Christmas Advent Calendar – Guest Post with Katelyn Grosart

Hey Creative Scrapbooker Fans! Christmas is right around the corner and I thought that it would be fun to share with you this fabulous Advent Calendar kit from Southern Ridge Trading Company. Using the advent calendar kit as well as adding some other chipboard pieces from Southern Ridge Trading Company and pairing them up with embossing powder from Emerald Creek Craft Supplies as well as a variety of products from Ranger Ink, I was able to create this beautiful vintage Advent Calendar. You’ll want to grab a cup of your favourite beverage as I have a tutorial for you, so that you can recreate this project in the comforts of your own home.

To start, you’ll need the top piece of the advent calendar, which is the piece that has the doors on it. Cover the entire surface with Victorian Velvet Distress Stain from Ranger Ink. Let dry for 20 minutes. Once it’s dry, lightly apply Walnut Stain Distress Ink from Ranger Ink overtop of the entire surface.

Now that the top piece of the advent calendar is dry, flip it over so that you can stain the backs of the doors using Victorian Velvet Distress Stain from Ranger Ink. Set the piece aside to dry.

With the top piece completely stained, you’ll need the middle portion of the advent calendar, the piece with the cut out squares. Cover the entire surface with Victorian Velvet Distress Stain from Ranger Ink. Set the piece aside to dry.

Next, you’ll need the solid back piece. Cover the entire surface of one side with Victorian Velvet Distress Stain from Ranger Ink. Let dry for 20 minutes. With the stained side now dry, cover the entire surface of the other side using Victorian Velvet Distress Stain from Ranger Ink. Set aside the piece to dry.

The last piece for the construction of the advent calendar that needs to be stained is the base. Cover the entire surface of one side of the base with Victorian Velvet Distress Stain from Ranger Ink. Let dry for 20 minutes. With the stained side now dry, cover the entire surface of the other side of the base using Victorian Velvet Distress Stain from Ranger Ink.

Before adhering the advent calendar together, the decorative elements still need to be stained for the advent calendar. Cover the four decorative corner pieces, the large scroll element at the top of the calendar and the word Believe with the reindeer in Victorian Velvet Distress Stain from Ranger Ink. Once the pieces have dried, apply Distress Embossing Ink from Ranger Ink to all the stained pieces. After the embossing ink has been applied, sprinkle Iridescent Embossing Powder from Emerald Creek Craft Supplies to all the pieces. Tap off the excess powder and emboss with a heat tool.

Apply Bundled Sage Distress Stain from Ranger Ink to the numbers as well as the decorative banner piece that sits in between the large scroll element and the believe word at the top of the advent calendar. Before the numbers and decorative banner pieces are dry, lightly go over top of them with Brushed Pewter Distress Stain from Ranger Ink. Set the numbers and decorative banner aside to dry.

The last pieces you’ll need to stain are 10 Mini Wood Snowflakes from Southern Ridge Trading Company. Using Brushed Pewter Distress Stain from Ranger Ink cover all 10 mini wood snowflakes. Set the snowflakes aside to dry.

With all the elements that will decorate the advent calendar are now stained and embossed, it’s time to adhere the advent calendar pieces together. To start, adhere the advent calendar piece with the doors to the piece that has the squares cut out of it using Tombow Glue. Make sure that the side with the numbers and doors are facing out. Once the two pieces have been adhered together, cover the back of the cut out squares piece with Tombow Glue and adhere the back piece to the cut out squares piece. Apply pressure to the three layers until the glue has dried.

Now it’s time to plug in your hot glue gun. Using your hot glue gun, apply glue to the decorative corners, and adhere one decorative corner in each of the four corners on the top of the advent calendar where the doors are. With the decorative scrolls adhered, use the hot glue gun to adhere the large scroll element to the middle of the top of the advent calendar. Next, adhere the decorative banner piece to the middle of the large scroll element using the hot glue gun. To finish that decorative element, use the hot glue gun and adhere the believe word to the middle of the decorative banner element. Once the top element is adhered, adhere a pearl to each of the doors using the hot glue gun.

To finish the advent calendar doors, adhere the numbers using a hot glue gun.

To add some interest in the top left and bottom right hand corners, add 5 of the mini wood snowflakes, a white flower, 5 light green roses, 4 tan roses and 6 dark pink roses in each of the corners. Play around with the flowers and snowflakes as desired. Once your happy with the layout of your flowers and snowflakes, adhere them using your hot glue gun.

Once the front of your advent calendar has been decorated, adhere the advent calendar to the base using a hot glue gun.

Here are a few close up pictures of all the elements once the advent calendar has been adhered to the base.

To finish your advent calendar, make sure to add a chocolate in behind each of the doors.

Supplies Used:

• Southern Ridge Trading Company: Advent Calendar Kit, Mini Wood Snowflakes, 10mm Roses in: light green, dark pink & tan, White Flowers
• Emerald Creek Craft Supplies: Iridescent Shimmer Embossing Powder
• Tim Holtz for Ranger Ink: Distress Embossing Ink, Walnut Stain Distress Ink, Victorian Velvet Distress Stain, Brushed Pewter Distress Stain, Bundled Sage Distress Stain
• Tim Holtz Ideaology: Baubles
• Tombow Glue
• Misc: Hot Glue Gun & Heat Tool

Thanks so much for joining me today and I hope that you’re inspired to order and create your own Christmas Advent Calender!

You can find more of my work on my blog at: http://www.katelyngrosart.blogspot.ca

Happy Creating!

– Katelyn

To see more of these products in action, be sure to pick up our latest issue of Creative Scrapbooker Magazine. Use MAGFINDER to find a store near you!