Advent Calendar - Using Matchboxes
November 26th 2008 03:34
Christmas Advent Calendar - Using Matchboxes
Create this Christmas Advent calendar with your kids.
We used matchboxes of a couple of different sizes to hold our lollies and chocolate coins. We used the biggest matchboxes for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
HINT: If you don't have enough matchboxes try opening out one, tracing the design onto light card, cutting them out and creating your own matchboxes. Using this method you can make the matchboxes in card coloured to match your design and you will not have to cover them with paper as we did.
Materials Required:
1. 24 or 25 Matchboxes (depending if you would like to open a matchbox on Christmas day or not)
2. Piece of sturday backing card. Size according to your needs. Ours was 37cm x 48cm. We used the side of an old cardboard box.
3. Piece of paper to cover the front of your advent calendar. We used white.
4. Christmas paper scraps - to cover the matchboxes.
5. Decorations - we used gold card for a border; glitter glue, stickers; gold and silver Christmas stars; punched tags and gold dot stickers to put the day numbers on; gold thread.
Other suggestions: Images cut from Christmas wrapping paper or old christmas cards, christmas stamps, gold, silver, green or red wool, colouring, pictures drawn by your children onto the calendar.... the list is endless.
6. Black permanent marker - to write on the number 1 to 24 or 25
7. Lollies for the boxes. We have two children so we put two lollies in each box - one each. Make sure when buying the lollies that they will fit into the matchboxes and that they are covered so that they won't go off while waiting to be opened.
8. Adhesives: Glue, Double-sided sticky tape (DSST), sticky tape.
HINTS:
-Try sticking to a colour theme (eg Gold and reds) to create a striking impact with your advent calendar.
-Let your children use their imagination when decorating the calendar and try not to direct them too much- then they will be proud of their efforts and their creation. You can always brighten it up at the end by adding a few star stickers and glitter glue to fill up empty spaces.
Instructions
1. Cover the matchbox covers with colourful Christmas paper.
Hint: Dont cover the ends. You will need to be able to open and colse the matchboxes to get the lollies out.
Hint: Make sure that the sticky tape ends up on the back side of your matchboxes, where it will not be seen once they are attached to the base board.
2. Cover the backing cardboard with the paper, using glue or DSST.
3. Arrange the matchboxes onto the backing card, and stick them down using DSST.
4. Number the matchboxes 1 to 25 for each of the days in December leading up to christmas.
5. Decorate the advent calendar.
6. Fill the boxes with chocolates, lollies or other goodies.
ENJOY!!
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