It’s November and time to make an Advent Calendar with Frosted Gingerbread bundle. Hmmm – did I mislead you? It’s not the edible kind of gingerbread, but a paper one. Here we are in Week 7 of 12 in my Christmas Countdown series and it’s customary for me to make an Advent Calendar in the beginning of November ready for December 1st.
As Advent Calendars go they are not a five minute task, and you may need a few hours to create it from start to finish. It’s also a fun thing to do as a group activity with your children or grandchildren.
Another surprise! Did you think the ornaments are actually gingerbread cookies I baked? I wish I were that talented and can ice cookies as perfect as that, but they were Christmas ornaments I found a few years back made to look like gingerbread cookies! I knew I had squirreled them away somewhere, and am glad I found them to set this vignette!
Matchbox drawers
To create my calendar, I made 24 matchboxes 1-1/2″ x 1-1/2″ (4 cm x 4 cm) which I thought would be wide and deep enough to hold chocolates. I adhered 4 boxes to make each tier, and then adhered 3 tiers together to create 2 stacks of 12 boxes, one for each side of the house.
The house was decorated with the Gingerbread & Peppermint 6″ x 6″ (15.2 x 15.2 cm) Designer Series Papers. I haven’t given you measurements for these so that you can decorate it as you wish.
On the side for days 1-12, I stamped “sending you Peppermint kisses”, and on the side for days 13-24, I stamped a Christmas greeting.
Then I attached an adhesive sheet on the back of some gold foil paper and die cut the numbers using the Playful Alphabet dies.
House Front and Back
I decorated the front and back of the house identically. The dies I used for the windows and doors are actually window dies and window shutters from the Window Flower Box dies set. I cut off the bottom two panes to create a smaller window so that it would be in proportion with the doors.
Gable ends and doors
For the gabled ends, on one side I fussy cut the Christmas trees from the Gingerbread & Peppermint papers and on the other, the miniature gingerbread bells and peppermint candy.
I also die cut a window box for the peppermint candy as a feature.
Cardstock measurments
There is rather a lot of card stock to cut and score. Listed below are the measurements for the elements required for the basic construction. You can decorate it to your taste and requirements. Please watch the video on how to cut and score the basic pieces.
Imperial
- Drawer for Matchbox : 24 pieces 3-1/2″ x 3-1/2″, score 1″ on all 4 sides
- Sleeve for Matchbox : 24 pieces 1-5/8″ x 6″, score 1″ at one end and wrap/score per instructions on video tutorial
- Fronts for Matchbox drawer : 24 pieces 1″ x 1-1/2″
- Box Divider Middle section : A4 length x 6-1/2″
- Bottom of Box Divider : 2 pieces 1-5/8″ x 6-3/8″
- Roof truss : 2 pieces 6-1/4″ x 6-3/8″, short side on top score at 1-1/2″, 4″ and 5-7/8″
- Gable end and doors : 2 pieces 5-1/4″ x 10″
- Roof cap : 5-1/2″ x 7″
Metric
- Drawer for Matchbox : 24 pieces 9cm x 9 cm, score 2.5 cm on all 4 sides
- Sleeve for Matchbox : 24 pieces 4.5 cm x 15 cm, score 2.5 cm at one end and wrap/score per instructions on video tutorial
- Fronts for Matchbox drawer : 24 pieces 2.5 cm x 4 cm
- Box Divider Middle section : A4 length x 17 cm
- Bottom of Box Divider : 2 pieces 4.5 cm x 17 cm
- Roof truss : 2 pieces 17 cm x 17 cm, score one side at 1 cm, 5.5 cm, 12 cm
- Gable end and doors : 2 pieces 13 cm x 27.5 cm
- Roof cap : 15 cm x 18.5 cm
Video tutorial
It’s a bit hard to explain in words, so I’ve created a video tutorial for both the cutting and scoring instructions. There’s also hints and tips along the way, so grab a cuppa and take a peek. This video is slightly longer because of all the steps needed to create the house.
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