Happy December 1st! Let the Countdown Begin!

December is upon us! And with it, I am unleashing the full Christmas force!

First of all, be sure to check out the shopping link on my website, blythe.ctmh.com. Today, there are new items at a significant discount added to the While Supplies Last section. You may want to get some Christmas shopping done while the deals last! And this month, for every $50 purchased, you'll get a free bonding memories glue with your order.

And now, are you ready for the Christmas countdown? I have at least seven advent calendars (there may be a couple more boxed up). We like to anticipate Christmas around here. Here is a fantastic little advent calendar that you could pull together for fun.

I don't have tutorial photos as I made this one a while ago but hopefully, I can explain it in such a way that you could make it yourself. If not, ask me any questions. I'm happy to help out.

You'll need the following:

• 24 matchboxes (I just bought the inexpensive mini matchboxes at the grocery store and dumped out the matches--we tried to light them all at once thinking it would make a fantastic fire but were a bit disappointed).
• 2 pieces of chipboard or thin wood for the top and bottom (mine were cut at 4x4--it will all depend on the size of your matchboxes)
• Acrylic paint--I used antique white
• Miscellaneous bits of paper, stamped items, buttons, sparkles, doo dads and other fun things for decorating the matchboxes
• Ribbon or something to use as pulls for the finished matchbox drawers
• Number stamps or a good pen for putting numbers on the drawers

Paint the inside of the matchboxes (the part that will be the drawer) on all sides and the chipboard. I did not paint the outer part of the matchbox as I planned on covering that up but you could depending on how you decide to decorate. Make sure the inside of the matchboxes are dry before you put them back inside so they don't stick.

On the first piece of chipboard, glue your first four matchboxes. Place them to form a square so that one matchbox opens to each side. Glue another layer of matchboxes on top of that one and then one more on top of that so you have three drawers opening on each side. Now, reverse with your next layer so that the drawers will be on the opposite corner of the stack opening out (for example, three drawers on the bottom right, three now on the top left). Glue the next two layers on. Now glue on the final piece of chipboard for the top.

Decorate! I put cardstock or patterned paper on the sides of the matchboxes so that didn't show. I stamped numbers on the front of each drawer and punched a tiny hole through which I inserted ribbon (knotted on the inside) to use as drawer pulls. I added accessories to decorate and make it Christmasy. Fun and easy and not terribly expensive. And besides, you just got yourself a supply of matches.

The drawers are tiny but a lifesaver or a similarly sized candy fits inside perfectly. If you wanted to make this with bigger matchboxes, you could put some much bigger prizes inside (keeping in mind it would be a much bigger advent calendar).

Happy Counting Down to Christmas!