There are so many things that are important to me – God, my family, my friends, my health, my happiness. When it comes to happiness, I always laugh at what other people deem in that category. To be rich does not make you happy.

Here are some FRUGAL ways to create your own advent calendar for the holidays.

For about $40 you can purchase one from a store like Costco or Target that you can use over and over and over again. We bought one about 5 years ago at Costco and it lasted until our move. One of the doors is off and I have to figure out a way to fix it.So we are doing the next best thing. We are making our own today.

T0 make your own Advent calendar, you are going to need the following:

• about 18 sheets of scrapbook paper (I used 16 sheets of Christmas printed cardstock and 4 sheets of plain Bazzil that matched)
• adhesive
• cutter or scissors
• To hang this you will need clothes pins, string and some of those 3M Command hooks that you can remove after the season is over.

I purchased a set of paper from my local craft store. It is a pack of 54 sheets of cardstock 12×12 patterned paper. I cut my patterned paper with my paper cutter into strips – 6 – 6×12, 22-4×12, 4 3×12 and 16 2×12 (these numbers can differ for your needs and you may have left over paper). I then glued a smaller strip on a larger one (see the photo)

Once you are done with the gluing on the patterned paper, it is time to fold. You are making a folded “card”. I actually made 2 folds on each card to have a closure. I used my score pal to score the cards, you do not need to use anything. I clipped together the cards, folded with clothes pins.

Once you have gotten each of the 24 cards folded,  you will need to cut out and glue numbers to the front of them. I am using my Cricut, but you can use rubber stamps or foam stamps and paint. I switched up the size of the font on them.

Next, you will want to add inside of them a daily activity or scripture. We have added BOTH. I used WackyTac to add removable notes so that I can use my advent next year as well.

GIVEAWAY!!! Add a comment for a chance to win a bottle of WackyTac removable adhesive (Drawing to be held on December 10, 2010) Tell me what you would use your WackyTac for.