the end of winter countdown calendar

Winter officially ended for me when we moved to Texas in February and it was 70 degrees.  (Holy smokes . . . I'm not sure if I'll ever get used to it being 70 degrees in February.)  But the official end of winter is this weekend. 

Good bye winter!

Hello spring!   

I had BIG plans to post this little end of winter countdown activity calendar a month ago, but well . . . as you know I've been a bit preoccupied.  So . . . you will have to keep this in mind when next year rolls around OR better yet . . . make your own version for the end of spring or the end of summer or . .  . you get the idea.

End of Winter Countdown Calendar

We hung our countdown calendar up about a month before the end of winter.  Each hat, sweater or mitten had a little activity or treat tucked inside that we could do each day in anticipation for the end of winter.  By the end of the countdown, all our shapes were tucked neatly inside our little storage bag ready to be hung up next fall as a countdown to winter. 

Here's what you need:
-felt or fleece . . . A big shout out to National Nonwovens for supplying the felt for this project!
-paper patterns cut out in appropriate seasonal shapes . . . For winter I used a mitten, a sweater and a hat.
-ribbons
-clothes pins
-small strips or rectangles of paper

Here's what you do:
1)  Cut our varying shapes from felt.  You will need two of the same shapes for each day.  I did 10 mittens, 10 hats and 10 sweater, so I needed 20 of each shape.

2)  Pin two of each shape together (or not if you dare) and sew around the outside edge or each pair.  Do not sew the neck and waist of the sweater, the head opening of the hat and the wrist opening of the mitten.

3)  Write or print off an activity for each day.  I used a variety of fun activities, service oriented activities and treats. 

4)  Secure ribbons on a wall, mantel or ceiling of your home. 

5)  Hang shapes up with clothes pin tucking paper/treat into each shape.  (Actually, I put the paper in each morning before the kids got up because I have sneaky kids, and I knew the temptation of all those activities and treats just sitting there all month long would be entirely too much for them to resist.)

6)  Each day tuck the shape you used back into the storage bag. (Brief and super easy tutorial . . . so easy it really isn't necessary . . . to come this weekend.)

What shapes would you use as an end of spring countdown?  An umbrella?  A rain boot or coat?  Hmm . . . that's about all I have.  Clearly, my creative juices aren't quite flowing yet!

Craft on!