A Christmas Countdown Full of Handmade Happiness
by Jennifer Harte

Hello Friends! It’s never too early to start thinking about your Christmas cards and projects. When I received the Open Studio Advent Tabs I immediately knew I wanted create something special with them. After giving it some thought, I decided to make an Advent Calendar with drawers, giving the recipient a place to tuck a little treat inside each one. The boxes can be found online and some local shops.

I wanted to make the front of each drawer extra special, so I sifted through my stash of Poppystamps dies to see what I could find. I was lucky to find just the right number of designs for all 25 drawers, although there was quite a bit of improvising involved. I had to trim some of the die cuts to make them fit or only use parts of a set, but I’m really happy with how everything came together. After adhering the die cuts to the drawers, I added lots of embellishments to make the calendar sparkle—after all, it’s the holidays!

Now for the Open Studio Advent Tabs…Since the tabs covered too much of each decoration I needed to come up with another way to attach them. 

Then I had an idea—the halo from the Nordic Sweet Angel was just the right size to place behind the tab. It covered the die cuts while still allowing the front decoration to remain a fun surprise, along with a little treat inside the drawer.

To attach the tabs, I adhered a pice of string to the back of each Advent Tab and then attached the gold circle (halo) behind the tab. I taped the other end of the string inside the drawer so the tag can easily be flipped over and tucked out of sight. The best part about this design is that the calendar can be used year after year!

Thank you so much for visiting! I hope this inspires you to create something special this holiday season and share a little handmade happiness of your own! 

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