It was fun fun fun and felt so good to complete a new Christmas project...even if it necessitated taking the day off work! I drove to Katy's house so we could stitch advent calendars for our families alongside one another. (She is a precise and intentional crafter, and so exerts a good influence on me.)
As far as a tutorial for the embroidered felt advent calendar now hanging in our living room, I'll tell you what I used and what I did.
Supplies
- 1 yard gray felt
- 1/2 yard cream-colored felt (MUCH was made of synonyms for this color, and I ended up somewhere between "baleen" and "Civil War bandage")
- Interfacing and an iron
- Red embroidery thread and an embroidery needle
- Embroidery tracing paper [affiliate link]
- Fabric glue
- A wooden dowel
Steps
- Decide on the height and width of your pockets. I had been leaning toward 3"x3" but luckily Katy talked me into 4"x4". Attach interfacing to one side of the cream-colored felt, and then carefully cut out 25 matching squares.
- In Photoshop or another image design program, create your numbers in your desired font and size (mine are approximately 1.5"). Reverse the image and then print (they should be backwards!). Trace with the pencil and embroidery tracing paper. Cut the numbers out of the tracing paper, and use the iron to transfer one number to each cream square.
- Embroider the numbers, using the transfers as a guide. Embroidery is not a strong skill of mine, nor do I have very much education in it, but I can tell you I went over each digit twice for this calendar.
- Decide on the distance you'd like between your pockets, and cut the gray felt to meet those needs (leaving minimum 6" at the top). My pockets have a distance of 1" between each, and 2" for the side margins. Glue in place around three sides (leaving the top open) and allow appropriate time to dry.
- Fold the top 6" of the gray felt back behind itself, and glue in place so that there is enough room to thread the dowel through (once all is dry).
A few ideas for what to tuck into the pockets if your recipients are little kids (keep in mind some of these are quite tiny and may not be appropriate for a home with babies). Oh, and lots of affiliate links ahead...
- A felt crown (make it/buy it)
- A $1 bill
- Temporary tattoos (make it/buy it)
- A pair of socks (buy it)
- A little bag of pretzels
- A clothespin doll (make it/buy it)
- A small slinky (buy it)
- Washi tape (buy it)
- A piece of candy
- An Altoid mouse (make it/buy it)
- A mini quiet book (buy it)
- One French macaron
- Stickers (buy it)
- A small ink pad and stamp (buy it)
- A small photo puzzle (make it/buy it)
- A little car (buy it)
- Chapstick
- Mittens (make it/buy it)
- Road tape (buy it)
- Small Play-Doh or clay (buy it)
- Stick-on earrings (buy it)
- A new Christmas ornament for the tree
- A finger puppet (make it/buy it)
- Sunglasses (buy it)
- A few Band Aids (buy it)
- Small lacing card (make it/buy it)
These are best for younger kids since of course that's where our minds are, but it was fun to imagine what to put in an advent calendar for teens. We'll have to figure that out eventually!
In addition, we're including little notes that correspond to family experiences, or presents that are too big to fit in the calendar:
- Watch a Christmas movie together
- Drink hot chocolate with breakfast or dinner
- A family outing (these can correspond with holiday plans you already have, like going to see The Nutcracker, driving around to look at Christmas lights, or visiting Santa)
- Family service ideas (volunteering at a soup kitchen, picking out non-perishable foods together and donating to your local food bank or food drive, or picking out gifts for toy drives)
- Go "caroling" via Facetime by calling relatives and singing Christmas songs
- Build gingerbread houses
- Read a new holiday book together
- Paint nails together
- A free pass to wear PJ's all day (for everyone!)
- Bake and decorate cookies
- Have breakfast for dinner
- Make salt dough ornaments
