The Countdown to Christmas Begins

Every year, my family counts down to Christmas using an advent calendar. Usually we use a store bought one that is made up of little flaps that you fold back to reveal a quote about the holidays. This year, though, I decided to get creative and make my own countdown calendars. They ended up taking more time to create than I had thought they would, but I think they are turning out well. So far, I have finished one calendar and am finishing up the second.

For the first one, I collected 24 bottle caps from my friends and family.
Next, I cut out circles from various colors of scrapbook paper to fit inside of the caps.
I painted a holiday-themed picture on each circle, such as a snowman or Christmas cookies, and then wrote a number from 1-24 on each circle.
Finally, I popped each circle into a bottle cap.

Bottle Cap Advent Calendar

I found a cheap wooden frame at Michael's for only $1. I painted it white with red trim and put a picture of our family inside of it. I will be sticking the bottle caps around the edge of the frame each day until it is Christmas (I'm not sure how to stick them on yet, though).

I remembered that I had purchased a beautiful mirrored countdown calendar on clearance last January from Target, so I decided to combine the two by placing a bottle cap and small piece of candy in each of the doors.

For my other advent calendar, I sewed 24 Christmas-themed ornaments from felt. I will be placing them, along with more candy, inside of 24 decorated cans that I have collected over the last several months from my family's meals. Each day we will hang the ornaments on a small silver tree that was also purchased from Target on clearance a few years ago. Pictures of this calendar will be posted soon!