The 23 Days of Holiday Crafts- Day 1: ADVENT SANTA

Yes, I know that there are 25 days in the usual advent countdown, however, this year (actually like every year since we have been married) we are celebrating early. Though, unlike previous years, Eric is FINALLY NOT WORKING ON CHRISTMAS!!! Instead, we are headed home to Michigan to celebrate with family! Something we have not done since we've had kids!

So, in honor of the traditional Advent countdown, here is our first project of the holiday season, the Advent Santa.

This is a very simple craft for kids to do, they just have to glue, but it will take up more time for you to prep this project.

What You Need:
Paper Plate(s)
Scissors
Plain white paper
Red paper
Glue stick
Regular gel glue
Cotton Balls
Marker
Pencil
Tape

Step One:
Draw a Santa face on some plain paper. It doesn't have to be perfect, just a normal face will do. Then trace over your pencil marks with a marker so they stand out more. Then cut them out. Make as many as you have children, because they will all want to do this craft.

Step Two:

Cut out a hat for Santa. I used the head I made as a reference to make sure that the hat wouldn't be too large or too small. 

Step Three:

Use your left overs from the white paper and cut out fringe for Santa's hat on the bottom and on the tip. 

Step Four:
Cut a paper plate in half. I don't have a picture, but you will have a half of a plate in front of you when you're finished. :) Then, once you've done that, draw the number of circles you need in your count down. We have 23 days until Christmas so I drew 23 circles and wrote the numbers in them. If I would have thought about it before hand, I would have started with 23 at the top instead of starting with 1.

See, not too hard, just a little consuming and you have to get a good pair of scissors. Now you're ready to have your kids get involved!

Step Five:
Have your child glue Santa's face to the paper plate. This one is hard because you have to actually match up the face to the plate so it will end up looking correct.

Step Six: 
Attach the hat to Santa's head and add the fringe to the hat. This is so simple even an over excited gluer like Theo can do it. Though, you may end up with glue on the table.

 Step Seven:
Have your child count the number of circles so they 1. Know how many days they are counting down for and 2. Get counting practice! Henrik stumbled on some of the teens, but he did pretty well!

Step Eight:

Add the cotton ball for Santa's beard! As the days go on, his beard will fill up! See why I should have put 23 at the top? Oh well. 

Just remember to hang these in a place where your kids can easily reach them so they can continue to count down the days until Christmas. I attached mine with painter's tape so I could easily take them on and off so they can glue more easily each evening. 

Tomorrow's craft will be posted MUCH earlier, we were just outside enjoying this beautiful day so we got started late tonight. See you tomorrow!