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This year, leading up to Christmas, my family will do a countdown calendar to add some cheer to our holiday and remind us what Christmas is all about: Jesus! I have given you my list of 24 things to do below; feel free to alter or add your own.
This can also be done as a shorter (say, 12 days till Christmas) calendar. The tree I made was so cute, I decided to create a little forest of them for my mantle in different colors! This countdown calendar also inspired me to create a few as gifts for some of my favorite people. Paired with some hot cocoa and mini marshmallows, a fun family game, a kazoo, cookie cutter, whisk, and an ornament, this made the cutest gift basket for a whole family! So here’s how to make your own.

What you’ll need:

  • A piece of 2×10 lumber from your local hardware store
  • A circular saw (I asked my hubby for help with this, but after watching I think I could pull it off myself)
  • A hand sander or sandpaper
  • Acrylic paint in your favorite color, and white acrylic paint
  • Nails, fine-point so your gift tags hang on them
  • Gift tags for your countdown numbers and also your list of fun holiday to-dos

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The how-to:

  1. Start by tracing your tree onto the wood in a triangular shape. Be sure to make it wide enough to place two of your gift tags in the bottom row and one on the top.
  2. Now, using the saw, cut out your tree and sand the edges to give it a smooth finish.
  3. Mix a little water into your acrylic paint to slightly thin it so you can still see the wood grain of the trees. Cover all the surface—front, back, sides and bottom—with paint.
  4. Using a very small paintbrush or the plastic tip, paint small white dots all over the front of your tree for decoration.
  5. For a 24-day calendar you will need 36 gift tags, 24 for your fun holiday activities and 12 for the numbers 0-9 (repeating 1 and 2).
  6. I made my gift tags with a large paper punch shaped as a gift tag, using cardstock. I added a small whole punch to the top of it to place over my nails. Feel free to make or purchase your own according to your own design!
  7. Center your top nail and bottom two, spaced far enough apart to hold your gift tags, then nail ’em in.
  8. I also added a pom-pom made out of yarn to the top of my tree since everything’s better with some pom-poms!
  9. Now organize your tags by date and hang them! Enjoy your daily family fun and get inspired for this holiday season, remembering Jesus and the ultimate gift He is for us!

24 Days Till Christmas List:
Send Christmas cards
Bake cookies for your local fire department/Army Reserve
Read the Christmas story in the Bible
Fill a shoebox for Operation Christmas Child
Get a Christmas tree
Hang some mistletoe, and give out kisses
Decorate the tree
Hang stockings
Go kazoo caroling
Get yummy homemade tamales
Donate to a food/toy drive
Go for a Christmas light walk/drive
Make a Christmas garland
Decorate cookies
Watch your favorite Christmas movie
Clean out toy boxes to donate to a local orphanage/opportunity store
Write a letter to Jesus, thanking Him for the gifts you received throughout the year
Enjoy hot cocoa with tiny marshmallows
Celebrate Christmas past with photos
Bake a pie
Play a family game
Wrap presents
Make a birthday cake for Jesus
Go to Christmas Eve service

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