Festivus: Quick Dive Into Decor

There is no appropriate adjective to describe how much I love festivus. An that includes all the fun ways to decorate the home. And if you have the time, why not make some of your decor? While I (and my sleep schedule) have been shifted around a lot this week, I was able to get a few things done.

First off, as I mentioned last week, I've been waiting to put together a cute, little advent calender that is similar to the one I found on Mod Podge Rocks. I did a few things different though.

First off, since I knew this post would not be up until a few days into December, I decided to cut down some of the days. And I'm sure I saved a few dollars going with only 12 boxes & a smaller canvas. With a 24" by 36" canvas, I still had plenty of room.

I also went outside the box. The local Hobby Lobby had a great sale on all sorts of little cardboard boxes. So I simply picked out 12, including two larger ones for the first and last day.

I'm sure I also did this with a lot less science and math than I should. Taking a photo of where I wanted things to go was the only pre-meditated preparation I really did. Speaking of preparation, here's what you need:
- 24" by 36'' canvas (Maybe smaller? You pick)
- Acrylic paint: Hunter green, holly red, sap green & white
- Paint brushes (duh.)
- Mod Podge (It's pretty awesome)
- Hot glue gun
- Hot glue (duh. again.)
- 12 boxes (get creative)
- Christmas card stock (I found a sweet set that included stickers)

So after you get all of the supplies, lets get down to the process. First, I placed (later found out 11, not 12)  the boxes on the canvas and marked where the boxes would go. Before you really get started, count and make sure you have all 12. Otherwise, you'll have to try to place a random box out of order.

Next: Painting. Lots and lots of painting. You'll need to paint the canvas one color. I left a bit of white in the spots I wanted the boxes to go as a reminder. While you are at it, paint the sides of the boxes & lids.

Old paper bag = great paint drop cloth

After everything is dry, take out the card stock. Use the lids to trace on the card stock to cut out decorative tops to the lids. Then cut out the paper. Then I used a paint brush to apply Mod Podge to the lid tops, then stuck on the card stock. That will need to dry.

I now know the joy that is Mod Podge

When everything is dried out, I painted circles on the lids as background for the numbers. For the two large boxes, I used a "circle box lid" to trace a circle. For the smaller boxes, I think I used a tea candle.

Once that dried, I sketched the painted numbers into the circles, and traced a ring of paint around the circles.

Sorry, had to get artsty there for a moment.

Now that all the boxes are ready, get the glue gun out. And believe me, you will be using lots of glue. I had some difficulty quickly going from gluing the bottom of the boxes then applying to the canvas, so I had to do it a few times. Don't get discouraged.

I applied some of the stickers to the canvas, but I still felt some of the canvas was bare, so I started some free-hand painting.

Our cat helping me paint. He totally took over my knee cushion.

 When everything is dry, then its good enough to hang and stuff with little gifts.

While the advent calender was my main objective, I wanted to show off a few other things I accomplished. Since I spent so much time painting, I also purchased a wooden "B" and painted it with festive Christmas colors to put on display.

And after seeing it on pinterest, I tried a cute little window decor idea. With one of our old curtain rods, ribbon & large ornaments, we placed a rack of hanging ornaments in our main living room window.

Utilizing the window space

And this design was really easy do. Just needed a little pre-planning, few measurements for the ribbon, and presto! You would be amazed at all the easy things you can do to get your home in the holiday spirit.