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12 Trees of Christmas

the crafty diy geniuses were at it again over at oh happy day.  i want to try almost all of their projects, but this one was just too great that i had to make it immediately...

this was the first year i've done an advent calendar for the boys and i thought this one was not only beautiful,
but classic enough to bring back every year.  i had intended on making this just as it is,
but after these boxes were sold out and searching the internet elsewhere it occurred to me...
what can i even put in those teeny boxes that is safe in dean's mouth? (other than candy)

so this was my version...

i ordered the trees from oh happy day's link and used their adorable little banners,
but went without the boxes and decided to make it night time at a christmas tree farm.
also to make it easier on myself i used 25 trees, but only 12 days with banners.
this is all on a shelf in our kitchen and i made the quick night sky painting to hang
 over a picture that was washing out the trees.  i think this display would go great on a mantle too.
i see little army men hiking through these trees when the boys are older.

here's what you need for the bases of the trees if you want to make the version without boxes.
it turned out to be cheaper because i already had all the materials above and those little boxes
only seemed to be available in sets of 100 (more than i wanted to spend and four times what i needed)
it was too late in the game to find three friends that would want to make one too :)

1. draw 25 circles on a piece of cardboard (i used the box the trees were shipped in and the spool of thread as a template)
2. cut out 25 - 5" squares of fabric (i used natural colored linen, but any would work)
3. cut 25 strands of twine or any string you want to about 7" each

4. stack fabric, then circle, then batting on top of each other.  stick tree base in, bundle it all up and tie it all together and cut off any excess fabric.  

*note - these trees are designed for model train sets and will not stand on their own,

the reason you need to glue them to the boxes or make the bag bases.

i wrote different things on the back of each day - a mixture of candy,
a little bag of toys to pull from and activities like go see santa.

cole has really enjoyed it so far... day 1 = "have hot chocolate".
i decided later to add some mini starry night lights i already had
to give even more of a tree farm feel.