Advent Calendar: Boxes Filled With Treasures

I was over at my friend Angie's house for one of our "Glue & Gab" sessions when I suddenly, I simply had to made an Advent calendar. We usually sit in her dining room with glue, paper and scissors and work on something that has been on our mind. Angie is a real scrapbooker, with supplies and technique on her side. She makes scores of beautiful memory books and has captured a lot of wonderful family moments on some oh-so-cute pages.

I am not a scrapbooker, but my love of paper and stickers runs deep.  When I was talking with Angie, I was reminded of the super cute Advent calendar that she made last year.  She said that if I was in the mood to make one, I could use her Cricut paper cutting machine.  It starts with a simple cardboard cubby made by Scrapbook Company "Close To My Heart."  Then you need to buy 15 sheets of coordinating scrapbook paper (a selection that is a little bit stiffer than traditional paper works best).  I cut each piece of 12 x 12 paper in half and fed them one-by-one into the Cricut, loaded with the "Artistic Cartridge."  The Artistic cartridge allows you to choose "3D box; size 2.5 inches.

After all of the boxes are cut out, you can fold them along the perforations/scores and then glue the flaps together with a glue stick to create the box.  I chose a variety of green papers and I just love how it turned out.  I decided not to number the boxes as it would interfere with the overall effect.  I have been having a lot of fun choosing the stickers to adorn each box.  You can see that I am still 3 stickers shy, but I couldn't wait any longer to show you - Advent has begun!  And these boxes are big enough to hold wonderful treats!

I saw Angie make her Advent calendar last December and percolated on how cute it was all year long.  I am showing you this project now, so that maybe next year will be your year!