The Spirit Of The Season

Fall arrives and so begins the line up of holidays to celebrate. The first being Halloween. To enhance the excitement of the costume and candy holiday create a Halloween Advent Calendar. The kids will peek inside the pocket each day to get their surprise. Either a sweet treat, a small toy or a note suggesting a fun seasonal activity to do. 

I used my sewing machine to make this but a hot glue gun or a liquid stitch product can easily make this a no sew project.

Materials Needed:
2 yards of heavy black felt
1  1/2 yards of Halloween fabric (this varies depending on which design you choose to use on each pocket.) 
30-inch wooden dowel
4 yards of orange ric rac ribbon
Felt or sticker numbers from 1-31 in Halloween colors
40 inches of ribbon

Instructions:
1. Cut out a 27 x 36 1/2 inch piece of black felt. 
2. Cut out 31  3  1/2 x 3  1/2 inches black felt for the pockets.
3. Cut out 31  3 x 3-inch squares of decorative fabric to attach to each pocket. 
4.  Attach the numbers to each pocket once the above step is completed.
5. Arrange the completed pockets on the felt leaving a few inches on top to roll around the dowel so the calendar can be hung. I also included a few decorative pieces of fabric on the first line. 
6. Once you have sewed or glued the decoration and number to each pocket then attach to the felt material at the bottom and sides to make a pocket. Use a ruler to align the pockets evenly across. 
7. Attach the ric rac ribbon around the calendar to "frame" it. 
8. Take a few inches of the top of the black felt and roll around the dowel. Secure to form a pocket to hold the dowel. 
9. Tie the ribbon on each end of the dowel and hang. 

The following is a bucket list of suggestions to place
inside the advent calendar pockets: 
• Go shopping for or make your Halloween costume.
• Go on a hay ride.
• Visit a haunted house.
• Watch a scary movie.
• Make candy apples.
• Build a scarecrow
• Jump in a pile of leaves.
• Go apple picking.
• Decorate pumpkins.
• Try on on old Halloween costumes.

Be sure to have a camera handy to capture all the fun Fall moments. 
Another idea and one of my favorites are to "BOO" an unsuspecting neighbor. To do this make a basket of Halloween themed items with an anonymous note and drop off on their doorstep.
The person is to make a treat basket for another neighbor within 2 days and hang a “We've Been BOOed” sign on their front door.
Keep an eye on nearby doors and see how far and fast it spreads by Halloween. Before you know it the entire block has been BOOed.