Counting the Days Until Christmas

I spent a significant portion of my Thanksgiving holiday working on advent calendars for my kids. I have been wanting to put my own spin on the advent calendar and just needed a little inspiration. This week's iron craft challenge to make a wreath was just the inspiration I needed. I actually made two wreaths. One for each child.

To make each wreath I used an artificial wreath I found at a thrift store; white, red, green and light blue felt; heat n bond, silver thread, and five Christmas fabrics. I made 24 felt and fabric ornaments with little pockets to hold treats (candies, stickers, etc.). To make each wreath I:

• Used a cup as a template and traced and cut 36 felt circles (12 circles cut in half for pockets). 
• Attached heat n bond to my fabric and cut out 24 circles of fabric. 
• Used the iron to attached the fabric circles to the felt circles.
• Pinned a half felt circle to the felt side of each full circle and top stitched it on the sewing machine to create a little pocket on the back of each fabric ornament. 
• Free hand cut felt numbers (1-24) and glued them to the top of each ornament. 
• Threaded the top of each ornament with silver thread and hung them on the wreath. 
• Hung the first letter (made from felt) of each child's name in the center of each wreath with some coordinating ribbon.