I am loving my new Silhouette Cameo. It cuts things so precisely and I love the larger cutting space. I spent the weekend working on this Silhouette Advent Calendar!!
It’s a new product from Silhouette. When you buy the Advent calendar, it comes with a download card that gives you access to 25 different advent boxes and a background you can cut out!!
I think this Countdown Calendar is so cute that I decided that I want to keep it out year-round. So I instead of traditional red and green,I used paper that fit my home decor colors — grey, white and blue.
And then I downloaded a few different holiday-shaped boxes. This way I can use this Countdown Calendar to mark the days to so many special events — Valentine’s Day, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Easter and Birthdays!! All I do is switch out a regular box and put in one of the Holiday-themed boxes for that event.
Silhouette normally sells the beautiful painted advent box, plus the 42 downloads for $39.99, but they are offering a special price right now. You can get it for $29.99 — just type in “TATER” at checkout.
Here’s the Valentine’s-version:
And the best part — the embellishing!!! Love it!
xoxo
PS — Don’t forget to check out the TEN giveaway going on right now in the first-ever TT&J Giveaway Day!!
Win some beautiful prizes and get some great Holiday Gift Ideas!!
1. YOUR choice of camera bag from my favorite camera bag company — Jo Totes!
1. $100 gift card to Cottage Coastal – beautiful, handmade items!!
3. $50 credit to Oh My Crafts — vinyl, craft machines, crafting supplies and more!
4. YOUR choice of stencil from Royal Design Studio – my favorite stencil company!
5. $50 credit to Wine Sunday — handmade wine lamps, corks and more!
6. $40 credit to Heal my Sole — handmade lotions, lip balms and essential oils!
7. Check out I Heart Naptime for her 2-year Anniversary and $2,000 of prizes!
8. Win a $140 Play Tent from Little Birds Boutique – handmade play tents and more!
9. Win a $50 Target Gift Card from Gigis Petals – awesome daily deals!
10. Win a $50 Gift Card to Timeless Settings — beautiful home decor!
And, it’s time to put away the Halloween skeletons and think about putting up Thanksgiving decor. I’m sharing 14 free, Thanksgiving Printables at The New Home Ec to help get your house ready for turkey, parades and pumpkin pie!
xoxo
This post sponsored by PurseBling:
I’m so sad!! I hesitated about getting one of these last year when I bought my Cameo and I just got on to buy one (my son is 2.5 years old and I thought he’d love all the little surprises). I didn’t realize they were limited edition and I don’t like the 2012 version with the wires/clips. Any idea where I might be able to get one of these second-hand?
Love your site Jen….you have so many cute ideas! I tried to order the Silhouette Advent Calendar but the discount code “Tater” isn’t working. Any ideas???
Happy Thanksgiving!!!
Love this! Just wanted to let you know that I’m posting it in “Top 10 Advent Calendars” at http://www.cheapcraftymama.com! Please feel free to stop by and grab a button or link to show that you are featured!
Thanks!
the detail in you work is beautiful. i love the blue and white colors.
Oh wow that is so pretty! I would definitely keep it out all year long too! I love how it is like artwork and storage at the same time!
I want one of those advent calenders BAD! Love your advent Jen LOVE LOVE LOVE IT! so darn cute, well done. xo jen
I am in love with your version – wow! I love the idea of making it less Christmas focused. After all, you did spend hours upon hours creating it. 😉 I do have a question: did you use card stock or traditional scrapbook paper. If scrapbook paper, did you find it sturdy enough?
What an amazing advent calendar! Looks like a year or two long project too! thanks for sharing. I’ve heard brilliant things about your blog and finally I came over and it’s true!
candice
Thanks Candice!! Your comment made my night. It’s nice to meet you!!!
xoxo
Jen
Love the boxes. I bet it took forever to make. But seriously amazing!!
Thanks Michelle!! Seriously, it took about 3 hours to cut out the boxes and put them together and another three to embellish them all. That’s why I wanted to leave it out all year LOL!!! But I think it was worth it. I really love it and I love that it fits in with my home and looks natural.
xoxoox
Jen
This is gorgeous – though I fear I would become obsessed and unable to do anything but change boxes and designs each day/week/month!!
LOVE how yours turned out!! I love the idea of changing out each day for the holidays! I was thinking of making new boxes for each holiday… but it would be so much easier to just switch it out for that one day! SO fun! You are so talented!
Jamielyn@iheartnaptime » Jamielyn — I adore you!! Thanks for the sweet comment. I saw your calendar and loved yours!! It is so fun to see what everyone does with the same idea. I love seeing all of the creativity!!
xoxoxoxox
Jen
I love the year round idea plus your colors! I just had to have one so I bought it without having the Cameo to cut out the boxes! Can I just print out the template on paper and cut it out by hand? Is that doable?
Hi Mang!
I think you need the Silhouette software to have access to print out the templates. Do you know anyone who has a Silhouette? Send me an email and we can discuss this further 🙂
xoxo
Jen
[email protected]
I absolutely love this! It is adorable. Where did you find that fabulous paper?! I’ve got to do this.
sarah bandermann » Thanks Sarah!! A lot of the paper is from My Mind’s Eye. I found it at Hobby Lobby. And if you are in Utah, Robert’s Crafts has the best paper selection here. I had to search to find grey and white paper– It’s hard to find. Also, the chevron and grey and white striped paper is from Lifestyle Crafts — Hello/Goodbye pack
http://lifestylecrafts.com/products/paper/hello-goodbye-paper-24pk.html
Some pages are metallic and some are embossed with a shiny finish. So pretty!
xoxo
Jen
I love this! I’m pinning all the Silhouette Cameo ideas I’m seeing. I think I’m getting one for my Bday next week. Keep them coming!!!
Thanks Katie!! You will love it. It’s seriously my favorite crafting tool!
xox
Jen
It’s gorgeous! And so full of possibilities! I was reading your comments and love your idea for putting slips of paper inside with activities. And how special the birthday version would be with memories or things you love about them! Thanks for sharing it with us! You did an amazing job.
Thanks Marie!! I appreciate your comments so much! I really think it will be a fun way to count down to special occasions and make birthdays even more special!
xoxo
Jen
Jen, LOVE this!! I really love how you thought to use it all year round and the colors are fab!
Thanks Kari!! You are seriously the sweetest friend. Thanks for taking the time to comment. Love ya!!
xoxoxoxox
Jen
So cute!! That is a great idea!! How do we enter the contest, did i miss it?
Hi Ginger!!
Yes, the Cameo giveaway was last week. Maybe the Silhouette people will be nice and give me another to give away. I am sure there will be some more Cameo giveaways coming up in the next few weeks though. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you!
xoxo
Jen
ooooooooooh I love it!! I just pinned it to my “Reasons I need a Silhouette” board!! I couldn’t get the pin it button on the “share this” pop up to work correctly though, I just did it the old fashioned way!
Thanks for pinning it Rachel!! I keep forgetting to add pictures to my “featured image spot so people can pin things. I’m still getting used to Word Press LOL!
You are awesome!!
xxox
Jen
Hi Jen! I just had to click out of my Reader world to tell you this. I read advent calendar in reader before the picture had time to load, then right before I passed it by, the picture popped up. It was so beautiful, cute & fresh. I instantly went back to the millions of reality competition shows I watch where the judges compliment the contestants on how they took something ordinary and turned it into something extraordinary. That is exactly what you did!!! I absolutely love it!!! GREAT JOB!!!!
Wow Niki!! You made my day. Thank you for taking the time to leave me such a sweet comment. It really cheered me up on this gloomy day. Thank you so much!!!
xoxoxoxo
Jen
Oh.my.goodness. So adorable, I love it! What are you going to put in them?? Love it.
Brandi @518interiors » Thanks Brandi!! For Christmas I am going to put a little piece of paper in each one with an activity. And then a small treat or gift. There are a few big drawers and I think I’m going to put an ornament in those along with a little story that goes along with the ornament. And then when I do it for the other holidays I think I will do something similar. It it’s a birthday, little memories of that child to tell them each day and/or a little treat or gift. I’m really excited about it.
Thanks for the sweet comment — I appreciate it so much!!
xoxo
Jen
I LOVE the birthday countdown idea! So special for the little birthday munchkins and so tear jerking for the mamas. I am welling up just thinking about it! I’ll go do some laundry … that will take care of that. Thank you for sharing!
LOL – thanks Jennifer!! I love remembering all of those fun moments with the kiddos 🙂 Thanks for leaving a comment — I really appreciate it!!
xoxox
Jen
Wow that is so pretty! Love how all the boxes are different.
Thanks Sarah!! Embellishing is my favorite part of the project. There are so many ways to make the boxes different and special. Thanks for the comment — I appreciate it!
xoxox
Jen
At last! Soeonme with the insight to solve the problem!