Advent Calendar and Christmas Window!

Whilst browsing Pinterest, I found a great idea to use toilet paper tubes as an advent calendar.

Mind still on the Christmas window planned for the charity shop (more on that later in this post!) I decided to make one!

I painted up a bunch of toilet paper tubes, bent them to shape, and used scraps of ribbon to decorate. The numbers were written on the back of cracker playing cards, cut in half.

In order to hang these up, I used loops of clear elastic (the same stuff as I used for the recycled magazine garland)

 We’re lucky to have this gorgeous lace curtain as a background for the window, so I pinned the advent calendar to it, in a heart shape.

Using a paper decoration kit, I made some woven hearts and stars, along with some interconnected heart and star decorations, some of which I pinned on the curtain around the advent calendar….

Isn’t the straw star cute? A fellow volunteer brought it in for the display. 

Yet again my attempts at photographing from the outside were scuppered by the reflection on the window!

Here’s part of the display. Recognise the printable over the back there? ;)

I utterly love that old lamp. I hope it finds a good home.

Using off-cuts from the woven hearts and stars, I made these paper heart chains as well.  I also sewed the two hanging hearts (they aren’t for sale though!)

Of course, the angel specimen art I created is there, too…

One of these has already sold! Hurrah!

 And here are the woven stars, which turned out to be one of my favourite parts of the display. They are simply strung onto cotton and pinned into the ceiling tiles:

This year, there was a ‘Best Dressed Window’ competition in the town where the charity shop is.  

We won third place!