EEEK!

Did you know you can make a countdown calendar for just about anything? Like counting down to a special birthday, or a special occasion, or a holiday, or even the last day of school. I have several different countdown calendars that I’ve used through the years. One of my favorites is our vacation countdown calendar. The kids loved this one when they were little because they could see that number getting smaller every single day, which meant we were one day closer to a vacation.

Last Wednesday I shared the Christmas Countdown Calendar that is in the Holiday Catalog. You can see that full post here. Even though my family has an advent calendar that we’ve used for many, many years, I knew I really wanted this one from Stampin Up. I just knew it had lots of possibilities. This is what the Christmas Countdown looks like…But, Christmas is so far away, and now I have this completed projected just sitting around for the next couple months.

Then I was reading an article in a magazine that said that Halloween Countdown Calendars were all the rage this year! Had you heard the news? Nope, I hadn’t either, but it gave me a great idea for my Christmas Countdown… which just became my Halloween Countdown Calendar. Check this out!Eeek! I’m so excited about how this turned out. I just flipped the drawers around in the Calendar. Both sides of the drawers have the notches in them to pull them out of the box. So one side of the drawer is Halloween, and the back side is Christmas. So very cool!

One thing to note, the drawers fit in snugly on the sides, so you wouldn’t be able to decorate all four sides. But, decorating the front and back was super easy and the drawers still fit in the box just fine.
I used the Christmas side as a template for the Halloween side. There are five pattern papers used for the drawers and they are placed in a repeating pattern. I used a circle stamp and the number stamps to make my own countdown numbers. There are only 25 drawers, which works perfect for Christmas, but not so much for Halloween. I wanted my Halloween countdown to end on the 31st, so I counted backwards from there and ended up with “7” as my start date. It might seem a little strange to start the countdown partway through the month, but it’s the best I could come up with.

I traced one of the pattern paper squares from the Christmas side to make a template for the Halloween side. I also punched the half circle notch in my template. This made punching the notches in all the pattern papers very quick since I didn’t have to worry about measuring each one to make sure it was centered.

The drawers are decorated with bits cut from the Halloween pattern paper (the jars and portraits) or the Halloween sticker pack (the birds). I also dug out my retired bat punch to add a couple bats. If you missed out on that punch, we have a new bat punch in the current Holiday Catalog the would work just as well.

I love how this project turned out. It’s definitely a great value for the money since you get two uses out of the one Countdown Calendar. And if you’re not a Halloween fan, you could always decorate the backside of the drawers as something else. I hope you love this project as much as I do. I’m kind of tempted to get another one to see how else I can decorate it.

Comment below and let me know what you think. Which version do you like better? Christmas or Halloween? What would you put in your Countdown Calendar?

Current Specials

Once a year, Stampin Up spoils us with their Pattern Paper Sale and that Sale is this month only!

The Holidays are coming (eek!) and you could probably use an extra hand. September’s Paper Pumpkin kit, Bone Appétit is guaranteed to give you a “helping hand” with your frightful festivities. This kit includes 20 food-safe treat boxes, a unique and exclusive Halloween stamp set, and a spooky, special-edition box. September’s kit also gives new meaning to the word “handmade.” Coordinating colors: Basic Black, Gorgeous Grape, Pumpkin Pie, and Whisper White. You can sign up for September’s kit starting now. If you already have an ongoing subscription, this will ship automatically.