WhiMSical Hanging Advent Calendar Tutorial

I was browsing through some Christmas-y mags the other day & admiring the lovely stitched advent calenders I saw. I'd always wanted a super fun advent calendar for my girls---a really nice one with pockets to hide treats & surprises---but never had one....UNTIL NOW!

Sitting in my art studio last week I glanced over at my hanging pocket organizer that holds all my glues nicely up off the ground---& high enough away from curious little fingers. "Hold on a sec!", I thought. "How many pockets does that organizer have?......24? 24!!!!! That's perfect for an advent calendar!" And do you know what that "pocket organizer" really is? A hanging shoe rack. Isn't that insanely awesome??? I got it last year for $2.99 at a thrift store.

So now the fun begins. This tutorial is not really a 'step-by-step' how-to, because all you do is grab your fabric & ribbon scraps, buttons, paints, crafty bits & doo-dads & go to crazy town on your soon-to-be advent calendar! It's the perfect project to do with your kids. Mine is quite eclectic & zany, but you can make it look however you want.

I only wish I'd thought of this a week ago, seeing as today is the actual day to start the advent! Hey, I can't always control when these random crafty thoughts get in my noggin.

I realize my decorating job doesn't scream "CHRISTMAS!" & it's rather un-holiday-ish in color, but create yours how YOU want.

Here's a quick rundown of how I made each number:

1- Circle of vintage fabric ironed on with adhesive & number glued on with Fabri-tac.

2-The word 'two' stitched onto a felt "speak" bubble, which was then stitched onto the pocket.

3-Vintage fabric number ironed on with adhesive.

4-A small patch from a Boy Scout-style Uniform glued on with Fabri-tac.

5-Traced my 4-year old's hand onto vintage fabric & ironed on with adhesive.

6- Stitched on.

7-Plastic letter 'beads' sewn on.

8- Painted with white acrylic paint.

9-Block of vintage fabric ironed on with adhesive, number cut from felt & glued on with Fabri-tac.

10- Painted on with mustard-colored acrylic paint.

11- Domino stitched on using "invisible" thread.

12- Letters cut from sponges & stamped on using light blue paint.

13- Circular office tag with stickers attached.

14- Numbers cut from vintage fabric & ironed on using adhesive.

15- Number stitched on felt pre-bought flower piece which was glued on using Fabri-tac.

16- Circle of vintage fabric ironed on with adhesive & felt numbers glued on using Fabri-tac.

17-Strips of ribbon glued on using Fabri-tac.

18- Button made using my button machine & a page from an old dictionary. Pinned on.

19- Acrylic green paint.

20- Alphabet transfers. (Ironed on.)

21- Applied Aleene's Clear Tacky glue & sprinkled with silver glitter.

22- Number cut from sponges & stamped using acrylic green paint.

23- Block of vintage fabric ironed on using adhesive & felt numbers glued on top using Fabri-tac.

24- Vintage white buttons stitched on.

Fill each pocket with little prizes & treats. Your kids will LOVE this. Totally.

Happy Christmas!