Halloween Advent Calendar

There are so many creative ways to count down to Christmas, but I've never seen an advent calendar for Halloween! So I made one up. And now that it's complete, I see much room for improvement, but for this year, it's perfect.

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Materials:

styrofoam wreath

2 fat quarters of Halloween fabric

black thread (mine was sparkly)

a black button or pom-pom

orange felt

black number stickers

small piece of cardboard

hot glue gun
scissors

black buttons (optional)

Step One: I cut one of the fabrics into 3 inch strips and wrapped them around the wreath, covering it completely. I used my hot glue gun to seal down the edges of each strip.

Step Two:

I cut two pieces of black thread that stretched across the diameter of the wreath and glued them onto the back, dividing the center of the wreath into four sections. I glued a black button over the ends of the thread to prevent fraying and make it look nicer on the back.

Then I repeated this step, gluing another "X," dividing the center of the wreath into eight sections. I glued buttons onto the ends of each string.

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*Disclaimer: I did not involve either of my children in the creation of this advent calendar. I figured it was something for them to participate in once it was finished, not during the process. Hazel loved watching and of course, modeling for the pictures.

Step Three:

I started making the spider web by weaving the thread under and over the straight lines. I ended up tying knots at (almost) every intersection to help the web keep its form.

Step Four:

I didn't take many pictures of this part...but I cut four small squares of cardboard and covered them with the corresponding Halloween fabric, using hot glue. I glued the cardboard squares onto the top, bottom and sides, just to create some variety in the numbers. Then I placed my black sticker numbers onto the orange felt and cut them into even smaller squares, which I hot glued into place around the wreath.

Had I done this project again, I would have tried harder to have each number facing the same direction, and planned out my spacing a little better, but like I said, it works!

I left about 14" of thread hanging off the spider web with my decorative black button at the end of it. I actually swiped this button from my daughter's "Charlotte's Web" quilt from my mother-in-law. She had glued spider legs made out of thread onto it already. You could also use a black pom-pom. Move the spider along the wreath as you inch closer to the big day!We keep him in place with a safety pin.
Have fun with this and Happy October!(MANY more fall activities to come...)