DIY Advent Calendar

Time for a timely post!

I made this advent calendar last year for my then 2 year old daughter... she loves it even more this year!

Materials:

• Felt - A few different colors. Mostly I already had stuff kicking around, plus I felted an old green sweater. It gives the tree a nice 3D feeling.
• Cotton fabric for the background - a neutral color or unobtrusive pattern works best.
• Iron-on stiff backing material 
• Sewing materials
• Fun little treats and mini ornaments for the pockets. Sticky numbers for the pockets.

I'll mostly lay this out in pictures.

 1. Cutting out pieces for the tree from an old sweater felted in hot water/air. Must be 100% wool or this will be a spectacular waste of time.

 2. Ironing on backing to my piece of background cotton.

 3. Arranging the tree. I like how the thicker sweater material pops up off of the background.

 4. Sewing the tree pieces on the the background. I went for a long stitch along the tall axis of the tree, but you can do whatever floats your boat as long as the tree doesn't fall down.

 5. Laying out and sewing on pockets. I went for a pretty random pattern and assortment of shapes b/c that is how I roll, but you could make them all one color, or matching, or whatever. Just make sure you leave a gap in your sewing at the top of each pocket... otherwise it is not much of a pocket.

 I have a chronically "helpful" cat at my house. Bless.

 All stitched up and ready to apply the felt backing.

6. Final touches - I got lazy and used plastic stick-on numbers like you'd find in the scrapbook section of the craft store. You COULD embroider the numbers... if you are a SUPER CRAFTER. For the ornaments I scoured the dollar shelves and also used felt cut outs. Think of all the the options... this is the fun part.

Voila! This calendar is a sturdy piece of art - simply roll and store when you find yourself done with December.

Enjoy! And hey, if you make an advent calendar like this give me a shout and I'll post a picture!

All images copyright Knitty Vet.