The twins are turning 6 next month, I can’t believe how quickly time flies by.  They are also starting 1st grade in a couple of weeks.

This means that every day I get asked ‘how many more days to go?’  Every. Single. Day.

So yesterday, I suggested to them that we make a paper chain and they could take off a link each day until school goes back, and also until their birthday.

Then I thought to myself, well I’d been wanting to make a year-round calendar for the longest time, so off to the thrift shop I headed with a vague idea of what I wanted to do.

Now I know I normally bring you crafting ‘with’ kids ideas, but today’s idea is more a crafting ‘for’ kids one instead, although they could definitely help out painting the pegs, and doing the stamping.

The beauty of this calendar is that you don’t need a new one for every holiday, you can use it throughout the year for all the important dates, you just make a new tag and hang it on the hook.

What you need:

  • A piece of wood – I used an end of a wood crate
  • Small wood pegs
  • Paint – I used white for the pegs
  • Hooks – for hanging your holiday tags
  • Number and letter stamps and a stamp pad
  • Tags and stickers – I used acrylic tags, but you could use cardboard, chipboard, or anything else you like.
  • String – for hanging the tags.

This is very simple to make.  I scrubbed and dried the block of wood.  While it was drying I painted the pegs and set those aside to dry also.  While everything was drying I attached little stickers to the acrylic tags and popped a piece of string through to make a loop for hanging.

Once the wood and pegs were dry, I attached the pegs using a hot glue gun.  Using a set of letter stamps, I stamped the saying across the top, and then using the number stamps I stamped the numbers counting down from 30 to 1.

Hang the frame at a height that will be easy for the kids to move the tag each day.

I’m sure somebody out there will be wondering why I used pegs.  Leading up to the holidays and during their birthday week we like to give them a little treat as part of their countdown.  Yes most holidays I am one of those parents who have the cardboard countdown with the little chocolates inside.  With this countdown calendar, you can attach a little treat, toy, or candy to each day using the peg.

Happy crafting!