Thursday, November 14, 2019

Advent Calendar / Countdown to Christmas Using Pillow Boxes



Countdown To Christmas with Spellbinders and Creative Embellishments

Christmas Countdowns are a a spin off of the age-old Advent Calendar tradition. They are a great way to build excitement and anticipation for Christmas day while taking a moment to celebrate everyday. 

 My particular take on the Christmas Countdown was created using Spellbinders Contour Pillow Box Steel Rule Die and chipboard countdown tags from Creative Embellishments.  

And this just in.....Spellbinders has this pillow box die on sale for $6.99 (as of the date of this post).  Crazy right? Click here for the sale. 

Contour Pillow Box Steel Rule Die

 My pillow box Christmas Countdown "Calendars" are being sent to my adult children who live out of state.  They will be filled with cash, candy, scratch off lottery tickets, and "whatnots". This is my way of sending them a piece of of my heart in a fun way.   

I have two children, so I needed to cut 50 pillow boxes in total.  
The wonderful thing about the Pillow Box Die is that they are super quick to make, and because they are steel rule, they can cut multiple layers at one time which really helped in this large project.  



Countdown to Christmas Chipboard Tags 
The  "Countdown to Christmas" chipboard tag sets  are designed by Creative Embellishments.  The sets are adorable numbered chipboard pieces to help countdown the days in December leading to Christmas, a different version of the Advent calendar. 

 I combined the Mitten Countdown Tags and Stocking Countdown Tags in my project.  There are four different sets available and I am showing three of the designs below.  
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stocking count
stocking count
stocking count
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Chipboard Treatments
The chipboard tags were painted with a vanilla white acrylic paint (soft white but not quite cream).  From there, I either left "as is", painted red or pink, added embossing, or inked with distress ink in Vintage PhotoFired BrickWalnut Stain.  



Wrapping the Boxes - Papers and Bows 


I chose to have each pillow box be unique.  While that may have involved a bit more work, I had much more fun planning, organizing and decorating each box. 

The patterned papers are from  Maja Design's Holiday in the Alps 12x12 collection.  The collection is rich and full of fabulous holiday/winter images and patterned paper.   Absolutely perfect for Christmas, winter and well into the year.  
Patriotic Slider Pop-up Card


Some boxes are wrapped with paper strips and some have ripped muslin. I started off only using ripped muslin, liking the carefree frayed edges then I moved right into Christmas holiday fabrics.  I just kept right on going...haaaa. 

Finishing Touches - Decorative Die Elements

A quick way to gussy up the pillow boxes is by adding some more gorgeous Spellbinders products.  I added snowflakes from  Spellbinders -Small Die Club-November 19  and 
Spellbinders Starry Forrest Dies designed by Sharyn Sowell.
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 Spellbinders Clubs - Small Die of the Month
Small Die of the Month Membership
Shapeabilities Starry Forrest Etched Dies Sharyn Sowell Holiday 2019 Collection
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Finishing Touches - Button Embellishments

The boxes are topped with Spellbinders dies, baubles, floral berries, pine cones, ribbon, some traditional buttons and 3D buttons from  Buttons Galore and More .

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holly buttons
Buttons Galore and More - Holly 3D Buttons CM129
traditions embellishment bottles
Buttons Galore - 3D Buttons - Poinsettias 4814

traditions embellishment bottles

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Here are some other pillow boxes I created using Spellbinders Contour Pillow Box Steel Rule Die .  You can see more details here.  
Patriotic Slider Pop-up Card

Here's one last look at all the Christmas Countdown Pillow Boxes:
Happy Holiday and Merry Crafting.  Thanks for stopping here. 


Shop Here
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Contour Pillow Box Steel Rule Die
Small Die of the Month Membership
Shapeabilities Starry Forrest Etched Dies Sharyn Sowell Holiday 2019 Collection
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stocking count
stocking count
stocking count
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Patriotic Slider Pop-up Card
Maja Design - Holiday in the Alps


holly buttons
Buttons Galore and More - Holly 3D Buttons CM129
traditions embellishment bottles
Buttons Galore - 3D Buttons - Poinsettias 4814

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traditions embellishment bottles
Buttons Galore -Festive Traditions -Embellishment Bottles LL234
santa friends 3D buttons

traditions embellishment bottles
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