paula's "made it myself" advent calendar

Paula's version of Lisa Tilse's advent calendar

After posting about Lisa Tilse's clever advent calendar tutorial, I was all set to do it myself. Until a thing called time was robbed from me by work, renovations, babies and life in general. But I was happy to see someone had given it a go - a reader, Paula, emailed me a pic of her completed calendar and she's done such a great job, I had to share. And guess what? It even fits with my Ikea theme - she used Ikea paper! She says the cones are filled with little packets of sultanas which are a hit with her son. Snaps for Paula - it looks great!

Maybe I'll have more time to try it next year. This year, though, we used a rather large Santa Claus face my mother bought for Zak's first Christmas with little pockets in his beard. Considering he was a month old for his first one, and just one at his second, it hadn't got much real use. This year, though, Zak searches for the right number and is delighted with his "yummy yummy snaaake". So not quite as stylish as Lisa and Paula's, but super-excitment for him (and us, of course!). Except I've had to pop all the treats in the fridge and place in the appropriate numbered pocket minutes before he does it because ALL day he pulls on the beard and repeatedly yells out the next number, hoping I'll let him do it because he knows what to expect now. Little bugger!

The latest crafty project from The Red Thread's Lisa Tilse

Oh, and on the subject of Lisa: she's also created this beautiful Chrissy wreath too! You can check out the tutorial right here