On to the crafting…I’ve seen these Christmas Countdown Blocks many times on Pinterest, but they hardly ever lead to an actual link, so I thought I’d go ahead and do a full tutorial. I’ve been going with a chevron theme this year, and really wanted to find some decorations that would easily fit with that. So, why not make my own? First off, the materials I used.
- Wooden blocks
- Scrapbook Paper
- Paint
- ModPodge
- Number Stickers
I got two plain, wooden blocks at Hob Lob for $.99 a piece. And then went a little crazy picking out some Christmas scrapbooking paper. But, hey, it was 50% off.
I painted the blocks white with some acrylic paint, and then went over it with a sparkly white paint just in case any of it actually showed through, thought not much did. One step that I forgot to do myself, but would advise, is to sand the blocks before painting. I was excited to start the project and got a little ahead of myself.
Before painting, I traced the blocks onto the scrapbook paper and cut them out with my handy-dandy paper cutter, I definitely recommend one of these so that you can cut straight edges Even though I am formerly a hairstylist, I can’t cut a straight line to save my life.
Once they were painted and dried, I modpodged (that’s a technical term) the scrapbook pieces on one at a time, allowing each to dry. Note: I let these dry 24 hours before moving on to the next step.
I used the tubes of paint as a little weight to hold them down as they dried.
The next step I forgot to photograph, but I sanded the edges of the paper. Make sure you sand away, not upwards, so you don’t rip the paper off. Once the edges are smoothed and the paper feels nice and dry, you can add on the numbers.
On the first block you need to use the numbers 0,1,2,3,4,5
On the other block you need to use the numbers 0,1,2,6,7,8
That covers all of the days you need until Christmas!
This was a super simple and adorable project. They seem pretty durable and will hopefully hold up for years to come, and if the stickers fall off, I can easily add more. If you want to avoid that problem, you can always paint the numbers directly on.
I love how they turned out, and they really match well with all of my other décor. I love that you can choose any paper to match your theme. You could make birthday countdown blocks, Halloween, Thanksgiving, the possibilities are endless.
Let me know what you think about this project. I have a lot more coming up over the coming weeks so stay tuned!
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