advent calendar

two years ago, i started making an advent calendar. the stage at which you see it in this blog post was as far as i got. i put it all in a shoebox and stored it away. what can i say? i like the IDEA of crafts better than actually getting them finished.

this year, i wanted to come up with 24 christmas-y activities for our advent calendar. but what to put them in? i saw a couple advent calendars with little doors to open each day and i could have bought one of them and put my activities inside. but in the back of my mind, i kept thinking of my failed attempt at making my own advent calendar. why had i abandoned it?

i think i had run out of ideas for decorations to put the numbers on. i also didn't know how i was going to mount the tins - on cardboard? on plywood? both seemed too cumbersome to store all year long. yeah - it doesn't take much for me to scrap an idea.

after looking at advent calendars on pinterest, i saw one that was magnetic. aha! maybe that would work for my advent tree! i reopened the dusty box and faced the problem of coming up with more little decorations. it occurred to me that not every number needed a decoration - some numbers could go straight onto the tin. brilliant. i finished it in about half an hour and a trip to michaels.

i figure if it works this year, next year i could always start over with the tins and laminate the circles ahead of time. and if sticking the tins to the fridge isn't the best idea, i can always remove the magnets and mount them to a board.

now to fill them up...