Christmas Countdown Gift Holder

If you’re anything like me, finding that special holiday gift gets harder and harder each year.  Every year, I try to come up with something unique and different to put a spin on gift giving.  I’ve created my version of Oprah’s Favorite Things, I’ve gone down the clothes route, and I’ve relied on magazine subscriptions way to often. 

 To change things up a bit this year, I decided to make a DIY version of an Advent Calendar, or as I call it, a Christmas Countdown Gift Holder.

If you’re not familiar with the meaning behind Advent Calendars, simply put, it is a special calendar that is used to count or celebrate the coming of Christmas.  The 24 days leading up to Christmas are celebrated and often a small gift is opened each day as a sign of love and sharing among family.  So, to create my version of an Advent Calendar, I turned a 24 Pocket, Plastic Over-the-Door Shoe Holder into a Christmas Countdown Gift Holder. 

Here’s the 411 on how my gift holder came to life….

To make my Christmas Countdown Gift Holder, I gathered the following supplies:

•  Clear 24 pocket over-the-door shoe holder—I purchased mine at Wal-Mart
• An assortment of ribbon, in varying colors, widths and patterned.  All the ribbon I used was from my favorite ribbon company, May Arts (www.mayarts.com)
• Holiday Themed Scrapbook Paper
• Paper Studio Blank Tags
• Anna Griffin Holiday Traditions 3-dimensional stickers—purchased at Michael’s
• K & Company Glittered Chipboard Letters
• The Paper Studio Stickabilities Letters & Numbers
• American Crafts Glitter Foam Letter Stickers
• Bazzill Basics Gemstone Buttons
• Bazzill Basics Paper Flowers
• Bazzill Basics Cardstock Edge Strips
• Glue Arts Glue Glider Pro Adhesive Gun
• Glue Arts Ribbon Adhesive
• Assorted Brads
• Red and White Felt Balls
• Heart Shaped Rhinestone Barrett
• Hot Glue Gun  (will I ever learn how not to burn my fingers?)
• Scissors

 And then I went to work embellishing all 24 pockets.  I decorated each of the pockets differently, and numbered each pocket to correspond to the 24 days leading up to Christmas.  Pocket #1 holds a gift to be opened on Dec. 1^st; the gift in pocket 2 will be opened on Dec. 2^nd and so on thru Dec. 24^th.

 Here’s an up close look at a few of  the pockets.

I hope you enjoyed my version of an Advent Calendar, and that every day during this holiday season brings you joy and happiness!

For more creative holiday DIY projects, check out the May Arts Blog, here!