Advent Garland :: Ta-dah!

I've been wanting to make some sort of Advent calendar/garland type thingy for many years now, but until this year I've never been organised enough to get my creative thinking cap on in time. Arriving at the very last few days of November and suddenly wanting to create a handmade advent something-or-another is not really possible. Way too rushy and stressy for it to be worthwhile.

But this year, lo and behold, I have actually managed it. Yaaayyyyyyyyy for me!!!!! I feel very impressed with myself I have to confess, and even though technically speaking I haven't quite finished stitching all twenty four numbers yet, I am overlooking that weeny little fact and giving myself a pat on the back anyway.

The idea for my garland came about when I started making these fabulous crochet granny stars, you probably remember my post about them from a few weeks ago (see here). I was originally intending to string a dozen or so of them into a garland to hang over my fireplace (to replace my heart garland for the festive season), but as with many projects of this nature, I found that once I began making these stars I simply couldn't stop. Soon my starry pile was growing a little out of control and when I finally stopped hooking and started counting, I found I'd made sixteen instead of twelve. And that was when it suddenly occurred to me that if I made just eight more, then sixteen would become twenty four and they could indeed be turned into something Adventy.

So twenty four stars were made and strung onto some pink yarn to make a very looooong and colourful garland. But as festive and pretty as my garland was, my stars were Numberless. And no Advent garland would be complete without a set of twenty four numbers, would it??

I needed numbers of some sort then...hmmmm.....well I pondered and I thought, scratched my head and browsed through this amazing Flickr group for ideas and inspiration and eventually came up with a Number Idea.....

I cut twenty four circles out of coloured felt and lots of numbers out of red cotton fabric, then used iron on bondaweb to attach the  numbers to the felt.

A bit of white embroidery thread and some extremely enjoyable and theraputic hand stitching, and there you have it.....a whole bunch of Advent Numbers!

On the reverse of each number circle (which is visible when they're hung up), I added a circle of bonded cotton fabric (embellished with a button and some stitching) to stiffen the felt and stop it going floppy.

And the final thing was to add some coloured paper clips as an easy Hanging Mechanism.

I'm really rather pleased with how it's turned out.

So are the Little People.

They declared that Mummy did a Good Job.

So shall I show you how it looks?

When it's all hung up?

You'll have to excuse the quality of the following pictures I'm afraid, the light is very poor here today (more rain and gloomy dark skies) and I struggled to hold the camera still enough without wobbling.

ok..

here

it

comes.....

Ta-dah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's a good 8 or 9 ft long and beautifully stretches across the whole width of the archway which divides our living and dining areas downstairs.

And today being the 3rd December, the first three numbers are hanging in place, marking the date and the Big Countdown.

In true, homespun, colourful Attic24 style.

I'm really pleased with my Advent Garland.

In fact I Love, love, love it.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Comments

[Masha]

What a beautiful idea! THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR BLOG!!!

[Camilla]

Gorgeous. I love that you can take the numbers off. It's lovely when things like this become a Christmas tradition (will it be a yearly display?)

[Anna-Karin, Sweden]

Lovely, as always, Lucy!
Have a nice evening with your family!
Love Anna xxx

[Chantal]

This is soooo beautiful!
I always looked for something that hasn´t candy in it!! This is perfect!!
But where is my time to make it??

[Jennifer]

What a fabulous idea! It is beautiful.

[Tammi]

Beautiful!!! What a lovely look that is!

[Katie]

1 word - FAB-U-LOUS!!!!!!!

[Jacqueline]

Your star advent garland is lovely. So far, I have managed one white star. I am trying to work on one project at a time, but sometimes that doesn't work too well!

[Lesley]

Absolutely loving it! Well done Lucy. Quite how you manage to do it all I'm not sure - I am sincerely hoping in the nicest possible way that your house is filthy, for if it is spotless too then I am in complete awe of your talents! If I crochet, the house is dirty; if I clean, the crochet doesn't happen until night time. You are one very talented lady - will you manage to crochet and feed at the same time when #3 arrives???!! xx

[Debbie Price]

Oh my...how wonderful! My daughter and I LOVE this! You are truly AWESOME! This was such a clever idea...I know your kids will love this and remember it for years! Have a great day!
Hugs across the pond...
Deb P

[mandy]

very pretty, I am sure the little people loved it, well done.

[Ewa Evans]

It's lovely, you've done a fantastic job.

[Kris Van Allen]

absolutely gorgeous...as usual! love the idea of the cotton/button backing as well.

it appears that you added a 4th round to the stars since the previous post...am i right?

did you hang the stars from a single strand of yarn or a long chochet chain?

[Marian M-S]

Love the advent star calendar :-) What a great idea!

[Susan Hardy]

thats great lucy. I have had loads of ideas for garlands for the care home I work in but have not had the time. I made 44 crochet christmas stockings and am a bit crocheted out!! Maybe next year.

[Hen]

Cute!

[Greedy Nan]

I love, love, love it too - what a clever crafter you are - it almost makes me want to crochet!

[Heather]

Cute! Cute! Cute!

[Mrs Twins]

Really lovely Lucy! Well done! Hugs and Love Suex.

[TracyMB]

This is perfectly adorable!! LOVE your result and thank you for sharing the how-tos!! :)

[Kimbles]

Wow Lucy, so colourful and true Attic 24 style, well done you!! no wonder your little people love it - brilliant K x PS pop over and see my snowflakes in silhouette!

[Anna]

Love your Advent garland!

Anna xxxxxxx

[valerie]

that is very very very cool

[louise]

It looks great Lucy, your children are so lucky to have such a creative and thoughtful Mummy. I could see your "love" letters in the background too xxx

[Tine]

je ne suis pas bilingue mais j'admire ton blog depuis longtemps
je te souhaite de passer de bonnes fêtes de noël et que bb se porte bien dès qu'il pointera le bout de son nez
à bientôt avec des nouveaux projets pimpants et colorés
merci pour toutes ces belles images
Tine, de Paris, http://pixelle.info c'est moi aussi