Hi Crafty friends! Melissa Minor @Cards By Melissa Minor here and I'm super excited to be guest designing this month. Today I'm making the Christmas Advent Calendar. I started the project by taking all the pieces out of the package to get a good feel for what I was working with. Right away I noticed the pieces are all a very good sturdy quality.
I used some scissors to cut apart the letters and numbers. There are tiny chads that make this easy to do. Next, I began covering each of the pieces with some white gesso. Using white gesso on the chipboard will allow any paint I apply to sit on top of the chipboard. I think it gives a richer color when painted by doing this step. You definitely don't have to do this step.
I looked through my Christmas patterned papers and decided to use the Christmas Spectacular collection from 49 and Market. I cut my favorite piece down to 8"x10". This is the piece that will go in the frame of my project. I then applied modge podge in matte finish to the large back panel. I used a scraper to get good even coverage and smooth out any bubbles. Next I applied a thin layer of modge podge to the top to seal it. I brushed some distress oxide ink in the color black soot to all the edges.
I painted the frame and the numbers with black paint. I then adhered the frame to the panel. I picked out another sheet of patterned paper and cut pieces down to fit the 2"x3.25" tags. I adhered them down the same way using modge podge. I wish I would've traced the hole for the tag and used a hole punch. This would've been much easier. Instead I adhered and then tried to hole out the center with a pokey tool. I pulled out a sanding tool and sanded down all the edges. For the word Christmas I applied gold metallic paint. Then I applied a thin coat of art glitter glue and poured some gold glitter onto the title. I used a t-square ruler to make sure the words were straight and applied "Days Until Christmas" to the panel.
Next I flipped the panel over and assembled the hinge hanger.
I then pulled some laser cut ephemera pieces from the paper collection and adhered a few flowers to the font panel. I hope you've enjoyed my project today. I'll be back next month with a super fun winter themed project.
You can watch a full tutorial over on my YouTube channel linked below. I love the way this project turned out! I hope you'll give it a try.