Anderson MOPS: craft tutorial: christmas countdown blocks

Our crafty Craft team outdid themselves for the November meeting... Cutest. Craft. EVER.

Here's a tutorial if you'd like to make a Christmas Countdown at home.

What you need:

3 wooden blocks measuring:

4x4, cut to 4" high to make a square cube
2x4, cut to 5" long
2x4, cut to 6" long

wooden tag (2" x 3")
black chalkboard paint
mod podge (available in the craft department or here)
paint in coordinating Christmasy colors... pictured here is lime & a darker red. Bright, classic red is also really cute. Or you could keep it simple & do all one color.
scrapbook paper
matching ribbon
small nail & hammer
hemp (approximately 10-15")
chalk
hot glue

Instructions:

First, time to paint! Paint your blocks with the Christmasy paint. You'll probably need a couple of coats. Don't worry about painting the bottoms... they won't show.

Pictured to the right is a few different color combos.

Paint your wooden tag with chalkboard paint. You'll need at least 3 coats.

While your paint is drying, pull out your scrapbook paper. Print or stamp or handwrite "days 'til" & "Christmas" & cut them out. Play with the sizes to find the perfect look. The papers in the example measure:

"days 'til" measures 3.5" long, 1" high
"Christmas" measures 4.5" long, 1" high

The "days 'til" paper goes on the 5" block. The "Christmas" paper goes on the 6" block.

Make sure your blocks are dry, then paint a thin layer of mod podge on the side of your blocks & place your word papers. Once you get your words even, paint another thicker coat of mod modge over the entire side, sealing the paper to the block. (Don't worry, mod podge dries clear.) Your middle & bottom blocks are now complete.

Now for the top block...

During the meeting, we did super-cute bows on top of the blocks... however, I didn't take pictures of the process & it's one of those things that just can't be explained in a way that would make any sense whatsoever.

So here's a modified version :)

Cut a length of ribbon (make sure it's long... you can always trim it later) & center it on the top of the wooden block. Place the nail in the center of the ribbon, & hammer it halfway into the block through the ribbon. Tie one end of the hemp around the nail tightly, then hammer the nail the rest of the way into the block. Tie the ribbon in a cute bow & trim as needed.

Hot glue the wooden chalkboard tag to the front of the top block. Wrap the loose end of the hemp around the chalk & tie tightly. Secure with a dot of hot glue if necessary. And you're done!!

More crafty ideas:

These countdown blocks are being sold on etsy for $25... which makes your MOPS craft a super-awesome deal! :) Here are a few variations if you want to make your own countdown blocks.

I love this cute wording if Santa is a big deal at your house: