a seaside advent calendar~

i remember having an advent calendar as child, popping open the little sparkly squares. its been so many decades since i even thought of one, but suddenly the urge hit me that i needed a beachy one, and i wanted to make in at an adventure advent, one where we did things, verses opening wee gifts. after mastering the 2 sided printing, i was eager to share one with my neighbor too.

i made 2 versions, my original plan was to clip mine on my chicken wire cupboard doors, but they are not hung yet, instead it was just as quick and easy to string them in my playroom. every morning i pass here to grab the leashes and take my dogs for a walk, i couldn't think of a more perfect place to start my beachy day~

i wasn't sure where my neighbor could hang hers so i decided i wanted to make a frame for her. i googled advent calendars and found this idea, it looked cute and i thought she could place it on the floor out of the way if she wasn't crazy about it... when my husband put it together for me i wasn't happy with the blocky shape, i decided i wanted it more like a tree and he clipped the edges and top for me.

we thought the 2x4s on edge for the base were not that reliable so we used 4x4s.

i tried her vaseline idea of painting, of course i smeared on way more then any normal person would dream of, but i loved it, instant aging in just a couple of hours! i spray painted black, brown and green blobs of paint first, then i just slapped white paint on with barely a thought. i wanted rustica. the vaseline makes the paint not adhere well. i used sand paper when dry, but face it, vaseline doesn't dry, so i was just smearing the paint here and there and loving the look~

 

 

i hot glued on the clips, and keeping in line with the beach, i added a starfish topper and wrapped the base in burlap tied with a heavy marine rope.

the glue was still warm and the paint greasy as ever when i raced over in the blustery wind to share my creation, nary a card was lost in transit! i was THRILLED with how much she truly seemed to enjoy it, instead of hiding it away in a dark corner she placed it on her kitchen table so she can start her day the seaside way~