Everything Christmas: Countdown Begins (Our Advent Calendar)

So, it's December 5 . . . I'm always late. Nevertheless, I'm essentially thrilled with the outcome and we escaped to Leavenworth this past weekend, so it's okay that our Advent Is starting 5 days late, right?  Right.

I knew I wanted to do an "activity" countdown, where every day has a different Christmas craft, snack, or activity to do.  The problem was just how to display it.  There is a SLEW of brilliant ideas to choose from out there, remember these awesome 10?  But it wasn't until I found this awesome one at Shanty 2 Chic that I knew I'd found my match.

Here's how mine turned out:

Her instructions were super clear and it was actually crazy easy!! *Love when that happens*
*Confession: I made 2 because I sorta hated my first paint choice, so that shows you how quick and easy they are*

I strayed a little from the plan outlined on her website.

First off I used finished boards rather than the furring strips.  The furring strips were only $1.95 a piece but I kinda wanted a smoother sleeker finish (the furring are awesome if you're going for more of the rustic look).  So the boards I bought were $7.96 a piece, but even though that essentially quadrupled the cost, the project as a whole was still only around $30.

Here's the cost breakdown:
2- 1"x3"x8' boards @ $7.96 each = 15.92
2- Bags Wood Clothespins @ $1.97 each = 3.94
1 Can Krylon Glitter Blast @ $6.97 = 6.97
Gorilla Glue and finishing nails (i already had, so not sure on the cost)
25 Pack Chevron Bags $6.25
For a whopping total of $33.08!

**Note: You need 2- 8' boards but you really only use not even 1 and 1/2 so if you buy 3 you can make 2!**

The second adjustment I made was cut the back board at 40" instead of 36"  It's a little taller, so the gaps in between the branches can be a little bigger.  I made 4" gaps from the top of the 2x4 base to the bottom of the first branch and in between every branch from there on up.  Here's a pic of the measurements I did (although you could tweek this to fit your needs, if you want to hang bigger bags or christmas cards I would go even taller and wider with your pieces (and maybe use up the whole of both boards):

I also used the Gorilla wood glue to glue on my clothespins (which I eyeballed for distances apart) before painting.

I left the wood unpainted (2nd time around) and sprayed it with the Diamond Dust shade of Krylon Glitter Blast which is really just a creamy color with crystalish glitter so it just adds a snowy sparkle to the light color of the wood.

I bought 25 pink chevron paper bags from Modern Tape on etsy (yes, pink is a Christmas color in our house!) and they got to me SUPER fast!  I cut out numbers using silver paper and my cricut to adorn the bags.   The activity cards I just made quickly using picmonkey.com (they have some awesome new wintery graphics like the wreath I used).

Here's some of the activities tucked away in those little envelopes:
Christmas Concert, Downtown Light Parade, Trip to Leavenworth, Ice Skating, Sledding, Nativity Craft, Snowman Pizzas, Christmas Movie Night, Living Nativity, Decorating Gingerbread Houses, Making Christmas Cookies, Snowflake Painting, Angel Handprint Craft, and much much more!

 So there you have it!

If you don't count shopping time you're only looking at about an hour, and only 6 cuts with a miter saw!  So I know it's December 5, but you still have time to do this . . . It's not too late!!