DIY ADVENT CALENDAR

My little hearts,

I'm so happy to present you with this DIY... I'll tell you the whole story, Father Castor is a bit like me. Last August, I was delighted to post you a great address Jules and Shim with a little DIY in it, remember. Following this article, Faith, the creator ofAphinitea who supplies the restaurant's famous flower boxes, contacted me to say she was delighted I liked her work, but that it would be great if I could share her name and website. I did so immediately, and removed the box pattern I'd put online in the process, because once again, I didn't want to hurt the business of this small Filipino company, whose ethics I explain to you regularly here. In the course of a few emails, I suggested to Faith that we should work together on an Advent calendar kit. I provide the colors, sizes, instructions and template for the stickers, and Faith takes care of the production. Done. We exchange dozens of e-mails, agree on the pantone colors, all in English, and I'm so proud of myself for achieving our goal so smoothly in a language that isn't my own!

So today I invite you to visit Faith's website: Aphiniteato buy this kit of 24 boxes:

• - 9 small pink boxes,
• - 10 medium yellow boxes,
• - 5 large white boxes. for 29.50 euros (excluding DHL shipping from the Philippines)

EDIT IMPORTANT DHL shipping charges: 11 euros for France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Monaco, England, Finland and Luxembourg.
and 14.8 euros for the rest of the world.

Then download the stickers (two sizes) to print on self-adhesive paper. HERE

And follow the steps below. And to tell you the truth, things went off without a hitch, except on November 8 when Typhoon Haiyan swept through the Philippines, which is why today I decided to forgo the commission I was supposed to earn on sales of these kits and donate it to the Red Cross, to help the victims of this disaster. So, in addition to offering you a wonderful Advent calendar, do a good deed... I give you a big kiss!

For this DIY:

• -Cost approx. 35 euros (excluding glue gun)
• -Time approx. 1h30, get the kids involved in cutting out the stickers...
• -Difficulty "fingers in the nose"...

You'll need..:

• - the box kit from theAphinitea,
• - download your stickers and your "BE PATIENT" decal HERE,
• - self-adhesive paper, a sheet of Bristol board and a sheet of tracing paper,
• - a sheet of 50 x 65 featherboard and a sheet of colored Canson paper of the same size,
• - a glue gun, and a few refills,
• - black and white Posca paints,
• - a pair of scissors, and chocolates and other goodies to fill your 24 boxes.

To get started, customize the boxes with Posca, polka dots, hearts, confetti, triangles, etc. Have fun and, above all, leave to dry before filling the boxes with your treasures.

Closing the boxes is easy, and they're preformed so all the edges are marked. All you have to do is gather the petals towards the center, and all will be well.

While you're waiting for your boxes to dry, get to work cutting out the stickers. I recommend that you print them on a sheet of Bristol board, then glue it onto self-adhesive A4 paper, so that your stickers are thicker and less transparent.

To close your boxes, peel off the lid and carefully place the number in the center of the box. And don't forget to garnish your boxes first!

While preparing this DIY, I realized that it would be great to hang these little boxes on a Christmas tree, rather than gluing them to a featherboard. So if you choose this option, exit point no. 4 in the materials list, and replace the featherboard and colored canson sheet with nylon thread and a large needle. Stick the needle into the height of the box, thread it through once, then pass it through again. Tie a knot - a double knot is better.

Then close the box, remembering to fill it with softness. Glue on your number, and hang your box on a Christmas tree.

If you've chosen the wall-mounted option of the classic Advent calendar, transfer the "BE PATIENT..." to the bottom right-hand corner of your colored Canson sheet, glued to your featherboard.

Fill in the "BE PATIENT..." using a fine black felt-tip pen, and leave to dry - you can erase any pencil marks later. Then place your boxes on your board, trying to create a harmonious composition of colors and sizes. Above all, don't "glue-tighten" your boxes, or you'll have a hard time opening them...

Plug in the glue gun, and once it's hot, place a drop of glue on the Make My Lemonade logo and the Aphinitea logo (we've thought of everything).

Without wasting any time, glue your box to your board, in the spot you've chosen. Once your boxes are attached, you can consider erasing any traces of the "BE PATIENT..." pencil.

And TA-DA! Then to open your boxes, simply peel off the number to retrieve your gifts! Today I'm proposing a DIY advent calendar or Christmas tree decoration, but as I'm not a big fan of red and green, I wanted to choose fresh colors that could be used for other occasions, such as to make a desk organizer... But also as a box kit for your gifts, it's up to you what you want to do with them...

LOVE.