Cute and Easy DIY Holiday Advent Calendar

This advent calendar craft project works well if you have scraps of pretty Christmas paper that need to be used up. Or if you just want a reason to purchase a pad of colorful holiday patterned paper, this is an easy, DIY holiday craft project to fill your afternoon. (Or get together with your friends and have a craft night!)

You will need the following supplies:

• Twenty-five 2x2x2 inch party favor boxes. (I found mine here, in a pack of 50—some for you AND a friend—and there are color options if you don’t prefer the Kraft color.) 

• Elmers or similar glue.

• Rubber cement (not necessary but I prefer to use it when I want to avoid wrinkling.)

• Clear wrapping tape or other.

• Scissors and/or Exacto knife.

• Fancy bakers twine (can be found at most craft stores.)

• 5 different sheets of pretty holiday patterned paper.

• Numbers on squares printed on cardstock. Click or tap here for the free printable file.

• Black cardstock (you don’t need much, a scrap piece will do.)

• Something to put in the boxes.

1. Print the sheet with numbers on cardstock and cut them out. Here is the free printable file. (You’ll notice there are two pages to print. The second, is for step 2.)

2. Print the sheet with the cut marks on the back of all your patterned paper. Cut them out. If you have five different patterns, you’ll need to cut five squares out of each.

3. Lay out all your patterned squares in whatever arrangement is most pleasing to you (as seen above) and start glueing the numbers to them. This is where I like to use the rubber cement. 

TIP: If you brush rubber cement on BOTH surfaces that will be sticking to one another, let them dry, and then put them together, you won’t get any wrinkling. AND you can simply rub off any excess making it easy to get each edge and each corner totally glued down.

4. Now you can glue all your squares to the lid of each box. Again, I used rubber cement for this part.

5. Cut a 1 inch strip of your black paper. Then slice the strip into “tabs” as seen below, a little larger than 1/4 of an inch wide. You could skip this part, but I don’t recommend it. The tabs help get the lids open because they interlock with the side flaps making them difficult to open when the advent calendar is completely assembled.

6. Using Elmers glue, attach each little black tab to the lip of the lid as seen above. I used the white glue here because it has a strong bond once dry.

7. Now you need to start attaching these little gift boxes to one another. You'll find that using both glue and tape will give you the most secure, tight fit. Note: don’t use tape on the joints that will be showing on the outer edge of the final project. I also found it helpful to tape the bottoms of the boxes together too. You can use packing tape for this to get FULL coverage.

8. Wrap your fancy bakers twine around the whole thing. I recommend looping it around at least five times for a more pleasing look. IMPORTANT: If you're filling the advent calendar boxes with light weight items you can attach something as shown in the image below so it can be hung. 

Please note: My finished piece held 2 pounds of candy and when I lifted it by the hang string, the corner boxes couldn’t hold the weight. But it still looks great laid down or leaned up against the wall.

9. Now it’s time to fill your advent calendar with prizes, things to do, little notes, or candy...whatever! Then tuck those lids securely in.

If you choose to go the candy route...I highly recommend going to a bin store like WinCo or Food4Less etc. It’s an inexpensive option, and that way each box can have something different to try.

That’s it! You’re done. It’s really so simple and will turn out cute. It’s a good holiday craft project!

Tropical Beach Birthday Cake with Candy Details

Need an idea for a tropical beach themed birthday cake? Boom. Here you have it. It’s bright and fun, with flowers, surf boards, leis, sand, coconuts, fish and more. (It looks more complicated than it really is.) And the kids LOVED it.

If you’ve worked with fondant before, I’m confidant you’ll be able to put this cake together. Many of the fondant details need to be made ahead of time so they can dry. But really, that’s not a big deal. Just put on your favorite show while you work and enjoy a little time to be creative.

Do you enjoy seeing how other artists work things out before they settle on a final piece? I do. So, I thought I’d share the original sketches I used to suss out the ideas. You can see which cake won out.

Take away and use any ideas you like! I hope this fosters some ideas in YOU! Let me know how it goes. I completely enjoy the back and forth of creative sharing.

Check THESE other cake decoration ideas out.

Birdcage Blusher Veil Tutorial

To make your own birdcage blusher veil is quite simple! You can add your own details like a flower, or even put jewels on it. Another feature I love is how cute it is pinned up (and out of the face) for the reception as seen in the image above.

I’ve put together an easy to follow and simple DIY tutorial as a FREE printable PDF download here. Print on 8.5x11 inch paper.
This tutorial uses Russian veiling—which you can easily find on Etsy—but of course you can use any other type of sheer material that catches your eye.

Everything you'll need to complete this vintage wedding veil is listed in the instructions. Have fun creating!

Give Your Friend the Cutest Ever Baby Shower Cake

This is what I made for a friend, and would be great for a baby shower. I love that it turned out so cute and pregnant looking. Squeee! It’s adorable. Show this photo to your local cake decorators and they could whip this out pretty easily. (Hey, I’m a novice, and I did it!)

It’s always fun to see where creative ideas come from so I thought I’d share the sketch I started out with. The sketches start with a few ideas I think I can pull off, based on what ingredients and supplies I have on hand. Below is where I thought I might take the design:

See how the final didn’t match my drawing? No biggie! It happens quite often during the creative process—a better idea reveals itself and you just go with the flow.

The cake itself was Hershey's Deep Dark Chocolate Cake, with a chocolate ganache and strawberry preserve filling. This chocolate cake is my go-to. It’s moist and rich, and I’ve never had any problems with the recipe. You can find it here. (This is NOT an ad nor an affiliated link, I just really love the flavor of this cake.)
More cake decorating ideas can be found here.

The Wide Awake Monster, a Free Plush Pattern

This one eyed monster plush pattern is FREE! The sewing instructions are clear and easy enough for the beginner sewer to follow. Little kids love how colorful this plush is and it's a great way to use up some of those scraps and makes a good gift too.

ABOUT WIDE AWAKE MONSTER
This little monster has his pajamas on and is ready for bed. But the monster never sleeps, he keeps an eye open to watch for the scary monsters all night long.

THE BACK STORY
I used to make and sell these super soft and fun monsters on Etsy, but that has run its course. So, I thought why not make the pattern available? Waste not right? Please enjoy!

CLICK HERE for the full free pdf pattern.
For more free sewing patterns CLICK HERE

Little Owl, A Simple Sewing Pattern

This little plush owl is SO CUTE! It’s VERY easy to make and the sewing directions are VERY clear and also FREE! A novice sewer could easily figure out make this soft little friend.

You could make it in any color too! Brown, black, etc. Also, the wings would be a fun way to use up any scraps you may have lying about.

BACK STORY
I used to make and sell these plushies online as a creative outlet (to get me off the computer, I’m a graphic designer by day.) But that particular business has run its course so I wanted to offer the patterns to you for free. Waste not right?

CLICK HERE for the free pdf pattern.
For more free sewing patterns CLICK HERE.

Melt and Pour Soapmaking Service Activity

Someone had donated A TON of plastic easter eggs to our church. So for a Relief Society (a women’s church group) activity, we decided to use the eggs as molds to make soaps to donate to a local women’s shelter.

The church budget covered the soap and supplies, all found at Michaels—don’t forget to use coupons— but we did encourage the ladies to bring their own “additives” such as herbs, lemon peel, or cinnamon and ground oatmeal, basically whatever they wanted. We had a good time.

Melt and pour soaps are the way to go for first time soap makers—which we ALL were. It was so EASY. I’m not going to run you through a tutorial as there are MANY online, and written by more experienced soap makers than me.

I want to encourage you not to shy away from this type of activity. If we could do it, so can you and your group and you’ll enjoy the evening.

I created labels to be tied to each soap. On the back we wrote the scent so the women at the shelter could pick a favorite.

If you CLICK HERE, you’ll be able to download and print the file for the tags. 

File Notes:

1. There are two kinds of soap tags, goat milk glycerin, and plain glycerin. Use the sheet that matches which soaps you made. 

2. Cut marks have been included in the files.

3. Print the pattern on the back of the tag sheet.

QUICK "HOW TO" REFERENCE 
1. Drill a hole in the egg form.
2. If the additives are larger than the hole, put them inside before closing the egg.
3. Close the egg and tape around the seam so the hot soap won’t leak out.
4. Pour some hot soap into a little cup and mix in the scent, coloring and additives.
5. Pour the mixture into the egg form and allow to cool. Preferably overnight.
DON’T FORGET TO WRITE THE SCENT ON THE MOLD.
6. Getting the soap out of the molds was a little difficult. I found it helpful to wrap a warm rag around each egg to melt the soap slightly. Some soap makers suggest using some kind of spray on the form for an easier release. (What you can use without ruining the soap depends on the type of soap, you’ll have to do a little google search for that information but it’s easy to find.)

Above: Vanilla Cinnamon Oatmeal. This one was my favorite. It smelled heavenly!
If you choose to do this as a group activity, have fun!

How to Throw a Well Attended Relief Society Activity

THE PURPOSE:

To encourage actual research and discovery of family history

Ask each woman to go into her personal  family history (either on familysearch.org or other) and trace her mother’s line back as far as she can go, following her mother’s mother’s mother’s, mother's... mother etc. Once she’s found the name, come prepared to share something about that woman.

We did this in May, it felt appropriate for Mother’s Day month. But really, you could do this any time of the year.

IDEAS FOR SHARING:

(Keep it under 3 minutes per share.) 

It can be a photo of what she might have worn, or food she might have eaten, or world events that might have had an impact on her etc. A sister might even discover an interesting story attached to that ancestors name and could briefly share it.

TORTILLAS

What do pictures of tortillas have to do with anything?

I discovered my great grandmother (7 generations back) lived in Norway.

After a tiny bit of research I discovered she would have eaten a lot of Norwegian Potato Lefse in  the 1800s. So I found a recipe for it, prepared some and brought it to share. Lefse is very similar to tortillas. I was surprised how making these me feel close to my great (times 7 ) grandmother as I cooked, I imagined her doing everything I was doing only many, many years ago.

THOUGHTS

On why this activity was so well attended:

1. People like to talk about themselves and family. 

2. It was a unique challenge and fun spin on what usually seems like a tedious and daunting task (family history work). 

3. It’s exciting to discover new things and then to be provided with an opportunity to share those discoveries with other people.

4. I've noticed “participation” activities ALWAYS have better attendance.

Please enjoy this activity. This one brought me great pleasure to attend and to help plan. And we got good feedback from the sisters as well.

No Rules Pinewood Derby

Looking for a ward activity idea? Or one for multiple families? Try a No Rules Pinewood Derby!

 We’ve done this at church for the past three years and it’s been hit every time. The ward budget covers the cost of the car kits and families sign up for one. Then, anything goes! They can choose to use all or none of the pieces in the kit and add their own twist because there’s NO WEIGH IN.
What about how much time it takes for every car to race every car? We don’t do that. What a relief right? I’ll talk about that in a sec.
But first here’s some answers to FAQ:

Can you add all the weight you want? Yes.
Can you build it out of all metal? Yes.
Can you roll a brick down the ramp??? Yes! as long as it doesn’t damage the track or impede an opponents car. (We had a family do this.)
Can you put a remote controlled engine on it? Yes!
There are only a few rules necessary which I’ve outlined below.

HOW PLAY WORKS
You will find that you’ll need two categories:
1. Gravity driven cars.
2. Power driven cars.
(It’s more fun and fair this way.)
Save the power driven car races for last. They can be the most exciting and it’s fun to end with a grand finale.

Have each team pick a name for their car, write it down on a piece of paper and enter it into the appropriate category. We had a bowl for each category.

Next your MC (pick someone who’s funny and isn’t shy) will take the Gravity Driven bowl and draw three names at random and call them out. We were in a church gym so a microphone was very helpful.

After those three cars, the MC draws three more names. Keep play going until the bowl is empty.
Then, throw all the names back in again, mix it up and start over. About three rounds of this is perfect.

After doing this for both categories the fun gets ramped up even more.
NEXT have the MC open up the floor to callouts. Players get to call out any other cars they want to race. This goes on until the evening is over.

We’ve had NO TEARS, and no complaints over fairness etc. This NEVER feels like a serious competition and there are no prizes. We’re all there for the fun. So if you have bad childhood memories of your pinewood derbys...no worries! This is nothing like it!

SUGGESTED
Include a potluck or treats. We had a tailgate themed potluck one year and a fourth of July breakfast another year.

The kids LOVE LOVE LOVE this activity. The adults get a kick out of it too. I like it because it’s so inclusive. Families with kids, singles, and couples without children all have fun. And I always enjoy seeing what everybody has built and “oohing, and ahhhing” over all their hard work. Each year the cars get more creative as people see what’s possible.

If you choose to do this, have fun!

The Towel: A Small Budget Relief Society Gift

This was a thoughtful gift handed out to the women at church for Mother’s Day and I’ve also seen it done with a Christmas towel / theme as well. It’s an idea worth sharing since it’s simple and costs very little.

Copy and paste the thoughtful words below into a document with a graphic of your choosing. (I can’t give you the one seen here because the rights to the illustration don’t belong to me.) This was printed on half of an 8.5 x 11 sheet. And tied up neatly with the towel.

"At first glance it is easy to look at a towel as a most ordinary object. Have you ever stopped to think that for thousands of years, the towel has been used for many wonderful purposes? For example, the mother who wipes the tears of a child, the physician who binds the wounds of a patient, or the woman in her home wiping her hands as she moves from task to task.

Perhaps the most significant use of the towel happened over two thousand years ago when our Savior, only hours before He hung on the cross, took an ordinary towel in His loving hands and dried the feet of His disciples. This simple, loving act personifies the selflessness and loving service we seek to give during our lives. It illustrates that an ordinary thing like a towel, in the right hands, and with a giving heart, can lighten another’s load. As with every action performed by the Savior on this Earth, His act of service reminds us that simple day-to-day-kindnesses are the Savior’s way to bless and comfort.

This towel is given with love and with the hope you will do works of goodness with it as the Savior did so many years ago."

Note: This thought has been shared so often online, I can’t find the original author. If you know who it is, please notify me, I’d like to give proper credit.