What Are You Working On is a community diary series for all things crafty, in a variety of mediums and techniques.
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Did you see all the hand-made goodies at the Netroots Nation Holiday Bazaar?
Finished Advent calendar, photographed outside on my dormant rose bushes.
We're halfway through Hannukah. And today is the second Sunday of Advent, the church season preceding Christmas. My kids wanted Advent Calendars. Son asked for Lego, daughter requested Silly Bandz. No one makes silly bandz Advent calendars.
A few weeks ago, webranding sent me this designer's project for self-made goody bags. I adapted it to make an Advent calendar for my daughter.
First, shopping: I went to a couple different stores and picked up a selection of various brands of silicon loops. These are all the rage at my daughter's school this fall. One night I poured a drink, emptied all the packages, and sorted them into the proper number of piles. While Advent was actually 27 days this year, I kind of got a late start, and son's calendar didn't start until Dec. 1 anyway. So I made 24 little piles of various silly bandz. Ring sized, wrist-sized, and a few neck-sized.
Then I cut out strips of wrapping paper and cut them into rough squares. If I were doing this again, I would work on the square thing. Maybe use a ruler or a rotary cutter.
I folded the squares in half:
Placed the silly things in the center:
And stitched about .5 inches in from the edge:
Here is a sewn packet:
Which I then trimmed with scrapbook scissors:
Then I stapled the finished packed to a ribbon, overlapping them slightly: