Birthday Countdown Calendar!

Megan's birthday is coming up rather quickly, so we're officially in the countdown mode now! This is a fun way for her to watch her birthday get closer! The concept is the same as my Christmas Countdown Calendar, just tailored with a birthday theme. It comes together fairly quickly - in about an hour or so.

I found this cute metal serving tray at Dollar Tree (I love that store!). Besides the tray, I used 3 sheets of matching scrapbook paper, 1 sheet of solid cardstock, chipboard scrapbook letters ("days" and "til"), Scrabble game tiles ("my") and a rhinestone word ("birthday", found in scrapbook sections of craft stores or at scrapbook stores), ribbon, magnets, Modge Podge, and various scrapbook supplies (inks, pens).

First, I cut the background paper to the size of the bottom of the tray and glued it down with Modge Podge.

Next, cut I cut the two accent papers (the pinkish color at the bottom and the "wavy" stripe) and glued them down with Modge Podge.

I used my Cricut machine to cut out little party hats and the numbers on the solid color cardstock. If you don't have a Cricut, you could simply cut out circles by hand or use pre-made tags or embellishments you can find in the scrapbook section and stickers for the numbers. You'll need numbers 1-9, 0, and an extra 1 and 2. I glued the numbers on the party hats and inked around the edges for a little extra pizazz. I cut pieces off of a roll of self-adhesive magnets and adhered them to the back of each party hat.

Now I glued down my words "days til my birthday" on top of my background paper.

Finally, I punched holes in the tray with my Crop-o-dile and tied ribbon through the holes to hang it. If you don't have a Crop-o-dile, simply hot glue the ends of the ribbon to the back.

Countdown to Christmas

Here's a cute and easy way to count down the days until Christmas! You'll need the following:

~A small piece of lightweight metal (can be found at a home improvement store. Mine is approx. 5 x 7). Make sure it's a metal that magnets will stick to (not aluminum).

~Two pieces of printed scrapbook paper

~1 piece of solid color cardstock

~various ribbons

~magnets (you can purchase either the magnet "buttons" or a strip of magnet that you can cut to size)

~Modge Podge

~Felt tipped pen

~stickers or cardstock letters/numbers (can be found at scrapbook stores or craft stores)

~glue

~scissors

~foam brush (to apply Modge Podge)

~hole punch

Here's how you do it:

1. Cut one of the printed sheets of printed scrapbook paper the same size as the piece of metal.

2. Place a thin layer of Modge Podge on the metal, place the cut piece of paper on top. Smooth out any wrinkles.

3. Cut the second piece of printed paper the same width as the piece of metal, and about 1/3rd of the length. Using Modge Podge, glue on to the bottom of the metal, smooth out any wrinkles.

4. After about 10 minutes, cover the front of the paper with a thin layer of Modge Podge (this will "seal" the paper and make it stronger and help keep the magnets from marking it).

5. Once dry, glue a piece of ribbon along the seam between the two pieces of paper.

6. Glue cardstock letters or place stickers along the bottom to read "days til Christmas. For my "Christmas" letters, I used the Cricut Plantin Schoolbook Cartridge.

7. Cut 12 shapes out of the solid color cardstock (I used circles, but you could use squares, tree shapes, ovals, triangles - whatever). I cut my circles on my Cricut machine using the Doodlecharms cartridge.

8. Glue a number onto each circle - 0-9. You'll need two number 1's and 2's. I used the Cricut Plantin Schoolbook cartridge for my numbers.

9. Outline/decorate the edge of each circle with a pen.

10. Punch a hole in the top of each circle and tie a small piece of ribbon on it.

12. Place a magnet on the back of each numbered circle.

11. If you have a hole punch that is strong enough to punch a hole in the metal you can do so then tie a length of ribbon through the holes to allow for it to be hung. Or, you could put magnets on the back and hang it on the fridge or display it on an easel.