Advent Calendar (Helmar)

Well, it is really beginning to look like Christmas! Next weekend I will officially be starting to fill the boxes in my new advent calendar. I altered the Dusty Attic chipboard advent calendar with a lot of various distress inks and metallic stains to give it an antiqued look.

My trusted Helmar's 450 quick dry came to the rescue to hold all of the the boxes together and the Premium craft glue was very helpul too with the paper "layout" insert and embellishments. The papers are Fabscraps' gorgeous new Christmas line.

Here is another view. I used Helmar's decoupage paste to adhere the paper to the front of the boxes and sanded the edges before assembling them. I wanted to reveal all the grooves for a rustic feel - instead of simply covering the entire square surface with paper.


A close-up of the left - it really shimmers in real light. I used a mix of Dusty Attic and Fabscraps chipboard pieces on here.


A close-up of the right - I just love how perfectly the Fabscraps lamp post fits!


All together this was about a 10-hour project to complete (but worth it!). I even taught an 8-hour workshop for Paper and Lace on this project (mind you the frames were pre-built and the box numbers had to be adhered after the class). Thanks again to all the wonderful ladies who attended (and some even drove from far away in the snow!).