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Full View of Advent Calendar
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Close Up of Advent Calendar |
Super Close Up of Advent Calendar |
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Matchboxes by
Denise Lombardozzi |
Matchboxes by
Denise Lombardozzi
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Matchboxes by
Denise Lombardozzi |
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Matchboxes by
Lisa Cook |
Matchboxes by
Lisa Cook |
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Description |
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This wonderful Advent
Calendar was a collaboration between Lisa Cook and Denise Lombardozzi. We
wanted to create a simple calendar using matchboxes to hide a special
surprise in for each day.
Advent Calendars are a gift from our German ancestors. Each day a numbered
window on a cardboard scene can be opened to reveal a picture to count
down the days until Christmas, or in our variation, a matchbox can be
opened to reveal a surprise!
Our favorite German artist,
Belinda Schneider, shared her memories of the calendars and explained,
"It's a very traditional German thing. We used to make matchbox advent
calendars every year in elementary school for our class. What fun! We'd
all decorate one matchbox and fill it with something and then they would
either be attached on the "strike" sides to each other or we'd leave some
space in between and attach it to a long piece of cardstock to make it
sturdier. We would put all 24 in one row or 2x12. We punched holes in the
top and added ribbon to hang it on the wall. Voilà, the simple school
version. I've also seen them hung from a rope or wreath. The matchboxes
make up a wreath and are attached to a round piece of cardstock, foam or
metal base. A very popular format (and my favorite) is a base in the shape
of a house (Gingerbread house à la Hansel & Gretel) and then the
matchboxes are windows and doors. Some have a Santa shape or bell,
snowman, Christmas tree ... some make a heart shape for their sweetheart
etc. ... What's important is that the matchbox can be opened at least on
one side, other than that ... only the sky's the limit!"
Belinda's ideas really inspired us. We each decorated half of the boxes
and then put them together on this simple swag of thick rick rack. You can
hang your completed Advent calendar on a mantel or a window or even attach
it to a garland.
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ARTchix Studio Supplies |
General Supplies |
Velvet
Leaves |
Small
Brass Flip Top Frames |
Blank white matchboxes
(can be purchased at
Party Innovations) |
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Mystery
Transparency Sheet |
Gold
French Borders |
Acrylic metallic paints or
Lumiere paints in gold and green |
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Merry Christmas Collage Sheet |
Metal
Type Collage Sheet |
Medium grit sandpaper |
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Holiday Angels Collage Sheet
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Walnut ink and strong
coffee |
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Small Renaissance Gold Borders |
Gold
Wings |
UHU glue stick or
Perfect Paper Adhesive or Elmer's Clear Caulk |
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Gold Classic
Dot Borders |
Small
Brass Wings |
Diamond Glaze or Ceramcoat Indoor Varnish |
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My
Sweet Angel Transparency Sheet |
Giant white rick rack
aged with coffee |
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Medieval Gold Borders |
Victorian Santas
no longer available |
Aged tags |
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Lace
Gold Borders |
Gold Large
Renaissance Borders |
Old book and music
papers |
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Gold
Symbols |
Brass
Decorative Star Charms |
Ribbon |
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Gold
Oval Frames no longer
available |
Her
Wish Transparency Sheet |
Wood Bingo numbers |
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Thin decorative paper
with silver/gold flecks |
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Vintage Cigar
Strips |
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Brass
Word Tags |
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Instructions |
1. Box preparation
Method One: Sand the box tops. Sponge brush light mix of walnut ink
on bottom and sides of the boxes. Let dry. Dry brush the acrylic paint
lightly over the inked areas.
Method Two: Use a triangle cosmetic sponge and sponge the paint to
thickly cover all areas. Let dry.
The insides of the boxes can be painted with the paints using sponges and
brushes to get in the corners! Let dry.
2. Decorating
Use your imagination! We trimmed the boxes with ARTchix Studio collage
images and transparencies, along with old book pages and music pieces.
Transparencies go on easily using a Xyron machine to apply a stickiness to
the backside. Check out
Transparencies 101 for more information
on this. You can also adhere images and trims with Perfect Paper Adhesive
or UHU glue stick.
Add interest by framing a collage image with
Gold Borders along the edges. One box is decorated to look like a
little book using the borders on the corners too. You can age papers or
tags with walnut ink or strong coffee.
The odd numbered boxes have a thin coat of Diamond Glaze sponged over the
images followed with a layer of the thin decorative paper cut to size and
a final sponged coat of Diamond Glaze.
Add final embellishments with Bingo numbers; paper numbers
and various charms to your desire!
3. Inside the boxes
Attach various ARTchix charms or art bits. The Santas were
placed on a small piece of wood to raise them up a bit. The mini bottle
has the letters "wish" attached using the clear varnish.
4. Finishing
Punch a small hole in one end of the box. Make a loop with your ribbon and knot it on the inside of the box, then add a dot of Diamond
Glaze to the knot against the inside of the box for added strength...this
will keep the ribbon from being pulled out. Use varied lengths of ribbon
for a whimsical appearance!
Attach the ribbons to the large rick rack with nail heads. Just
poke them through the layers and then bend the sharp pieces over on the
back side for a strong attachment.
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| Notes |
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Please feel free to print
these instructions for easy reference. (Use Landscape Layout when printing this page).
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Back to Free Classes |
Free Class:
Christmas Advent Calendar 
