Homemade Advent Calendar Pattern

Use this origami homemade Advent calendar pattern to make your own calendar this year, or make one for a family member or friend.


Materials

24 small squares of patterned paper. Here I am using 3x3" (7.5x7.5cm) squares. Use up your spare papers left over from scrapbooking, or old wrapping papers, newspaper, magazine paper etc.
1 piece of card-stock. Here I am using a 12" (30cm) square piece of scrapbooking cardstock, but you can also use any type of cardboard. If you only have scrap cardboard (like off a cereal box or something), paint it a nice colour, or cover it with a piece of wrapping paper.
Paper Glue or double-sided tape.
Ribbons, Pens etc to decorate.
Optional: Adhesive magnets, or string.

Homemade Advent Calendar Pattern Instructions

Take one small square of patterned paper.

Turn over the piece of paper, so that the pattern faces downwards.

Fold the square in half, so that the bottom corner now touches the top corner.

Now, fold the top corner down to meet the bottom edge, and make a crease. Unfold this flap.

Fold the bottom right corner up to the crease made in the previous step. Line up the edge of the paper along the crease.

Repeat this fold for the left hand corner.

Secure these two flaps in place using glue or double-sided tape.

Remember to write a number on each pocket so that you can count down the days until Christmas.

Here I have cut out small flowers using a stamp and glued them onto the top section of each pocket.

You can write directly onto your pocket, or use numbered stickers. Whatever you like!

Now attach each pocket to the card base, add a decorative ribbon border, and make sure to fill each pocket with nice treats!

You can stick adhesive magnetic strips on the back to stick your calendar on the fridge. Or, punch holes in the top two corners, and hang up with string.

As each day passes, fold down the flap on that pocket.

You can also add small messages on the inside of the flaps if you have special events planned throughout Advent (eg. Put up Christmas tree, Visit Christmas Lights Display...).

Especially if they are surprise excursions for the recipient of your advent calendar :-)

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Make A Notebook In 5 Minutes

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Make your own notebook

Is the recycling stack precariously high? Make all that paper into something useful again. Cat Davison gives a new lease of life to scrap paper with a simply bound notebook


The great thing about binding your own books - apart from the sheer thrill of making something you were going to throw away into something you were going to buy - is that you can make it as easy or as complicated as you like. You can rustle up a coverless, warts-and-all notepad for shopping lists and daily plans in under 30 minutes, or labour away at a work of art with specially bought paper for a day or more.

What you need

A stack of paper
A ruler
A pencil
A thick sewing needle
Strong string or thread
A thick needle topped with a wedge of cork (or a mini hand-drill)
A small clamp (if you have one)
A cutting mat

What to do

1. Stack all your papers together. It doesn't matter if they are different textures, colours or thicknesses - I find this actually makes the book more interesting - they just need to be cut to one size (of your own choosing).

2. With all the papers aligned against their left-hand edge, place them on your cutting mat. Using a ruler, mark a light line with your pencil down the left-hand edge, about 1-2cm in. Mark increments down this line, between 1-2cm apart. Remember the more widely spaced the increments, the longer your stitches will be, and the quicker your book will take to sew. The shorter, the more labour-intensive, but also the more refined.

3. Align all your pages once more on the cutting mat. If you have a small clamp, use this to fix the pages to something solid, like the corner of a table. If not, press down hard on the top of your stack and start pushing through your increments with a thick needle or drill. Depending on how thick your book is you might be able to do this in one go. If not, separate your pages into sections, mark each one up, push through the holes and then combine.

4. Thread your needle. Although this might go against every sewing sensibility you have, tie a knot around the head of the needle (this prevents the thread from escaping when you push it through the paper).

5. Push your needle from underneath your stack at the bottom hole, leaving a good 12.5cm of string spare when you pull the thread through. Don't tie a knot at the end.

6. Weave your way up the spine of the book, threading each hole. When you reach the top, go back the other way so that each hole has been gone through twice and you have a continuous line of thread up the spine.

7. When you reach the bottom, cut the needle loose and tie the two spare threads together - I like a lavish bow!
And another thing ...

You can add a hardback cover to your book by cutting two pieces of card to the same size as your notebook. Placing both on top, cut them again so that the bind is showing - this normally involves lopping off a centimetre or so from the left-hand edge. Get some tough fabric, cut it to the height of your book and make sure it wraps around the spine and covers a good few centimetres of the card. Using PVA, glue it around the spine, attaching it to the cards so they 'hinge' off the fabric.


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Origami Lily Folding Instructions

The origami lily is a classic and popular origami flower. Did you know that the lily family traditionally represented innocence and purity? Lilies can be found in a variety of hybrids and colors including yellow, pink, white, orange, purple, red and many others.



The origami lily is not too difficult to fold but beginners may find the petal fold slightly challenging. Just take your time and follow each step slowly. If you prefer video, check out our origami lily video instructions.

If you're giving your origami lily to someone as a gift, do use an extra special paper such as these gorgeous Fabric Textured Origami Paper

Or use these Washi Origami Paper with raised patterns and subtle gold flecks.

Start with a 6 inch square piece of origami paper, and fold it into a water balloon base.

Next, take one of the four corners of the base and squash fold it as shown below.




Repeat the squash fold for the other three corners, to give the kite shape shown below.




Now fold the lower edges of the kite into the centerline, then unfold. Fold the top corner down, then unfold.



You will now have crease marks on the piece, that will be used in the next step. Place your finger under the lower point of the kite, and fold upwards as shown. This is a petal fold.



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Make a Naruto Headband

This is an easy, quick and fun way to make a Shinobi headband resembling one from the popular anime Naruto.


1. Search the Internet for [[Be a True Naruto Fan|Naruto]] headbands to get a template, or use the link in the tips section.
2. Find or buy blue cloth (cotton works best). You can also [[Tie Dye Using Rit Powder|dye]] your cloth blue if you cannot find a blue one.
3. Cut a strip of the cloth about 3 inches wide and however long you need to wrap around your head. Leave enough extra to tie off behind your head.[[Stencil an Item Using Spray Paint|Spray paint]] the cardboard on one side only, as the paint won't help the fabric glue stick.
4. Once the paint has dried, use either your pencil, or a darker silver marker to transpose the design of your choice. Using pencil first will allow you to correct your mistakes.
5. When you are satisfied with the plate, apply fabric glue to the back of the plate and the front of your cloth band and press together firmly. Adding a phone book as a weight will improve bonding.
6. When the glue has dried per instructions on the packaging, your headband is complete.
7. Don't forget to add three holes to each side. Alternatively you could use permanent marker so that the fabric does not show through.
8. You can also use an Arizona tea can for the metal part to make it more realistic. you could also get some thumb tacks to make the screws on the side or some rime stones they add depth like a screw and cover them with a silver sharpie so they wont shine and a darker silver for the screw indentation.



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