~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~
Every Thursday, here at Like Mother, Like Daughter!
{happy}
Playing on the swings. Does it get any better?
{pretty} and {real}
Deirdre posted about the feast of Christ the King, this Sunday.
My mom re-posted about Thanksgiving, which is next Thursday.
Logically, it follows that Advent is the very following Sunday!
My old roommate Liz had a lovely felt Advent calendar, made for her by her sister. It was so sweet–one little figure of an animal or a character for each day of Advent, a basic nighttime creche scene above. As Advent progresses, the scene fills out.
Last year I made one for Deirdre, Rosie, and Natasha (well, in theory I was making them for the kids–we had Rosie's family in our Christmas swap; Finnabee is our goddaughter; if I'm making two, I may as well make three and not leave Francis out! –but the mothers were the ones who appreciated them).
It's a pretty and simple project (particularly if you only make one at the time instead of three). Just glue the pieces together; glue velcro to the back of each figure. The velcro grips the felt.
Last year I was up for this type of project because I needed lots of couch time to cope with morning sickness. But if you make the pockets for the figures, I bet that a crafty child could handle the cutting and gluing necessary for the rest. An older child could handle the glue gun.
Keep it simple. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph come on the last days. Start with small animals, move on to the bigger ones, then the shepherds and kings (who wouldn't be AT the manger yet, of course. Still far off. But who can resist making crowns?).
[inlinkz_linkup id=468988 mode=1]
Mary says
Great project! My kids love stories retold with felt.
Wanda says
Now that I will have to do!!!! Guess I better get started for next year!
Kathy@9peas says
Oh, that is the cutest. I love felt crafts and my kids would really like this one. Thank you for sharing!
Katie says
What a cute project!! I love the idea of an advent calendar, but so far had only seen candy filled ones and I wanted to avoid that. You mention you have a Christmas swap? Is there a sane way of doing gifts for large families? I married into one and every person gives every other person a gift (my smaller family does couples giving couples gifts, reducing the gift numbers lower). I went from giving 5 gifts to 25. (I mean, I love giving gifts, just overwhelmed.) How does your family do the swap, if you don’t mind me asking? I think I will need to pull out my crafting skills and make this calendar – it is wonderful!
Logan says
I had the same question about the swap, I’m a convert to Catholicism and huge families. On one hand I love to buy a gift for everyone but on the other hand its starting to get crazy with how many kids we all have!
Anne-Marie says
I married the oldest of seven. By now all seven are married, with between 0 and 7 kids of their own. We do a rotating exchange, treating each household as one unit. We began it as a solution to two problems: people with fewer kids feeling burdened by the choosing & buying, and people with more kids feeling burdened by the quantity of stuff their families received. So it’s all quite amicable, which I know is not always the case when a gift exchange is proposed.
Donna L. says
What a beautiful and fun idea! Do you mind sharing the type of scissors you use to make such clear and neat cuts? I did some crafting this fall and had to practically tear the felt apart because my new scissors kept getting gummed up with the felt…I have daughters that would love to make this!
Such a darling picture of your lil’ one on the swing!
Elise says
What a beautiful craft idea! The three little angels are especially sweet.
Thank you for hosting this linkup, as always!
Nancy Starkey says
Great idea and can use advent colors and focus on the preparation for Christmas… of the secular advent calendars showing up in grocery stores with Frosty, Rudolph, and winter wonderland scenes.
Mystie says
Oh, I love it!
So do you freehand those shapes? Any chance there’s a pattern? I can cut felt, but I don’t think I could create figures myself. 🙂
Annie says
I agree with Mystie. I can do a lot with felt – but freehand draw non psychotic looking creatures… not so much 🙂
Virginia says
Yay for the baby swings! What a cutie.
Amanda says
Such a simple and sweet craft. We bought one last year at a prolife luncheon. Honestly I may even have two (I think we were given one.). My oldest is at the age where I can share more of the story line and he’ll engage so I’m really excited about Advent and the Feast of St. Nicholas this year!
Rosie says
You have rekindled my excitement about getting to use ours this Advent!
Jenny says
My kids would love this. And my older girls know how to felt with our alpaca fleece!
Stephanie in Germany says
I bought felt for such a project about 5 years ago. I even cut out little patterns for the figures. Different pieces of felt have disappeared through the years for different projects of the girls. I got stuck because I didn’t have a real plan – just an idea – and I just couldn’t decide how to continue. I think at the same time I was trying out other new projects for the Advent season. FATAL! 1 new project/tradition per season, unless the 2nd be something already prepared(cut out), or someone else has done ALL the brain work.
Suki, thanks for doing all the brain work. My girls are also older, maybe even too old? If so, it would make a lovely gift for a young family. And it is international! No language barriers.
Terri says
That little guy is so cute!
The tone and content of all the posts here–while always good–have been especially delightful recently. It’s so nice to hear from all of you. Happy Thanksgiving!
Catherine says
I love this project, and Liz’s complete calendar. You are inspiring me! Also Freddie looks thrilled.