Saturday

DIYP#26 Advent Calendar & Shape-Its Giveaway!


We are going to be celebrating Advent a little different this year

Some of the inspiration came from this adorable idea in PaperCraft magazine:

A Bottle Cap Advent Calendar:



I love this simple, frugal idea of using bottle caps, scrapbook paper and even photos to count the days of December.

But I wanted to add a little message inside each cap.  You can download my plan for Advent here.

First, I had my kids help me glue magnets onto the backs of bottle caps. These are pretty cheap at Hobby Lobby, but you can also use recycled caps.


Next, I gathered paper and stickers.


I cut out 25 little squares.


And numbered them.


I took the secret message and tucked it into the cap and taped the number over the top:


I put them on the fridge in the form of a Christmas tree and my kid's are very eager for December first to get here!



46 comments:

Loraine said...

love the pizza and hamburger patties... going to try it with the cookie cutters we have!

thank you once again for the inspiration.

me said...

these are cool! my favorite tip is for pancakes...we have breakfast for supper about once a week and pancakes are a favorite. i'm always trying to figure out different things to do with the pancakes...you can use shape-its to make different shapes (of course) and they suggested adding food coloring (which i hadn't thought of) and other doo-dads...like sprinkles, gels, etc.

Becca said...

I love the idea of decorating pancakes..lots of neat ideas, my daughter would LOVE, thanks!

Poopsie said...

Oh, I love the pancakes tips. When my boys were little, I had a pancake shape. I used to get so rustrated because it would get batter stuck to it. I never thought of sraying it with cooking spray. Somewhere over the years I have miss placed this, and I would love to be able to do these with my daughter, and grandchildren.
Thank you for sharing. If you want to see my daughter helping in the kitchen, come check out my post today. :)

The Sullivan Sitcom said...

I totally LOVE the advent tree! I think I'll be headin' over to Hobby Lobby in a few hours to pick me up some cute bottle caps.
The shape-its are super cute too!

Kelly said...

I love your Advent calendar and all of the fun things you have planned for your family. I might have to steal that idea!
Oh, and we have to try the meatloaf! :-)

Anonymous said...

You always have the neatest idea's. Love the caps as the Advent calender.

I love the shaped-pizza. I would so do this with the boys. :o)

Lori said...

All great ideas, but I'd want to try the meatloaf first - just to see if my kids would finally eat it!

I love the bottle cap idea too! You have great ideas:)

thediaperdiaries said...

My mom always made our pancakes in shapes so that one brings back great memories. Thanks for the contest!!

The Buntens said...

Very cute!

everyday mom of one said...

I love the meatloaf shape it. I love doing meatloaf muffins they would be so much more fun.

haleyathome@gmail.com

Have you entered my $100 magnetstreet giveaway yet?

Anonymous said...

The pizza shape-its would be the one for us! My daughter love pizza and loves to make her sandwiches into shapes, so this would be a great way to combine the two to make pizza shapes!

Kerri
ruthkerri (at) yahoo (dot) com

Amber D. said...

The turtle pizza is so cute! I would like to get the on-the-go set with the train. My son is train crazy!

Loralynn said...

I love the pancake idea! I never would have thought of that! Hope I win!

Anonymous said...

OMGoodness! I NEED the barnyard set. How has WooPigSuzy lived this long without a Pig shaped food shaper?

Anonymous said...

What a cute set! Since my girls LOVE Rice Krispie treats, I'd love to use the tip for the marshmallow treats! How fun!

Great giveaway - thanks for offering!
~Tanya
the4moyers(at)msn(dot)com

Jeni said...

I would LOVE to make Christmas-themed pancakes for Christmas morning! That would be great, and my Girlie would love it for sure!

The Buntens said...

Pancakes for sure. Meatloafs sound like fun! My kids love meatloaf and this would be fun to do with them.

Cascia Talbert said...

I love your bottle cap craft. I'm not a very crafty person but I might have to give that one a try. The Christmas tree on your refrigerator looks really neat! Thank you for sharing.

Lorie said...

i love all the suggestions. i never thought about making shaped meatloaf. & i love that they won't rust. thanks.

Beach said...

I love the idea of shaped pancakes...love your advent idea!

Mrs.Naz@BecomingMe said...

So cool! I love your advent idea...you are sooo clever. And, I love your new design!!

misty said...

your are the coolest mom with the best ideas & tips! i need to head to hobby lobby & get some bottle caps.

pancakes are HUGE at our house... good tips/ideas i would like to try!

Kim H. said...

I love it - what a great way to get kids involved in cooking, and maybe even a good way to get them to eat things they wouldn't normally enjoy.

I think the meatloaf is a great idea, but I also love the marshmallow idea too. I am always making things for my husband to take to worship team practice... wouldn't they love it if I sent them something all cute and holiday themed?

Gina @ MoneywiseMoms said...

My toddlers are very fussy eaters, so I've started using cookie cutters to cut deli turkey and cheese into shapes, and now they eat it right up!

Tassi said...

Love the marshmallow treats. I am starting a Jr. Chefs class at the YMCA in our area after Christmas. These look like they could add to the fun! I am stocking up on supplies since the budget is low there!

And on the Twitter conversation, if you haven't been to SheSpeaks, definitely worth it!!! Incredibly inspirational.

Take care,

Gigi said...

My four year old is often a helper in the kitchen and these Shape-Its would make his life Heaven! I would have to go with the meatloaf idea because I had to make "cannon balls" (big meat balls in muffin tins) in order for him to even eat meatloaf and now he wants it all the time.

I think the pancakes would be fun too. I just made a big batch of green pancakes this morning. They were just round though.

Such great stuff. Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

Shape-Its pizza sounds so cool! You would certainly be the coolest Mom on the block when you cook with Shape-Its.

Nancy
allibrary [at} aol [dot] com

Kate said...

We love jello, so the Shape-Its Gelatin would be a hit at my house.

Poppyseed said...

I love the cake idea...everyone could have their own individual, shaped cake. My girls would love it!

windycindy said...

The "Shape its" Marshmallow Treats sounds like a lot of fun! Each family member could create their own shape. What a fun giveaway drawing. Please add my name to the hat! Many thanks, Cindi
jchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com

RebekahC said...

Love your advent calendar idea. I'd have to pass on it because my tree would be constantly torn apart by my magnet loving children though. LOL Very good idea though! Will keep it in mind for my girls are bigger.

I would love to enter the draw for your giveaway though. Those look like something my kiddos would have way too much fun with. I think all the tips and ideas sounded great, but I'd be most excited to try the pizza one. Would be pretty unique pizzas that's for sure!

RebekahC
littleminx@cox.net

Thanks for the entry.

Ane said...

I love all the ideas but especially the cakes, pancakes and hamburger patties! I would love to use them for Christmas breakfast! Thanks for a great giveaway!

UtahJenny said...

I am the "Jello Queen" of the family - this would add a new dimension to my "art" - how fun!

Grateful for Grace said...

First of all, love the bottle cap fridge calendar for lots of reasons. Makes me wish I lived in the big city to get some of those caps.
Secondly, I like the tips for the pancakes. We have those almost every weekend. I'd love to 'fun them up'. I also liked the star shaped burger idea for the 4th! I've done heart shaped meatloaf believe it or not.

Angie said...

oh these are too cute!! my daughters would love these!!!

Unknown said...

I love the ideas for the pancakes, my son eats pancakes every morning so this would be fun to make different shapes and objects!

I blogged too:

http://lovintheholiday.blogspot.com/2008/11/how-to-make-your-own-advent-calendar.html

Mom said...

I use cookie cutters to make PBJ sandwiches. Then I use the tubes of writing icing to decorate the sandwiches according to whatever shape they are.

I often garnish with grapes, carrotts, or even M&Ms.

My kids always eat their sandwiches up and then beg for more.

www.momstop.blogspot.com

Alpaca Farmgirl said...

This is such a cute idea. Love the tip to freeze the cake before frosting, making the frosting easier to do!

aggiemomof2 said...

I love the star-shaped hamburger patties for 4th of July with condiment flag stripes. I always end up doing something with strawberries and blueberries. This will be a nice change--if I remember it by then! Thanks for the giveaway!
sylviarj@yahoo.com

Takin' time to smell the flowers! said...

Great Advent calendar. I made one this year too. I posted a picture of it on my blog. I think I already told you, but I really enjoyed your list of things ya'll will be doing each day, I posted a link to your blog telling everyone how great it was! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I'm thankful that I came across your blog and have become a member of THAT family:) God Bless!

Anonymous said...

Love the Advent Calendar. The cutters are really neat as well. Happy Thanksgiving!

Phyllis@Aimless Conversation said...

I always knew playing with my food could be fun...I just didn't know that I could make money encouraging others to play with THEIR food. Seems I have missed out on another money-maker.

What a super neat idea. =) I would def use this kit for cookies and rice krispy treats. Shaping a meatloaf is one that I had not thought of before now though.

Patois42 said...

Such great ideas crammed into this post.

Amber D. said...

Thanks for all the great ideas! And thanks for the chance to win Kristen! I will be sure to let you all know how they turn out for me!

MAMA CEO said...

I love the advent calendar! I have been wanting to do one this year, but could not find one that I liked! Thanks! What a great gift!