Santa’s Christmas Countdown

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I remember thinking last year, as I was making this Santa’s Christmas Countdown for Crafts Unleashed, that I wished I had a Silhouette Cameo cutting machine so that I could just use adhesive vinyl and that it would make the project 10x easier. What a difference a year makes! Cammie (that’s what I like to call my Silhouette machine when I haven’t had enough sleep…which is always.) cut the files like a dream and all I had to do was put down a flesh colored base coat. I’m really happy with the way this update turned out! I’m including the files just in case you want to make one of your own. Please refrain from using for commercial purposes.

For as long as cotton balls have existed, kids have probably used them to make Santa’s beard! The only problem is that we so rarely have cotton balls on hand and if I do, they’re way too small to get that fun full beard effect. What’s a frazzled, busy, procrastinating mother to do?! Here’s a quick and easy way to make a reusable Christmas Countdown that can be used year after year. No more last minute runs to the drug store on December 1st!

No worries if you don’t have a cutting machine, check out my original Santa’s Christmas Countdown post on Crafts Unleashed for the full tutorial on how to make this with just paper and glue (free printables included!)

Santa’s Christmas Countdown

Materials:
– Santa’s Christmas Countdown Free Silhouette Files (01: White, 02: Red)
– 9″ Round Pizza Pan (I can always find one at Dollar Tree!)
– 2″ White Craft Pom Poms– 1.75? Chipboard Circles
– All Purpose Tacky Glue
– 1/2? Adhesive Backed Magnets
– Vinyl (Red, White and a little bit of  Black & Pink)
– Americana Multi-Surface Buff Beige (or any other flesh color)
– Ribbon
– We R Memory Keepers 1/4″ Power Punch

Instructions:

1. Paint the entire back of the pizza pan with a few coats of your flesh colored paint. Initially, I tried painting just where the face would show up and you could totally see the difference in colors underneath the vinyl so go with the full paint job.

2. Allow paint to dry completely and then carefully add the vinyl stickers.

3. Scratch out the paint for the numbers. This is an optional step but it really helps make the numbers pop!

4. Punch holes in the edge of the pizza pan with Power Punch and tie on your ribbon of choice. You can always just glue the ribbon to the back if you don’t have a punch. I also used the punch to cut two circles of black vinyl for the eyes. If you have one, you can use a 1″ punch for the pink nose. Or you can do as I did and just sorta wing it!

5. All that’s left to do is glue the pom poms onto the front of the chipboard circles. Once glue has dried, affix magnets to the back and you’re done!

Store your magnetic pom poms in a jar next to the countdown and marvel at how excited your kids are as they see Santa’s beard fill up! Hope you enjoyed this project and feel free to contact me if you have any problems with the files!

This project is a part of The Silhouette Challenge hosted by The Thinking Closet. Stop by each month for a new and exciting free tutorial and studio file. Here are my projects from previous months:

January: Martin Luther King Window Art
February: We’re Better Together Card
March: Montessori Sandpaper Letters
April: “Celebrate Differences” Autism Awareness Tee
May: “Cup Of Tea” Customizable Art
June: Modern Chair Art
July: Oozma Kappa T-Shirt
August: Washi Tape Stickers
September: Nuts & Bolts Print
October: Zombie Invasion Tee

Check out more wonderful Silhouette Challenge projects from these amazing bloggers: