Diy – Homemade Advents Calendars

Kurt Adler Wooden Chimney Christmas Advent Calendar

The countdown to Christmas has started.
On of my favourite traditions as a child was opening our Advent calendars. Each morning, starting on December 1 my sister, and I got up and raced to our calendars to see what chocolate shape was to be found behind the door.  Stars, Christmas trees, bells and more, we loved the sweet surprise.

My children also enjoy their Advents calendars and especially for small children it shortens the wait till until Christmas.

Of course, you can purchase calendars now in every Grocery store.  They range from $1.25 at Dollar stores to $19 for exclusive Lindt chocolate ones. Even Lego and Playmobile Toy Calendars are now available (see below)
But much more unique and personal are homemade advent calendars, and they can be reused and handed down and become a family tradition.
You can craft an advent calendar from materials like wood, paper or fabric. There are virtually no limits to your creativity. It can be classic, simple or colourful and modern. Add numbered pouches, bags or boxes that can hold many types of small treats, an inspirational note, toys, or stickers.

I found some awesome and inspiring examples here and want to share some great ideas with you.
Make this year’s Advent extra special.

Better Homes and Garden
Create a calendar made from a 24 cup muffin tin. It doesn’t get much faster and easier than this.

Santa Countdown
How cute are these little Santas? Visit the link and get 24 different Santa printables and decorate your rolls
All you need is 24 toilet paper rolls, scissors, string, tape and colored paper for the hats.

Advent Calendar Tree

You don’t need carpenter skills, just a hammer, nails and wood to assemble this rustic tree of treats.

Fabric Advent Calendars, as seen on Amazon

Feeling like adding personal treats to a calendar, but don’t have the time to make a DIY calendar from scratch?

These cute fabric Christmas trees or Santas Advent calendars have 24 pockets, that are just asking to be stuffed with special treats for your favourite child or person!

browse all Advent Calendars on Amazon.ca

Source: The post Homemade Advents Calendars – Cute and Easy appeared first on Angie's Ontario.

Fun Fall Leaf Crafts and Decorations

My favourite part about autumn is that the leaves of many deciduous trees put on the most gorgeous show of colour.
As we were raking leaves in our yard today, we kept pausing to admire the beautiful coloured leaves on our front lawn, looking so vividly illuminated by streaks of sunlight. O.K., it was mostly me doing the admiring while my kids dove in and out of leave piles, scattering them all over the lawn. Again!

Eventually, most of the neatly raked piles made it into the leaf bags. We do compost some and also use the lawn mover to break down a nice layer of mulch to leave as fertilizer for the next year. But most of them ended up in leaf bags. Finally being done with all the raking, I should have a feeling of accomplishment, but discarding all these little pieces of beauty felt like such a waste.
I picked up a few “perfect ones” and decided to find a way to somehow extend their short and colorful life.I chose the best shaped and coloured leaves, made sure they were dry and clean and could be used them for various decorations inside.

There are many ways to use these beautiful autumn leaves.

www.bellenza.com
You can place one or two of them on each napkin beside a plate and enjoy a touch of fall during your family dinner. Get a decorative piece of strings and tie them around the napkin for a fancier dinner party.

on nowoodenspoons.blogspot.com

Having a more romantic dinner?  You could spread a few bright red coloured leaves around a candle light  to have an elegant, romantic glow

http:/homedecorationdesigns.blogspot.ca

Use them to dress up your fruit bowl. Take some leaves and place a few between  your apples and bananas.

Want to keep your leaves for an extended amount of time?

www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com

Frame them or make a coaster or bookmark.

Make sure to save some of the leaves for crafts and activities.  Kids will enjoy fun and easy crafts with leaves.
Have them collect various brightly coloured leaves in different shapes and sizes and get  ready to make these adorable crafts seen below

Source: The post Fall Leaf Crafts and Decorations appeared first on Angie's Ontario.

DIY Sandals Decos – Dress Up Your Flip Flops From Fun to Fancy!

Finally, summer has arrived, and you are looking forward to wearing your beloved sandals.
Maybe your last year’s model has a small stain, is missing a jewel, or your new, too plain sandals need a little more pizzaz.

So I ‘ve discovered this fabulous DIY sandals project.

This is an easy and cool activity and also perfect for kids who can create their own fun pair.
All you need is craft glue, scissors, and your desired decorations, like beads, fabric, jewels, and your imagination!

I am ready to give some great projects like these a try:

These pair flips of white flip flops are fancy enough to wear to a wedding reception.
Grab a pair of white flip-flops, beads, ribbon, view here

These fun and colourful flip flops are decorated with water ballons. They are so light and comfy,just perfect for a day at the beach or pool! more here

This easy diy sandals project just requires your favourite scarf and a pair of scissors to breathe new life into a plain pair of sandals! view here

Gladiator sandals are always hugely popular as summer footwear. If you are looking for a more subtle style, make your own as shown here

These fabric ruffle flip flops are just too cute. And any little girl and even big ones, should own a pair. Great diy project if you have sewing experience. more here

Source: The post DIY Sandals Decos – Dress Up Your Flip Flops From Fun to Fancy! appeared first on Angie's Ontario.