Felt Advent Banner

Two days and counting...

Can you believe December will be here in two short days?!  Nope me either.  This cheerful Holiday season is going by way to fast.  I hope it slows down because it's my most favorite time of the year.  

Today I'm sharing the Felt Advent Banner I made for our family this year.  Last year we did activites every other day, and treats the other days.  It worked well for this Momma who is often alone with her kiddo's everyday...it doesn't make me feel super overwhelmed.  So we are sticking to that system this year.  I knew I wanted something I could use from year to year, so obviously I chose FELT! Have I mentioned how much I big fat {HEART} felt!  I decided to go with a color I knew would go with any decor I decorated with at Christmas, so I picked a light gray felt.  It was so easy peasy...want to make your own?

Materials:

-  Felt 

{you will need 7 - 8.5" x 11" pieces of felt for the pockets, and 1 piece of an accent color for the numbers}

-  Scissors

-  Ruler

-  Glue or Glue Gun

-  Sewing Machine

-  Twine or Something to String It Up

Start by cutting your felt in half long ways, measure to find the center and cut.  Now you should have two long strips of equal sized pieces of felt that measure approximately 8" x 11" {if it's longer just trim it to 11"}.  Now measure and cut those in to 2.75" wide x 4" long rectangles.  You will get 8 total out of the entire piece of felt.  Once you have all your rectangles cut, stack two together and with a ruler as your guide find the center point of the rectangle and the bottom and create a pointed bottom by cutting any excess off.  You will now have a nice banner shape.  Once all 25 of my pieces were cut and finished I sewed them together with a contrasting gray thread.  

To create all your numbers you could do several different things...you could do what I did and find a font you like and print out the numbers on a piece of paper or cardstock in the size you like.  Then cut out each number by hand, use that as a template to trace on to your accent felt color...then cut those numbers out by hand.  Or...you could paint the numbers, or stencil them {place a piece of cardstock between the layers so it doesn't bleed through}.  Once I had all my numbers cut out and my hand was done cramping I used a clear glue to adhere them to the front of each banner piece.  

I then snipped two small slits on the back of each banner pocket.  I took 3 long lengths of a neutral colored yarn I had on hand and braided it together.  You could use twine, rope, ribbon, any stringing material you like to hang yours.  I then strung all the banner pockets on the yarn braided string.  Then simply hung it up.  

{P.S. I tried to get the best front on shots of this, but since it's a mirror and I was still in my pj's I didn't want you to see that mess!}

 

  

 

 

Like I said I filled every other day with Christmas oriented activities, the opposite days are filled with a small treat.  Here's a list of our activities in case your curious:

-  Build a Christmas fort

-  Christmas movie night with snacks & treats

-  Make a Christmas craft with Mom

-  Go see Santa

-  Read some Christmas books

-  Write a letter to Santa

-  Go to dinner as a family 

-  Hot cocoa with marshmallows

-  Decorate cookies

-  Take treats to the neighbors

-  Read the biblical story of Jesus' birth

-  Drive around to see Christmas lights while drinking hot cocoa

Happy Holidays!