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!

Christmas Shape Silhouettes to Print

Feel free to leave your own Christmas craft ideas using these templates in the comments below!

Santa Claus Silhouette Template	Christmas Tree Template	Santa's Reindeer Template
Cute Snowman Template Outline	Printable Snowflake Shapes	Gingerbread Man Template
Peace Dove Silhouette	Holiday Candle Silhouette	Christmas Present Printable Template
Christmas Sleigh Shape Template	Christmas Stocking Shape Outline	Printable Angel Shape

Related Page: Leaf Templates

Thanksgiving Turkey Template	Thanksgiving Mayflower Template	Thanksgiving Pilgrim Hat Template
Thanksgiving Cornucopia Template	Fall Acorn Template	Fall Harvest Corn Template
Fall Wheat Grain Sheaf Template	Fall Leaves Template	Fall Pumpkin Template

Making Masks

Related Pages: Printable Halloween Masks, Printable Masquerade Masks

Masquerade Mask Craft Materials List

Black crafting foam sheet

Colored crafting feathers

Fake flower petals

Hot glue gun plus Elmer’s glue

Glitter

Elastic thread or ribbon

Mask template:

Printable Mask Template

How to Make Masquerade Masks

Print out the mask template and trace it onto your foam craft sheet. I suppose you could make a more temporary mask if you printed out onto card stock (which is why I gave you two color choices). But I honestly don’t know how well it would hold up on paper. Just sayin’.

Cut out the mask from the foam:

Cut Out Eye Mask Template

You can’t see it very well in the photo, but I also poked holes on the sides to add elastic when done.

Pick out feathers that you can glue symmetrically to both sides of the mask. I chose three colors and made sure that each color had a ‘twin’ that was about the same length and width. Once you have enough to go around the edges, start gluing them in place with the hot glue gun. I used 10 feathers in my masquerade mask, because I didn’t want them pointing down and tickling the heck out of my face.

Glueing Feathers to the Masquerade Mask

This part doesn’t need to be particularly neat or pretty – it will soon get covered up.

Arranging feathers on the mask

After the feathers are in place, cut some petals from a fake flower into the shape you want. I used two almost half circles for each side and a small group of four petals for the center top of the mask.

Adding Flower Petals to the Mask

Glue the petals over the feather stems with the hot glue gun.

Gluing Petals to the Feather Mask

Here’s the mask with all the feathers and petals hot-glued in place:

Mask with all petals and feathers in place

Now it’s time to break out the Elmer’s glue – the hot glue gun won’t work for this part. Use a generous amount to cover up the base of the petals, being very careful to make a precise outline around the eye holes:

Gluing the glitter onto the masquerade mask

Then put it onto a piece of paper and dump a ton of glitter on your glue.

Glitter Dump on Mask

And just leave it there until it dries.

I know it’s hard. Don’t touch it.

But when it’s dry – you’re pretty much done!

Masquerade Mask Craft

Simply slip some elastic thread or ribbon in your holes and wear it with glee!

Check out all of our animal crafts while you are here!

Owl Towels Kitchen Craft

Owl Towel Kitchen Craft Materials

Fusible web interfacing

Fabric scraps

Tea towels (washed to remove sizing and ironed)

Buttons

Thread

How to Make This Easy Kids Kitchen Craft

Print out our free owl template:

Printable Owl Template

Then iron on your fusible web interfacing onto the back of your fabric scraps. Be sure to keep the wax paper on the outside intact and follow the manufacturer instructions closely to ensure a strong bond:

Using Fusible Web Interfacing for Applique

Trace the owl body, eye and beak parts onto different pieces of fabric. You may want to be very strategic about placement if you want the fabric pattern to line up with the pieces. For example, you can see that I traced the circles so that they centered on flowers in the fabric design. This, of course, is a moot point if you are using solids or a tiny pattern.

Wash and iron your tea towels.

Cut out the pieces and arrange them onto your tea towels as desired. Fusible web is so great for applique, because you can move things around to your heart’s content until you get things exactly where you want them.

Arranging the Tea Towel Applique Pieces

Iron the applique pieces in place according to the interfacing instructions.

Then sew pretty buttons into the middle of the owl’s eyes, and you are done!

I’d love to know what kind of  cool projects you use these for. Please inspire all of our readers by leaving your fall leaf project ideas in the comments below!

Related Page: Twelve Fall Leaf Crafts

Maple Leaf Template	Oak Leaf Pattern	Elm Tree Leaf Pattern
Maple Leaf Template 2	Oak Leaf Template 2	Chestnut Tree Leaf Pattern