our countdown to christmas.

so, sure, we have many countdowns to christmas.  many.  but how can you resist making another cute one?  this one will end up in the trash in the end anyway..

we have darling countdowns that grandma pitcher made years ago, reminiscent of the ones she’d made for her own kids years ago.  they are sweet, and something I have used, but have had trouble with, with the girls at different ages.

with the ones she made for us, you tie each treat onto a long fabric strip with ribbon.  my problem usually comes in with my hands (thank you genes and arthritis..).  it’s always cold, and sometimes stormy, which is a great little story problem that equals aching hands in my situation.  the second problem is one, two, or three little girls, who like to steal treats prematurely.  then I get ornery because chances are, my hands are still hurting after the initial 75 treat tie-ons, and then there is one (most likely more), treat to tie on.

(now I shouldn’t blanket blame all three..  it’s usually a certain culprit..  ahemashleyahem..  who likes to take their sisters’ treats and say that they did it.)

(it is also partly my fault, as they inherited my sweet tooth.)

so I started thinking about this waaaay back in november, and came up with a pretty sweet solution.

(bonus: it is also up cycling!!)

so if you can’t tell, we’ve been saving toilet paper rolls like they are spare change.

it didn’t take us long..  helps to have the hotel pitching in.

I placed three treats in each empty roll cardboard core thing, wrapped it in tissue paper (okay, merrill did), and then twisted the ends, and tied them off with some string.

(okay, merrill did that part too.  my hands aren’t hurting!!  sweetheart.)

I printed off papers that are brand-spanking new from jessica sprague + heidi swapp (genius combo.  can not go wrong there.).  cut them to fit my rolls (got enough for 4 from each 8.5 x 11 sheet), and then taped them on the back side.  I finished each one off with a number to identify just how many more days until christmas, that I printed off and punched with a 1 inch circle punch and stuck that on with a glue dot.

getting them all hooked-up together wasn’t as easy as I initially thought.  I tried glue-dotting the heck out of them, but they just wouldn’t stay.  it was too heavy.  so I resorted to my trusty old glue gun.

worked awesomely.

I took a small piece of ribbon and hot-glued that to the top roll to use as a hanger.

now, all the treats are concealed, and safe, until the right day comes.

the girls tear off one side and there’s the treats!

but really, I love these papers..

love these colors!!

trying really hard not to re-do the scheme of the tree this year….

and it would totally work, I re-painted the wall in the family room as one of my “keep yourself busy because merrill ditched us for two weeks” projects.

links to jessica + heidi’s new collections here and here.

dudes…  they are totally on sale now too, along with a ton of other products!!!