If you've been following me for awhile, you know that holiday celebrations don't stop at Halloween and Christmas. Memory-making for all holidays is my bread and butter and honestly, who wouldn't want a reason to celebrate?
Valentines day will always be one of my favorite holidays and I just love LOVE! (Not to mention, chocolate and Rom-Coms galore!)
I teamed up with a few fellow creatives on Instagram to create this DIY Valentines Day Countdown Calendar, or 'advent' calendar to get my family excited about February 14th! Starting on the 1st, each day we'll pull out the paper and it will have a fun surprise, activity, craft, or treat that is Valentines Day related. I created a FREE Printable (link below) with the activities I plan on doing but also included some blank ones for you to make up and add your own!
>> GRAB YOUR FREE COUNTDOWN PRINTABLE HERE <<
Now for the craft...
Here is what you'll need:
(1) 36x36 White Felt (I used Creatology from Michaels)
(4) 8.5x11 sheets of Colored felt
(1) Wooden Dowel
Embroidery Needle + Thread (Optional if you want to do the whip stitch border)
Hot Glue Gun + Glue
Scissors
Yarn
Directions:
Step 1: Lay our your white felt so that you have 2 large square pieces on top of each other. I used roughly 17x19 sized pieces (or the 36x36 felt piece folded into fourths)
Step 2: Fold your square in half, then trace out half of a heart, with the fold being the center of the heart. Cut out using sharp scissors, you should end up with two separate, identical felt hearts.
Step 3: If you are doing the whip stitch border, you can sew the two hearts together. If not, you can hot glue along the edges to create a double-layer base for your countdown (it's more sturdy this way).
This was my first time trying the whip stitch and it was so easy! I followed a tutorial I found on YouTube.
Step 4: Measure out a small rectangular shape that can fit 13 times onto your heart shape. I made mine slightly wider than the width of an Instax Polaroid picture (2¾ x 1¾ inches) The idea is to replace the piece of paper with a Polaroid photo memory of that day. Then lay out the pockets how you want them to appear on the front of the count down.
Step 5: Hot glue 3 sides, leaving the top side open to form a pocket. Repeat for all of your rectangles.
Step 6: Trim the wooden dowel (if needed) and hot glue only the ends of the dowel to the back of your countdown calendar horizontally, towards the top of the heart.
Step 7: Slip yarn between the felt and the dowel and tie to attach (do this on both ends) This will create a string to hang the calendar.
Step 8: Lastly, print and cut out your FREE Valentines Day Countdown Printable. Cut along the dotted lines, fold, and insert into the pockets. I had 13 pockets on mine, and just put days 13 and 14 into the same pocket.
I hung the calendar in my daughter's room and she got so excited! I can't wait to replace each slip of paper with a photo and look back at all the memories we made!
If you're more of a visual learner like me, you can also check out my reel on Instagram.