Friday, October 26, 2007

61 Days Until Christmas


Remember my idea to make a Christmas countdown jumbo clothespin?

Decorating the clothespin itself was easy-peasy. And I got away with covering only the front, since they were already painted white. (I got them in a 3-pack from Oriental Trading Company.)

The spiral-bound countdown part was a little more involved. I started with a blank white 4" chipboard coaster and covered it with Stampin' Up!'s "Dashing" designer paper. The tree is from Perfect Presentation (hostess set). "Days" is stamped using Alphadots (retired).

The stamp I used for "until Christmas" is also part of Perfect Presentation. The full stamp has the words "Do not open until Christmas" around the outside of the poinsettia. I colored it with markers so I could leave out the words "do not open, " then filled in the empty space with some paper piercing.

I don't have any good number stamps, so I printed the countdown numbers in Franklin Gothic on the computer. Both the tens and the ones digits have all numbers 0 through 9, so the countdown calendar will work up to 99 days before Christmas.

The spiral binding is from Staples. I actually pulled it out of one of my old Stampin' Up! catalogs that Staples spiral-bound for me. I'm sure someone out there knows a better way to do this. I know there are machines, the Bind-It-All or something? Tell me, pretty please, do I need a new tool? :D

I used the holes from the catalog (where the binding had been) to mark the coaster, then punched with my Crop-A-Dile. (Just got that last week. Do I love it or what?) I also punched the stacks of numbers. Last, lined up everything and twisted that binding through.
The nice thing? After Christmas, swap out the coaster for a favorite photo, and you have a nice year-round accent.

4 comments:

June Houck said...

All I can say is "WOW!" Love this. Yes, I love my crop-a-dile. I bought mine over a year ago, after putting it off, not thinking I needed it. Until I used one to punch a hole through a mini book (2 chipboard covers and a few cs sheets.) In just one easy punch...like a hot knife through butter.

I tagged you...

Tracy said...

this is WONDERFUL!
and i just got my cropadile for our birthday! i kept putting it off when the store was open! i love that thing. terrific tool
and the binditall - honey i have one (i'm sure i mentioned on my blog and used it on a recent project i posted) - you are welcome to try it if you'd like. i think you'll want one :-)
i may have to make one of these countdowns - it is sooo cute!

Sue Hyer said...

Well, you have been very busy today! Oh my gosh, I LOVE everything you do! And only 61 days until Christmas??? Yikes!

Anonymous said...

I love, love, love this! I think I'll try to make a variation of my own now that you've inspired me! I need to get out all these stamps I've bought and justify owning them.... Maybe even justify a few more! Thanks for the inspiration!