Advent calendars aren’t just for Christmas…not anymore!
When I came across the idea for a Halloween advent calendar on Pinterest, I knew I had to make one! My kids LOVE Halloween. It’s also the one holiday that my husband loves too. So, why not celebrate all month long?
I found this idea on Pinterest from Stephanie Hanna and I loved it! I just knew I had to try to make one of our own.
And here’s how I did it!
Supplies
For this project, I used:
- 24″ embroidery hoop
- chunky yarn
- hot glue gun & glue sticks
- scrapbook paper/cardstock
- glue dots
- number stickers
- marker
- string
- Halloween wreath picks
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Step 1: Make Your List
First things first, you want to make sure that you have enough activities that you can/want to do to fill up the month before you get started.
I wrote down a bunch of things that we do every year, like buy costumes, go to a pumpkin patch, watch Hocus Pocus, carve pumpkins, etc. And then I added some ‘easy’ things like wear a Halloween shirt, light a fall-scented candle, drink hot chocolate, etc.
For the rest of the month, I had to search Pinterest for some ideas. And Stephanie Hanna has a whole list of rhyming clues to make a scavenger hunt advent calendar! How cool is that?!?
Step 1: Wrap the Embroidery Hoop
The first thing I did was wrap the embroidery hoop with the yarn. It can definitely be done on your own, but it will go much faster and smoother if you have someone hold the hoop while you wrap.
After it’s completely wrapped, secure the loose piece with a little bit of hot glue.
Step 2: Adding Embellishments to the Hoop
After the hoop was completely wrapped, I added the embellishments at the top. I used 3 Halloween wreath picks that I found at Michaels.
The black glittery leaves gave me a good background/filler and the ghost and candy corn made it cutesy.
To add them to the hoop, I cut the ‘stems’ off with wire cutters and hot-glued them to the wooden piece of the embroidery hoop that has the screw tension on it.
Step 3: Make the Number Cards
This was the most time consuming part for me. I love paper crafts, so I enjoyed making these little Halloween advent calendar number cards.
Using scrapbook supplies that I already had on hand, these little cards turned out better than I expected: some black construction paper, striped and glittery scrapbook paper, number/letter stickers, and googly eyes.
I placed the striped and glitter in different arrangements, added the stickers and googly eyes, then punched a hole in the top.
For the back of the card, I just used regular computer paper, wrote down that day’s activity and glued it to the back.
It was simple, but a little time consuming, but I was watching the last season of Schitt’s Creek while I cut and glued, so I didn’t mind.
Step 4: Tie the Cards to the Hoop
This part of the Halloween advent calendar was a little frustrating, but not as bad as I thought it was going to be.
I laid the hoop flat on the ground and placed the cards in numerical order in the place where I wanted them to hang. Then I cut string, tied one end to the top of the card and the other end to the top of the hoop.
Make sure you cut the string a little too long, you can always trim it afterwards.
Leave the hoop laying flat until you have tied all of your cards on. Then carefully pick it up and hang it on the wall.
And you’re done!
My girls have been LOVING this Halloween advent calendar. Even though I haven’t been home to enjoy it with them, I’m so glad they have it and have stayed busy this October. (You can see what I’ve been up to this fall here!)
They always love our Christmas advent calendar tradition. I just can’t believe it has taken me this long to do one for Halloween!
You can find some other fun fall and Halloween ideas here:
- fill a dough bowl with yarn-wrapped pumpkins
- Halloween care package ideas
- make a whimsical Halloween wreath
