Christmas Card Advent Calendar
Use brightly colored construction paper-mine is a rosy red- 6 inches wide and 32 inches long. This means that you will have to use 2 pieces, each 6 inches by 16 inches, and join them at the back with cellophane tape, covering the joint on the front with garlands of holly cut from Christmas cards.
First, measure and mark the 24 windows and doors (one for each day of December, from the 1st to Christmas eve.) I made windows above the center garland and doors below it.
all of them 1 inch high except the top 3 windows
the window at the top is 1 inch high and 2 inches wide.
The two under it are 1 inch by 1-1/2 inches.
Then the next three rows of windows are 1 inch by 1 inch each.
The windows just above the holly garland are 1 inch by 1-1/2 inches.
The doors in the first row under the garland are 2 inches high, the others 2-1/2 inches high.
When the doors and windows are all drawn with pencil, (or glue bits of ribbons or lace for the shutters)
Place the calendar on a board or a heavy cardboard and cut carefully with a razor blade across the top and bottom, and down through the middle of each window and door. Cut against a ruler edge. Bend back the shutters and doors.
Paste a strip of shelf paper on the back of the calendar, putting paste around the edges only.
Then comes the search for tiny figures to fill each door and window
Cut out little angels, kittens, and candles, and paste them inside the shutters onto the shelf paper underneath.
On the outside of the shutters and doors paste strips of matching and mixing as you like. You may even be lucky and find a window in your cards.
The house must have a roof, of course, you'll find one somewhere among your cards. And the star of Bethlehem shines in the sky. At the bottom is the Christmas tree, set up for Christmas eve.
Taper the top and round off the bottom, and finish off the calendar with a garland of holly like the one in the center.
Open a window a day and watch the weeks go by, until it's time for christmas
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