Christmas

December and the countdown to Christmas has started in earnest.  Only last week I had been smugly sitting back congratulating myself on how well I am doing with all of my Christmas preparations but with the arrival of Advent I start panicking because I suddenly realise that actually I have so much still to do and little more than two weeks to do it in.

I have so many little traditions in the run up to Christmas, the first of these is the Crafty Boots Christmas Challenge.   For the next two weeks we are hoping that you will share all of your Christmas projects with us.  You can use any materials you like, to make anything you like, for example, a card, an altered box, a gift bag, an ACT, a scrapbook page, an inchie, just as long as there is a Christmas connection.

One of my other traditions is the giving and receiving of Advent calenders, not the tear off the door and eat the chocolate type but the collect together lots of smallish objects and wrap them up and place them in a suitable container type.  Some of you may remember that last year I decided to make a padded box for the presents I was giving to my bestest and oldest friend.  I decided to do this again this year.  The box I made this year is slightly larger than the one I made last year, so they will stack or nest, whichever she wants to do with them.

I cut the panels for the box from the type of card you can buy for mounting pictures, this was because I needed nice thick card to make a sturdy box.  I then attached the lining fabric to the panels using Pritt Stick, it is amazing what a great bond it forms and it does not mark the fabric if you get a bit messy.

I then hand stitched all of the panels together, this can be pretty time consuming and harsh on my poor finger tips but it cannot be done any other way.  I use wadding to give the lid a lovely cushioned look.  Next I covered the top, bottom and sides with a contrasting material, this is again hand stitched.  I love all of the sparkly gold in this fabric.

Finally, I added a little decoration to the lid, just to give it that extra Christmassy feel.  The berries and pine cones are from Wild Orchid Crafts and the cinnamon sticks and cute Gingerbread Man were from my local supermarket.  The ribbons were from my stash.

I have been so lucky this year, I was given not one, but two Advent calenders.  I know, how spoilt am I?  The first was from my lovely friend and Crafty Boots Team Mate Lisette (aka Mrs Beez).

Each night you light a little tea light candle in the dish on the top, isn't it adorable?  Watch out for my other Advent calender later in the week, it is sooooo cute, you will not want to miss it.

The rest of the Crafty Boots Team have been very busy making Christmas items, why not pop over to the blog and take a look, and don't forget to link to your Christmas projects.

May I wish you the compliments of the Season.

Dionne