Our Holiday Countdown Project!

Advent and holiday countdowns.  They are popping up ALL over Pinterest and the blog world.

Thank goodness they are because it actually got my brain wheels spinning and got me inspired to DIY one for our family this year.

Sure, we have done those cheapy calendars from department stores where we eat a little treat each day.  But I wanted to do something with meaning.  Something special and that we could do year after year.  Something that would bring us closer through the hustle and bustle of the holidays.  And maybe even something that can be passed down from generation to generation.

So I decided an "activity" holiday countdown was the way to go.  I thought of all sorts of ways to house the activities, from clothespins and twine to wall pockets and pin boards.  I ultimately decided I wanted a little decorative

box to keep for year after year.

I found one at a JoAnn for $6.99 minus a 40% off coupon!

I couldn't wait to paint it!  Taping off the glass wasn't all that fun.  So I figured I would just paint the outside to save time.

I just used a dollar tube of craft paint and picked one of my most favorite colors that I figure will look good in any space in our home.

Once the tape was removed, I was less than impressed.

Aside from a little paint seepage {which I later scraped off of the glass with a utility knife blade}, I didn't love the look of the natural box interior.

Martha Stewart to the rescue!

I had found this paint at our local home improvement store and I had a couple of ideas up my sleeve for how I wanted to use it.  This project was not originally one of them.  Don't you love how that works?  But it was my first project to use the paint with and I have to say, it was pretty amazing.

It covered well and really left a glistening metallic sheen!  So, I painted it on the entire interior of the box {after I taped out all of the glass on the inside}.

While I let all of the paint dry, I got to work coming up with a list of activities for our family to partake in over the next 24 days until Christmas {I used Google to help me with this and they are in no particular order}:

• Read a holiday story
• Write down what you adore most about each member of the family
• Take an outdoor stroll
• Have a pajama dance party
• Have breakfast for dinner
• Donate a gift{s} to charity
• Pick out a Christmas tree
• Have a cup of hot cocoa
• Cut out paper snowflakes and hang them in the window
• Watch your favorite holiday movie with popcorn
• Go on a Christmas lights drive
• Decorate the Christmas tree
• Bake a holiday treat
• Make an ornament for the tree
• Play a game together
• Write a letter to Santa
• Make holiday greeting cards
• Make a snowman
• Play Christmas music and sing-along
• Unplug from electronics for one whole day
• Go out for ice cream
• Take a photo each hour of the day
• Make a gift for your teacher
• Have a slumber party by the Christmas tree

Then, I created them in a "printable" format:

{click here to download your FREE holiday countdown activity cards}

You can download the cards for FREE, I left a page on the back blank so if you don't wish to do our activities, you can write in your own!

I printed them on card-stock and cut them out.

Because I needed a way to "number" the activities, I started out by cutting numbers out of decorative cardstock with my Silhouette craft machine.

Then, I just used a little Mod Podge to affix the numbers to the fronts of some standard greeting card envelopes.

Because I am "mom", I know what days I have some specific events planned, such as our charity shopping day or the day we are going to pick out our Christmas tree, I made sure to put those activities in the corresponding envelope.  The rest, just went in randomly and will even be a surprise to me!

By now, my countdown box was all dry and the metallic inside looked divine, but it was still missing something.  I decided it needed a little title on the top.

I cut some words from vinyl and adhered them directly to the glass:

Perfect.  Final step was just to pop the activity envelopes inside!

I am beyond words excited to start these activities and this new tradition with the family!  I will most likely end up running the activity cards through the laminator to ensure they last year after year, because I hope this is a new tradition that never fizzles!

Anyone else create an advent or holiday countdown for the first time this year, or had you already built one into your holiday tradition years ago?  Who else does an "activity" countdown and what are some of the fun things on your "to do" list?  Feel free to share a link to your own projects, I would heart to see them!