Crafty Goodness: Reusable Advent Calendar

 

I take lots of classes... No really, I mean lots of classes.  At least once a month I take a cardmaking class at my LSS (local stamping store).  This month, in addition to my usual class, I signed up to take one to make a reusable Advent calendar.  Advent calendars are something my mom gets for me every year as far back as I can remember.  There is something so fun about opening up the little door each day to see a picture, read a verse or get some candy.  The calendar I made today is of the candy variety (although I could add some random verses when I set it up for us this year).  I have always wanted an Advent calendar that is more permanent than the flimsy card stock ones that are sold in stores.  So, it was a real treat to get to make one for my little family.

This is the first year our instructor Jenn, aka Creative Chick, has brought her yearly Advent calendar class to my LSS.  How she made it is really cool.  The base is a metal bulletin board and each day is a little metal tin that is decorated and then stuck on the board with magnets.  Here is a close up so you can see what I mean.

Isn't it sooooo neat!  I'm so excited that I just kind of wanted to put it up now instead of waiting until Dec. 1.  Now all I have to do is figure exactly what kind of candy and cat treat I am putting in each one!

On my iPhone

New Apps:

Lose It! is a really neat free application for your iPhone that allows you to track what you eat, your exercise, your weight and even can post updates to Facebook and Twitter for you when you exercise weigh in or meet your goal.  The software allows you to do all this on your phone or through a website.  Very cool!   

http://www.loseit.com

New Music:

I apparently have been listening to the song Little Lion Man by  Mumford and Sons for the past week or so since it has been playing on 92.9 for awhile now.  I had no idea who sang the song, I just had liked it, but didn't think much about it.  I was listening to one of my podcasts the other day (Spin Control - a podcast about spinning, knitting and sewing) and at the end the host Shilo always shares a song.  After hearing this past week's song, Winter Winds, I checked the group out on iTunes and discovered everything on their album Sigh No More is just wonderful.  They very folky and can sound either Celtic or bluesy depending on the song.  Overall, I think it's a great album with good lyrics and would recommend it to anyone who likes that genre of music. 

http://www.mumfordandsons.com/

New Podcasts:

The iMake podacast is pretty new to iTunes with only 4 episodes, but it promises to be a really neat.  The host talks about a wide range of different crafts and even has a segment about her culture and life in Guernsey, Channel Islands where she lives.  The podcast is really entertaining and I like how she talking about all crafts, not just one. 

http://imakehandmade.wordpress.com/