How many days?

I must check in with my friend who is counting down the days til Christmas. By my calculation it's about four and a half weeks until the beginning of December - I can't bring myself to count the days - which is when I will have to have my advent calendar completed. I am finally getting around to making one for Roxy. I've been meaning to do it for a couple of years and figure if I get started on it now I might just be able to cross it off my list this year.

I love the idea of the advent calendar and can't wait to see the anticipation and excitement on Roxy's face each morning when she gets to open a little package. I might even take a photo each day to record it for her. Sometimes there will be sweet treats, but there will also be notes saying something like Today Mummy and Daddy will take you for a swim and a watermelon picnic, or Today we'll go to the craft shop and you can choose some things, or Tonight we will eat at your favourite restaurant. Of course I will do some swapping of treats the night before so things fit in with our schedule the following day!

At the moment I have chosen materials and have a rough idea of what form I want the advent calendar to take. I'll keep you posted on the progress and will include a progressive tutorial each Tuesday for the next 4 weeks.You'll see from the photo below my colour palette and material selection: wrapping paper, cotton fabric scraps, wool felt (or you may prefer to use more fabric) and embroidery thread (optional). There will be more materials required, which I will list next week, but these are the ones to start thinking about as they will provide the pattern and colour. Next Tuesday I'll show you my idea and outline the project. It would be fun if we could do it together. Your advent calendar needn't follow my tutorial - you could create something original. I'll find some examples to inspire you and post them later this week. I'd love it if you were to email me photos of your finished advent calendar creations and I'll share them here. Are you in?

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