When I spotted fresh cranberries at our local grocery store here in Kuwait, I grabbed a bag immediately, knowing just how we’d put them to good use. Cranberry popcorn garlands are just one of those things – a craft so classic that it’s a shame to not try at least once.
Today Gracen’s autumn nature shelf got a much needed makeover…
Gone are the crunchy leaves, dried out sunflowers, mini pumpkins, new apples, and shedding cattails…
And in are the bare branches, pinecones, evergreen limbs, and dried red berries.
If we’re striving for accuracy, the title ‘Christmas shelf’ would probably be more appropriate at this point, but we’re sticking with ‘nature shelf’ because soon enough all of the little Christmas extras (many of which were mine when I was little) Miss G carefully selected and added will be tucked away until next year and we’ll be back to having shelves filled with plain ol’ nature things.
And because we don’t have quite as many wintery things as we did autumn-y things, we decided to use the bottom shelves for seasonal books, which Gracen loves having on display.
I’m not going to lie. I had grand plans to sew a beautiful bunting-style felt advent calendar that was hand embroidered and could be used year after year. But it didn’t happen… And that’s okay.
Instead, I searched around the internet {a couple of days late}, combined a few ideas, and came up with what easily could be world’s fastest, simplest paper bag advent calendar. It certainly won’t be something we keep for years and years, but it could last two or three. Plus it takes almost no time at all to put together and I already had everything, save the paper bags, on hand.
To get started, I purchased 25 of these flat 5 by 7 paper bags (you don’t want the lunch-style ones that fold out at the bottom) from one of my favourites – Urban Source.
Then, using one of the stamp sets I use for my Littlelest Lulu block orders, I stamped the bags with ‘Dec. 1’ through to ‘Dec. 25’. This job could obviously be done by hand, with letter stickers, or by printing labels from the computer, but I chose to do the stamp route this time around.
Once done with the stamping, I folded the tops of the bags down about an inch from the top.
Next, I selected an area of wall to hang my calendar. I went with this spot because it’s right along the ground and allows Gracen to reach her own bags each day, but you could really do any spot you wish.
Using teeny tiny nails, a hammer, and some baker’s twine, I strung up five evenly-space lines for my bags. (I hung the bags as I went just to get a feel for how it would all look in the end, but as long as you know that the bags will fit in the arrangement you choose, you really don’t have to hang them up quite yet.)
Next, I filled the bags, added a note inside each, sealed them shut with washi tape, and hung them on the lines with mini wooden clothespins.
Originally, I had really wanted craft paper bags, but I actually think the white ones turned out perfectly. They are just see-through enough to show the shape of the object(s) inside, which gets Miss G really curious.
This year, because Grae is nearly obsessed with adding to the tree each day, we decided to make her advent calendar all about ornaments. Some days her bag will be filled with a purchased or previously made ornament to add to the tree, and other days, she’ll have to create the ornament first. Either way, there will always be a handwritten note included that tells her why the ornament is special or what she can create using her materials.
Well… That’s it. World’s simplest, quickest DIY advent calendar. It was ridiculously easy to put together, but I know my little lady will adore it just as much as if I’d had the time to make the elaborate one I’d originally planned on creating. And that’s all that matters. ☺
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