by Carmella Mae

Created on: December 13, 2008

When I think of a Christmas calendar, I think of a calendar for kids to count down the days till Christmas. These are also known as Advent calendars.

This year I wanted to create my own version of a Christmas calendar for my granddaughters, one that they would enjoy, and be able to use over, and over again for many years to come. What I came up with was a quilted cloth calendar, with pockets for each day, and a candy cane, and Santa's hat for the girls to move from one slot to the next.

It is very easy and inexpensive to create one of these Christmas calendars. You will need the following supplies:

Sewing machine
thread to match fabric
fabric of choice for quilted section, and another color for the pockets, and back of calendar
quilt batting
puff paints
ruler
doll rod, or small round curtain rod
decorative string for hanger

First cut the fabric you wish to use as the quilted section, (this will go between the back fabric which will edge the front, and the day pockets), size is entirely up to you, this can be as big as you like, but should be no smaller than 12" wide by 18" long. Cut two pieces, then cut the quilt batting the same size, and sew diagonal lines from top to bottom, across the fabric and batting sandwich.

Once you have your quilt section sewn, set that aside, and take your next color of fabric, and cut a piece the same size as your quilt section, but add an extra 1 1/2" to the section, all the way around, so you create a folded boarder that comes around the front of the quilt section, to create a nice boarder that seals in the edges of the quilt section. You will need to do corner cuts to each corner so the fabric does not bunch up at the corners. Once this is done you should have a nice finished boarder all the way around your quilted piece.

Now you are ready to put on your days. This is real easy. Make 5 strips from your back color fabric, make the strips long enough to wrap around each side of your calendar, tucking the edge under, so you can sew in place. These 5 strips need to be wide enough to fold each edge over, and iron down, so you can stitch it to the quilt, and back piece. Starting at the bottom, sew the first strip to the quilt, back piece, now sew the next strip just above that, but be sure the first piece will cover that strips stitch. Continue this step with the next three strips. Now is when we wrap the strips around the back, and sew them all together at the back. My strips were different lengths, so I folded each strip as I sewed, to insure they all were sewn on evenly.

Now turn your calendar over to the front, and with your ruler, section out each pocket, so you have 7 pockets going across your calendar. Now you just have to sew a straight line from the bottom of your calendar, to the top of your pocket strips, on each of the 6 lines you just created to make your 7 pockets across. When complete, you should have 35 pockets.

Now it's time to decorate your calendar, and you can do this however you like. Puff paint is my choice for writing in the days, (1 - 31, with 25 circled in glitter!), and I used sticky letters to write "Merry Christmas", but my granddaughter tore the letters off and shredded them to tiny pieces, so I suggest using puff paints for that as well. You can decorate the quilted area at the top with most anything you like, so let your imagination run wild!

That's all there is to it! Besides making a Santa hat, or using a candy cane to count down the days, you could also get individually wrapped candies and put them into each pocket for each day, and let the kids remove a candy to count down the days.

However you do your Christmas calendar, the important thing to remember is to have a great time making it, and have a very Merry Christmas!

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