My kids’ favourite holiday (except for Christmas, of course) is Halloween. They look forward to it all year long talking about what they’ll dress up as and planning how they’ll get the candy mother load. So this year we decided to make a Halloween Countdown to help us get ready. It never hurts to start the celebration a little early, right?
Supplies: patterned paper, letter and number stickers, chipboard shapes, embossed stickers, die cuts, brads (We R Memory Keepers); fine point pen (Sharpie); craft knife (Making Memories); foam adhesive squares (Scrapbook Adhesives by 3L); 12 x 12 frame (Michael’s)
For this project you’ll need the following:
- One 12 x 12 haunted house patterned paper
- Four semi-solid patterned papers (or cardstock)
- Letter and number stickers
- Brads
- Various embellishments (chipboard shapes, stickers, die cuts, etc.)
- Craft knife and mat
- Fine tip pen
- Foam adhesive squares
- 12 x 12 frame
Here’s how I made this countdown:
First I cut the haunted house out because I wanted to mount it on a darker background to look more like night time.
Next, I used a craft knife to cut out all of the doors and windows to create 30 openings in the haunted house.
Then I backed the cut out openings with semi-solid patterned paper so I could write a fun fall/Halloween activity in each one. (See the end of the post for a downloadable list of activity ideas.) I used four different colors—one for each level of the haunted house. *Tip: when you write the activity be sure to leave some room at the top for the brad.
I re-attached the doors/windows to cover the activities written in the openings using brads. Then I added number stickers on the doors/windows from 1-30 starting at the top. You can see in the above photo how the door can swing open to reveal the special activity for each day.
Once all the openings were ready, I mounted the haunted house on some background paper using foam adhesive squares to give it some dimension. Then I added some embellishments to give it a really spooky Halloween feel. Last, I placed it in my 12 x 12 frame leaving the glass out so we can open the appropriate door for each day in October.
My girls and I had so much fun coming up with activities, and they have had a blast opening a door each day to see what activity we do to get ready for Halloween. You can download a list of the activities we have on our countdown HERE. Give this idea a try, and have a Happy Halloween!
~ Aly Dosdall
This is fantastic!
Posted by: Sarah | October 04, 2011 at 11:38 AM
Very spooktacular...what a neat idea for kids to open each day!
Posted by: Debbie C #4668 | October 04, 2011 at 11:43 AM
Wow....what an adorable project!
Posted by: Elaine Wilson | October 04, 2011 at 12:00 PM
I just love this and may have to do one for my grandkids. Thanks for the fantastic inspiration.
Posted by: Jeri | October 04, 2011 at 12:04 PM
This is so so so cute! I think you have just made it impossible to get any of this house paper---EVERYONE will want it!!! Love it!
Posted by: Kathy P | October 04, 2011 at 12:48 PM
This is the cutest idea!!
Posted by: conniemelancon | October 04, 2011 at 03:24 PM
Too cute! :)
Posted by: Kathy Martin | October 04, 2011 at 04:17 PM
OMG that is such a cute idea!!!! will have to make this for my kiddo!
Posted by: Creative Mine by Maria G | October 04, 2011 at 05:43 PM
Ok, Aly, you have totally outdone yourself with this Halloween project!! I love it!!!
Posted by: Christine Ousley | October 04, 2011 at 06:55 PM
What a great idea! Cute!!!
Posted by: Anya | October 04, 2011 at 09:16 PM
Love it!!!!
Posted by: Andi Sexton | October 04, 2011 at 11:03 PM
Love, love, love this!!! :)
Posted by: Freya D | October 05, 2011 at 01:21 AM
Really-Really-CUTE! Such a talented thought.
Posted by: Karen Conner | October 05, 2011 at 06:54 AM
Love this. I'm getting the supplies today to make it with my kids. Thanks for such an awesome project! :)
Posted by: Maria | October 05, 2011 at 10:30 AM
ADORABLE!!! I love it.
Posted by: Jenny Kozar | October 05, 2011 at 05:43 PM
This is one of the COOLEST projects I have ever seen!!!!!
Posted by: Charlene | October 06, 2011 at 01:54 PM
totally cute aly!
Posted by: emily pitts | October 07, 2011 at 11:54 AM