How to Make a Countdown Calendar for Your Kids or a Good Friend

I realized that this idea could be used for a lot of other occasions – for when a parent travels far away, for when a educational goal is met (the end of the school year is fast approaching!!), or for any number of times when kids need a little help building patience while they wait for something important to happen. I would also even do something like this for an adult friend who needs a little support through a stressful time in her life. When I have done this in the past for an Advent Calendar, I came up with 24 mini-activities for each countdown day. Most days it was something simple, such as having an extra dessert or renting a favorite Christmas movie. On the weekends, the activities would be more involved, such as baking cookies.

What You Need to Make a Countdown Calendar “Waiting Jar”

• Paper – plain or scrapbook paper, whatever you want
• A mason jar – or even simply recycle a pickle jar. Just wash it well first!
• String or ribbon to tie the messages into little ‘gifts’

I wanted to fill up my daughter’s jar with empowering and positive messages so that she wouldn’t dwell on the fact that her boyfriend was gone. I also borrowed my own activity idea and came up with a handful of “assignments” for her to do, encouraging her to keep her thoughts positive. Examples were: “Write down 5 things you like and appreciate about yourself”, and “Write down 5 FUN things you will do between now and the 4th weekend in September.” Then I searched the web for appropriate fun quotes to remind her of how much we love her. You can see some of them in the image below:

Daily Inspirational and Motivational Message Ideas

I counted the days until her boyfriend’s visit, (33), I typed the quotes onto my old advent calendar template, and spaced out the activities so that she’d get them about once a week. Then I cut and folded each one so that only the number was showing, and tied them up with some colored thread so that she couldn’t peek ahead too easily:

Folded and Tied Daily Messages for the Countdown Calendar

Before I put them into the jar, I traced the lid onto a piece of perfectly-themed scrapbook paper and simply sandwiched the paper between the lid and rim. If you’re using a regular jar with a one-piece lid, you could decoupage it to the top, or even skip this step altogether.

Trace a circle from the Mason jar lid to decorate the top

Lastly, I loaded the messages into the jar in order, putting #33 on the bottom, all the way to #1 at the top. Though now that I think about it, it would have made more sense to put the numbers in reverse, so that it would be easier for her to know immediately how many days were left.

Add the dated messages from last to first so that #1 is on top.

I can unequivocally state that the Waiting Jar was a huge success, and truly made the wait to see her boyfriend easier for her to handle. She even took her favorite quotes and stuck them up on her bulletin board in her room! Below are 36 days worth of countdown calendar day templates that you can print and hand write your own messages for whatever your countdown occasion may be.

Days 1-12 Personalizable Countdown Calendar

Days 13-24 Personalizable Countdown Calendar

Days 25-36 Personalizable Countdown Calendar

And in case you were wondering – yes, the boyfriend is still around! We’re both pretty pleased about that!

Today’s project idea comes from a paper basket craft from one of these magazines, though I’ve changed and adapted it to make it easier to create. Back then most magazines (not just those for kids) offered very general templates and even more vague directions, because so many daily items were handmade in those days. So, this project originated as a tiny 1 inch diagram with a paragraph of instructions – I’ve redrawn the template, included some fun retro Easter character art, and created a printable project that you can download for free and use as much as you want! And I’ve also included…. real instructions! Fancy that!!

Free Printable Easter Parasol Baskets

What you need to make these printable paper Easter baskets:

• Two yards of ribbon (NOT satin ribbon – grosgrain works best)
• One wooden skewer (like you can find at any grocery store)
• A standard hand-held hole puncher
• Glue stick or regular school glue
• A low-temp hot glue gun
• Print out TWO COPIES of the Easter basket art for each basket you want to make
  I also recommend using regular paper and not card stock, only because the thicker paper is too difficult to fold accurately.
• Easter basket stuffings of your choosing.

Print TWO COPIES of this Easter parasol art to make EACH basket. CLICK TO PRINT FULL SIZE.

Here is a blank template in case your kids want to decorate their parasol themselves. Remember - print TWO for each basket! CLICK TO PRINT FULL SIZE.

First, cut out the two sides of the parasol basket along the outside black line:

You need both sides to make the parasol.

Next, I highly recommend scoring your folds before folding, because you want your folds to be as precise and crisp as possible. You can do this with a bone folder, by simply taking a ruler and tracing the fold lines (which are included a diagram on the printable). If you don’t have a bone folder, simply use anything with a dull-ish point that won’t leave a mark – I used the point of a knitting needle, and have used the dull side of a butter knife in the past.

Scoring and folding the basket parts

Next you’ll need to punch holes on on either side of each fold – you can see them in this next photograph, which also shows how to glue the two sides together with the flap on the back, which will eventually be on the inside of the basket:

First punch the holes, then glue the two sides together as shown. (You may need to re-punch the holes where the flaps overlap)

While the glue is drying, take your wooden skewer and wrap it with ribbon. I tacked the ends in place with a glue gun, but regular glue will also work if you can hold the ends in place until they dry. Do the next step before you insert the skewer handle into the paper parasol as shown in the last photo below. You’ll need to wrap that extra ribbon on the bottom after you insert it into the parasol.

Making the parasol handle from a skewer and ribbon

This is actually the trickiest part – the folds on the parasol naturally want to reverse themselves and zig zag, but you obviously want all the folds pointing towards the inside of the basket. Feed the ribbon through the punched holes, and gently pull it into a smaller circle, which will hold the parasol in it’s shape. This might require the help of an adult if younger children are working on it, and it is especially important to NOT use silky ribbon here, because it simply won’t hold the paper, and it will slide everywhere, and you will want to throw it away thinking it is all messed up: ask me how I know this!! *smile* The grosgrain ribbon has just enough texture to hold the paper in shape while you try to wrangle the folds into place.

How to tie the ribbon to hold the Easter parasol in shape

Once the ribbon is in place and folding is complete, insert the ribbon-wrapped skewer into the center of the parasol – you can see in the photo above that I’ve wrapped extra ribbon at the bottom of the skewer to help hold it in place. I also tacked it on the inside with some additional hot glue.

At this point, your basket can be complete! But if you want to hang it, simply hot glue a loop of ribbon to the top. You can stuff the basket with grass and goodies, but remember that it is made of paper and won’t hold anything too heavy. Peeps are perfect!

Completed Vintage Easter Paper Toy Set

Most of you probably don’t know that I am a voracious collector of many kids of antiques and vintage items. Primarily I collect dishes, figurines, enamelware, and vintage fabrics. But most of all, I collect vintage paper items: books, magazines, scrapbooks, postcards, and greeting cards (more on that below!). Most of the items are a little too ‘grown up’ to share with you on any of the Woo! Jr. sites, but this one is just perfect for kids!

Below is a printable page of an adorable Vintage Easter scene, with four stand-up bunnies along with a rabbit hutch. It comes from an April, 1914 issue of McCall’s magazine, and was included just for the children of their regular readers. All you need to make it is scissors and some glue. The cutting may be a little tricky for younger children, in which case I recommend letting them simply cut out the shapes while leaving some white space around the lines. Mom or Dad may have to cut out the hutch, though, because the assembly on that piece requires that you cut the pieces out on the lines.

Related Pages: Printable Easter Templates, more Printable Easter Crafts

Printable Easter Paper Toy from 1914

For those of you who haven’t heard, I’ve started a new website called Vintage Fangirl, with vintage printables and crafts from a wide variety of sources, including from my own personal antique ephemera collection. It’s kind of like a Woo! Jr. for grownups! Currently I’m in the midst of running a series of 25 Days of Easter Pictures, and I’ve included some of the highlights of images in the series below. All the images on my new site are free, just like they are here!

Just click on the thumbnails to go to the full page size vintage Easter pictures and clip art!

Retro Peter Cottontail Clip Art	Antique Easter Egg Boat on the Sea	Retro Easter Bunnies Card
1886 Bunny Carriage Card	Bicycling Easter Bunnies	Vintage Easter Bunny Illustration
Vintage Happy Easter Postcard	Weathered Wood Easter Cross	Old Easter Lilies Picture

If you make any crafts with them, please let me know via the contact page because I’d love to feature your work!

Printable Dragon Paper Craft

How to Make this Paper Dragon

This craft is so easy that a toddler can do it – they aren’t going to color with fancy-schmancy colored pencils or stay within the lines of course… But they can certainly handle it.

Chinese Dragon Paper Puppet

You will need an additional piece of construction paper to create the accordion dragon body, plus wooden kebab skewers to make it into a ‘puppet’, like this.

Printable Dragon Paper Craft

Then simply click the above image to print out the dragon, color, and fold and glue as shown!

More Dragon Coloring Pages

Chinese Dragon Coloring Pages

Cartoon Dragon Coloring Pages

Celtic Dragon Coloring Pages

More Chinese New Year Printables

Printable Dragon Masks

Chinese Zodiac Coloring Pages

Printable Chinese Masks

I silently said to myself, “Seriously? Nesting paper dolls? I’m drawing nested paper dolls?!”.

I thought I would want to draw pretty farm scenes, or cute illustrations trying to be a Helen Dardik wannabe. Nope, I drew out paper dolls, put my markers away, and haven’t felt like drawing since. I don’t think I’ll ever have myself figured out.

So today I broke out my ancient copy of Adobe Illustrator and put these Santa nesting dolls together. I thought they were cute in the drawing, but I have to say I think they are pretty dang adorable once you put them together!

Christmas Paper Craft Santas

How to Make These Christmas Paper Craft Santas

These couldn’t be easier to make – print out one of each of the following 4 nesting dolls, then cut out each of them.

Santa Nesting Doll - X Large	Santa Nesting Doll - Large
Santa Nesting Doll - Medium	Santa Nesting Doll - Small

Nesting Santa Doll Tower

Then I’m going to recommend a step that you will probably be inclined to skip. Trust me on this, don’t skip the following step – it makes it SO MUCH EASIER to assemble them. So what is this mystery step?

Score your folds

You don’t need a fancy bone folder, I just used a pen with no ink and a small ruler (though I’ve decided I’m sticking a bone folder into my own Christmas stocking this year!). When you score these folds, your fold lines are effortlessly crisp and exact. I never thought the extra step was worth it, until I tried it. Now I never fold paper crafts without scoring first! And actually, it makes the folding easier and faster, so it doesn’t really seem like an ‘extra step’ at all.

Next, make all of your folds before you add any glue. And using a glue stick is the best route for this project – instant stickiness with no mess. Then when you go back to add glue to the white glue tabs, the whole nesting doll almost naturally assembles itself.

Do this to all of the dolls and get playing with them!

More Printable Christmas Crafts

You might also want to check out these printable Christmas pinwheels or these Christmas mandala coloring pages.

These 4th of July pinwheels would make a great party activity, camp craft, or simply summer rainy day fun!

4th of July Pinwheels to Print	Stars and Stripes 4th of July Pinwheel	4th of July Fireworks Pinwheel
Stars and Swirls Patriotic Pinwheel	American Quilt Pinwheel	Red White and Blue Stars Pinwheel

Most of these Easter printables are suitable for kids age 6+, though there are a handful of them that will either need adult help or are better for older children. All of them are free, though one or two them are on sites in different languages. Yet I made sure that all of them have at least picture instructions so that you don’t need to know Chinese in order to make them!

Printable Easter Crafts	Easter Egg Printable Craft	Easter Bunny Printable Craft	Printable Bunny & Chick Masks
Vintage Easter Paper Toy Set	Printable Easter Basket Paper Toy	Free Vintage Easter Cards	Printable Easter Eggs
Paper Bunny Craft	Mod Spring Chick Papercrafts	Cute Bunny Paper Craft	Paper Easter Totem Pole

I suggest printing these on heavier card stock, and they could be even cuter if you print them on the blank side of winter or Christmas themed scrapbook paper. Instructions for assembly are right there on the page, too, so you don’t have to come back here to figure out how to make them!

Penguin Printable Pinwheel Craft

Reindeer Printable Pinwheel Craft

Paper Chain People Craft

While putting together these Christmas paper chains, I decided to create several more paper chain templates of people, animals and fun shapes. My kids love making accordion fold paper chains – I guess sometimes the simplest kids crafts can also be the most satisfying!

Paper Chain People

Paper Chain Shapes Template

Paper Chain Animals

Check out all of the printable crafts on Craft Jr.!

Reindeer Paper Chains

I really love printable crafts! I’m a little late on my Christmas in July series, but here’s the next one up – printable Christmas paper chain templates! There’s a snowman, reindeer, angel and Christmas tree, along with easy directions on how to cut and fold the paper to make these paper chains. Tape several of them together to make cute paper garlands and decorate with glitter or paint!

Related Pages: Printable Santa Dolls, Printable Christmas Tags

Christmas Paper Chain Template