's Overflowing, Polkadot Pretties, Lolly Jane, Lines Across and Christina's Adventures, thanks a million for the appreciation!

homework     RomanceOnADime.com
  Made in a Day  Photobucket   five days five ways | feature friday free for all It's Overflowing Polkadot Pretties   

87 comments:

  1. so beautiful! wish i had an empty space to make one too!!!

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    1. Thank you, Peli, I put the calendar on the wall in the balcony :))

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  2. It looks great. We do not make this Advent Calendar according to our traditions but I loved it.

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    1. Thank you for visiting! We don't have a tradition for this in Romania, but it would have been very helpful when I was a little girl, because I kept asking everyday when is Santa gonna come!

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  3. this is such an original idea, meeha!
    for both the design and the purpose of carols' practise.
    i love red accent and natural elements.
    now you know when Sants's comming, be prepared to sing something ;)

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    1. I went to mu old room in my parents home and got my old notebook where I wrote down the lyrics of all the carols. I really want to be prepared!

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  4. oh my gosh, i love this! making an advent calendar is on my list to do this week. i adore yours! i love the song idea, that is just a wonderful tradition really. i think i may use that part. i am sure my kids would love to sing a carol each morning xo

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    1. Christine, I can only imagine how much fun it will be singing with your kids!

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  5. Meha this is such an original idea,!!! i love this! making an advent calendar is on my list to do this week.great job!!!

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  6. Wow. I love it, this is such an original idea!
    Hughs Vicky

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  7. Oh, I didn't realize they were bark at first. Fantastic! They have such great texture.

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  8. This is so pretty and unique! I love it :)

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  9. i love this! it's so organic in feeling. just lovely. thanks for linking up to tip-toe thru tuesday.

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    1. Oh, thanks so much for the lovely words, I'm glad you like it!

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  10. The Advent Calendar is so beautiful!I think I have to make one too:)

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    1. Thanks a million - you can make the Advent calendar, too :)

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  11. Lovely advent calendar. I like this slightly different take on the traditional. Thanks for sharing
    Donna @onceuponasewingmachine.com

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    1. Thank you so much, Donna, I really wanted to do something special with my advent calendar.

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  12. So lovely! :) Thanks for sharing this on TALU.

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  13. beautiful. where did you find such beautiful wood ornaments? I can't wait to start counting down!!!

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    1. Carissa, I'm so glad you like my simple Advent calendar! I found the wood ornaments this summer in a little wedding shop and I saved them for now :)

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  14. Very simple, very pretty!

    Your family is lucky to sing carols together!

    hugs x
    Crystelle
    http://www.crystelleboutique.com

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    1. Thank you so much for the lovely words, Crystelle, we take singing carols very seriously in my family :)

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  15. Really cute idea! Visiting from TALU. Happy Holidays!

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  16. This is such a great idea! I don't have kids either and it's always hard to come up with a cute advent idea, but this works :) Thanks for sharing!

    stopping by from the Sugar Bee Crafts link up, Happy Tuesday!

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    1. Tyler, thanks for the great comment. Even if we don't have any kids, we must celebrate and have fun!

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  17. This is by far one of my favorite advent calendars I've seen this year. Thanks for showing it!

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    1. Jessica, thank you so much for the support, your words are honey to my ears!

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  18. What a clever idea, and thanks for the memories of all the kids in my neighborhood getting together and wandering from house to house caroling, then doing as you did with the cousins on Christmas Eve. Ahhhh, the good ol' days. I love birch trees, so I'll have to keep this in mind for other ideas. [#TALU]

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    1. Chris, I've got a dozen birch trees at work where my office is and I am in love with them, too!

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  19. What a lovely idea for an advent - you are lucky to have so much wall space. Those bark stars and hearts are just gorgeous. I'd like to be there to hear your carol rehearsals!

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    1. Thanks a million, Ann, but I must confess that the Advent calendar doesn't take up much space because the bark ornaments are quite small.

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  20. OMG! This is GORGEOUS! Very very pretty and stylish, and I love the idea with the carols. Beautiful!

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    1. Thank you, Jutta, I already prepared my little notebook with all the lyrics so I'm ready to sing some carols :)

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  21. my son has been asking for a calendar, this is a great idea, wonder if I can get one together in time?

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    1. You can make the Advent calendar in less than one hour. Use scraps of paper or Christmas ornaments!

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  22. What a great idea! A very lovely and original calendar! Sweet reindeers and I like very much the wooden/bark materials! You are SO clever! :D

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    1. I bought the felt reindeer already made, last year. This year I bought big sheets of colorful felt and I want to make some Christmas shapes of my own - like you did with the Ikea bake forms, I liked the clever idea very much!

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  23. Love your advent tree! Neat for decorating the tree too! Following you now. Follow me too. I posted http://www.sewsweetvintage.com/2012/11/reversible-holiday-note-board.html to the JAQ studio party:)

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  24. OH my gosh this is so beautiful! What a fabulous idea. I really love this. The different silhouettes are perfect and I really like how you mixed the different bark shades. Love.

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    1. Thank you so much for making time to visit, Taryn, your beautiful words put a smile on my face :)

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  25. Replies
    1. Thank you so much for the sweet comment, Robin, I'm so happy that you like the little Advent calendar!

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  26. what a stinkin cute idea. thanks for sharing :) found you through 5 days 5 ways

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    1. Thank you for visiting, Jodi, I'm glad you dig my simple calendar :)

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  27. Very cute Advent calendar! I love the natural, almost beachy theme it has!

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    1. Thanks - I never thought of it as beachy, but I can totally see what you mean!

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  28. It looks beautiful and rustic :)
    Katie (Katies Creative)

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  29. Great project !

    I would love you to come and share it at my Craft, Create & Inspire Linky party

    http://polkadotpretties.com/2012/12/craft-create-inspire-linky-party-6/

    Hope to see you there:)

    Claire@ Polkadot pretties x

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  30. Just gorgeous! I'm stopping by from Polkadot Pretties

    Cass x

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  31. So wonderful!!!! It's very Scandinavian, so lovely done, Thanks for the inspiration!

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    1. Oh, thank you! This is the best compliment I ever received, as you can see I admire Scandinavian design the most!

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  32. Replies
    1. Thank you so much for the pin, it's a great compliment!

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  33. You do not imagine how much I like this project! A Christmas carol for each day is so a lovely and traditional idea... is the way I love to prepare myself during the advent!
    Gorgeous!

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    1. Thank you, Laura, it's really working very well and on Christmas Eve I won't mess up the words anymore :))

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  34. Simply adorable! I love that you used the tacky stuff to hang it on the wall. Easy clean up :)

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    1. Thank you, Sherry! I'm a big fan of using tack on everything, because I change the decorations with every season.

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  35. Homa Style is having a 12 Days of Christmas link party going on now.
    I would love it if you linked up your advent tree.
    The link is
    http://homastyle.com/wp/2012/12/01/12-days-of-christmas/

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  36. Love it! Featured you! XO

    http://lollyjane.com/30-diy-christmas-advent-calendars/

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  37. What a great idea for those of us with no children and even those with children! This could be our family's new Christmas tradition. I love the idea. Thanks for sharing. I found you at Sumo's Sweet stuff. The French Hen's are your newest members. We would love it if you would visit us soon and consider joining us. Have a beautiful day.

    Linda at the French Hen's Nest

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  38. Very pretty! I love the bark ornaments and the twist you gave it with the carols! Great idea!

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    1. Thank you so much, Christina! The carols are working out just great, I remember the lyrics much better than in the past :)

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  39. This advent calendar is gorgeous. You have a beautiful eye for form and color! Thanks for sharing on the homemade holiday party.

    Marilyn
    4you-withlove.blogspot.com

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    1. Marilyn, Thank you so much for the lovely words, you're a great hostess!

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  40. Wow - LOVE the look of this advent calendar!! Thanks for linking up at Romance on a dime. Pinning this.

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  41. Great idea for an advent calendar - good luck learning all your Christmas carol words!! :)

    Thanks for linking to a Round Tuit!
    Hope you have a fabulous week!
    Jill @ Creating my way to Success
    http://www.jembellish.blogspot.com/

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  42. I love this! I want some bark stars!!! Thanks for linking up I am featuring you tomorrow!
    Kim

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    1. Thanks a million for the feature, Kim, I'm so proud to be featured at Made In A Day!

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  43. I don't know how many times I've seen this on Pinterest and every time I see it, I think it's fabulous! Wonderful job. Oh so pretty!!!

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    1. I'm so happy that you like it, Anne, your DIY shutters have been featured quite a lot, too :)

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  44. I love this advent calendar, so beautiful and original. Thanks for sharing it on "I Gotta Try That" Have a great weekend.
    Marcie

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  45. Thank you for linking up at Craft, Create & Inspire linky party last weekend , your fabulous project is featured this weekend !!

    Hope you will join us again this weekend

    Claire @ Polkadot pretties x

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  46. Omgosh I love this! Cannot wait to have children to make this for :)

    I made a more "adult" version for my husband over at http://www.smileyculture.com/diy-advent-calendar/ would love to know what you think.


    Sarah x

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