Countdown to Christmas Display

Today I am posting a project that I have been working on for quite a while.  Two months ago, Nichole Heady posted this project to highlight the Countdown to Christmas stamp sets.  As soon as I saw it I could see into the future and picture my future grandchildren fighting over who got to take off which tag and hang it on the tree.  I could picture hiding little messages and announcing fun things we were going to do together behind each tag.  I pictured this being displayed year after year and hoping this is something my family will look back on and smile when they think of it.  I hope they will laugh when they talk about crazy mom who spent so much time in her little craft room making little bits of colored paper that when assembled, looked so pretty and created great memories.  I ordered Countdown to Christmas that night, bought a great big frame, burlap and chicken wire, tucked it aside planning to make it well before December 1st.  Thanksgiving comes and goes and it dawned on me that I better get going or there will be no Countdown to Christmas this year.  If I didn't make it this year, chances are it would never get made, so I dug in and have worked on practically nothing else until today when this project was completed.  Here is what I ended up with, pretty much identical to Nicholes framed Advent calendar, but with my own individually decorated tags.

The inside portion of the frame measures 20 x 30.  The burlap was adhered using spray glue and the chicken wire was folded over the edges and snipped to the right length.  That was the hardest part of this project and my fingernails still look horrible!  Once I had the frame made, I started making my tags.

Carly liked the hot cocoa tag the best because it had pink on it.

Letter to Santa is my favorite although it didn't take any time at all to complete!

This is my second favorite...velvet paper is so pretty in person.

After making Tag #4, I realized I should just make the rest of the tags and add the numbers when I was done.  That way, I could arrange...and re-arrange them to get the best color, shape and size combination.  I die cut a coasterboard layer for behind the decorated tag so they would be sturdier to last throughout the years.   The clothespins were dyed with wood stain overnight in a zip lock bag.

Now, what am I going to do this year when I have no little kids and no grandchildren that will be able to see the little activity tags that are left once you remove a tag.  My board will look pretty darn bare by the time the last week of December comes around.  I have decided to try (TRY) to take one picture every day of the month, anything that looks cute or fun and has to do with my family.  I will put each picture into a polaroid diecut frame and clip it up in place of the numbered tag.  We'll see if I end up with more than one or two pictures displayed when Christmas Day finally rolls around!

Whew.  That took almost as long to write as it did to make.  Thanks for sticking with me and looking at my Countdown to Christmas Display.

**You will note that many of my tags used Waltzingmouse Stamps...just to let everyone know they now have limited shipping based in the United States!!!Yah for all of us who want to get their stamps super fast!  Spread the word**