Courtesy of HolidayFamilyFun.com

Santa Advent Calendar
by Michelle Jones

This is one of the cutest Christmas crafts my children have ever brought home from school. I'd like to share it with you quick, while there's still time to make one. Kids of any age will love this calendar, even big kids too. So get out those craft supplies and have some fun!

Materials needed:

Construction paper (White, Pink, Red, Green, Black)

Glue

Black Marker

25 Cotton Balls

Plastic bag or container

Tape

Sorry I can't provide a picture for you, but I will give you a description of it first to help you get the idea. The Santa calendar is approximately 12" high, and 9 ½" wide. It is the face of a Santa, with the calendar numbers written on his beard in rows going from left to right. There are 3 rows of numbers, with the number 25 at the bottom of the beard by itself. It's just as cute as could be; I hope you will be able to make one.

The Beard: Cut a white piece of construction paper, about 7 ½" long and 9 ½" wide. It will be cut straight across on the top, but cut a scalloped edge all along the sides and bottom, shaping it into a beard. Be sure to leave it as wide as possible so the numbers will fit, you're really just shaping the edges and rounding the bottom corners. We will add the numbers after the Santa is finished.

The Face: Cut a pink piece of construction paper, 6 ½" wide and 3 ½" long, into an oval shape, making the bottom a little curvy for the cheeks. Glue the pink oval shaped face onto the top of the white beard, leaving an inch of the pink sticking out on the top, when you look at it from the back. This is where you put the child's name and the date. Next, cut 2 circles, 1 ½" wide for the eyes and one slightly bigger for the nose. Glue these onto the pink face, leaving a little room at the top for the white rim of the hat which will slightly overlap.

The Hat: First cut a white piece of construction paper for the bottom band of the hat, this will be like a rectangle, but slightly curved, approximately 10" wide, and 2" long. Now glue this to the top of the face, just enough to cover the top edges of the beard. Then cut a piece of red construction paper for the main part of the hat. Ours is shaped similar to the top of an ice cream cone, but be creative and make it however you wish. The bottom is 8 ½" wide, and total length is only 3", not including the corner tip, which is off to the side. Glue this to the top of the white band. Cut a 3" white circle for the cotton tip of the hat, and glue in place. Now cut 2 holly leaves from the green construction paper, approximately 1 ½" wide, and 2 ¾" long. Glue these to the opposite corner of the hat from the white tip, just along the top of the white band. Now take a few paper punch dots from the red construction paper and glue these to the center of the holly leaves, where they meet.

Now, with a black marker, write the calendar numbers in 3 rows from left to right, going in a semi-circle under the pink face. The first row will be numbered 1 - 10, the second will be 11 - 19, the third will be further spaced and numbered 20 - 24, leaving the single number 25 to be centered at the bottom.

Place the cotton balls in a plastic container or baggie, each day your child will tape or glue a cotton ball onto the number for that day, by the time you get to Christmas, Santa's beard will be full!

Wishing you a wonderful Christmas, Michelle and family

 

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Copyright 2002 by Michelle Jones