This little project totally came about on a whim this morning while Miss G and I were hanging out at home, but I think it turned out adorably and Grae had a blast making her washi tape heart art piece, so I’m calling it a win. Not to mention that the project is great for building fine motor skills too, so double win.
Gracen is all about ‘decorating’ for upcoming holidays, which in our house normally means switching out the wreath on our apartment door, changing up the garland that hangs above the large couch in our living room, and maybe adding a few pieces of artwork to the wall above our creative space. So with Easter not too far away, new decorations are needed asap. Our first project, this striped egg art, is very similar to our paper strip handprint art and is very easy while beautiful at the same time.
Today Gracen and I put together this very simple sensory bin stand for her brand new {big} bedroom. It was an idea I’d seen on Ikea Hackers a few years back, and I’m so glad I remembered it. It’s simple, inexpensive, multipurpose, and fully customizable, which I love. And now that we’ve put it to the test, I think we may even get another one to add to our collection.
Have I mentioned how much I love when fun, unplanned activities just come about naturally during the day? I do! In fact, I often find that they’re some of our very favourites. That’s exactly what happened today with our super simple table top roadway.
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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