Holiday Tree: Christmas Advent Tree!

So throughout this year, I've had this cute manzanita "tree" that I've been decorating with cute holiday & seasonal decorations. See Here, Here, and Here for some of the other holidays.

The idea originally stemmed (Ha!) from an idea I saw of doing an advent tree this way. And I wanted one (in case you haven't noticed, I have this thing for advent calendars). Then I found this super cute kit and combined the ideas. :)

So per the kit instructions, I put together the little boxes, but I did not attach them to each other.

Instead, I punched a hole where I wanted the top and inserted an eyelet and threaded a ribbon so that it could hang. I also inked all the edges of the boxes with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Walnut Stain (fav!) and by the time I was done, my hands were very black. :) I also put glitter glue all over them. Did you know I like sparkley things? :) I used foam 3D stickers to make each layer of the fronts pop more.

Then I just had to put the rest together. I thought this would take me just a couple of hours, but instead it took a couple of hours each day over the long weekend. I didn't mind, it was just more than I anticipated. But I am quite pleased with how it turned out.

Then I got to decorate my little tree.

Here are some close ups of the little boxes:


The only thing I would do differently would be to change the way the fronts open. I did it so they all open in different directions, but I would change it so they only opened from the sides. I'll just have to make sure not to have anything heavy in the ones that open from the top.

So there you have it.  Now I just need to fill them with treats. :)

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Today I am grateful for paid vacations. Even though I actually don't get paid for the day after Thanksgiving, I am grateful for the holidays I do get paid for. :) Especially when I get to be out of town and on some grand adventure. As my friend said, "It's great when your at Disneyland and you realize that you are getting paid for it!" Amen.