When something super exciting is coming up, like a trip to Disney World, Christmas morning or the anticipation of a new sibling, little kids have a hard time grasping the concept of time and waiting. With a sister who’s about to pop with kid number three and a brother-in-law/sister-in-law who are Disney members who travel to Disney destinations often, I thought it was fitting to help their little ones learn the concept of time with a countdown calendar.
My good friend Liz helped me out by die cutting a few Mickey shapes for use on my flip cards. I was making two of these calendars so two sets of cards “one” through “ten” were needed.
After punching holes at the top and stringing them onto these Ikea frames (Yes, I had more of them even after using 12 for Brielle’s birthday party) I felt like they still needed something. So I turned to my trusty crafting assistant:
The girl was right. It needed some ribbons. Into the ribbon jars we went searching for some red, white, yellow or black ribbon scraps.
We found the perfect amount to add a little texture to the top of the book rings. These two countdown calendars were complete! (and yes I know their last names rhyme!)
But wait! My crafting assistant asked “but mommy, how will they know what to do with it?” to which I replied “good point, Brielle. We need a poem explanation!” FUN FACT: One of my favorite items of my childhood was my rhyming dictionary that I used often to write little poems usually in the ABCB rhyme scheme. I’ve carried this love into my adulthood, as you’ve seen my poem skills put to use several times on this blog including Allie’s Year of Date Nights gift, Vanessa’s Wine Gift and the Mommy’s Time Out Gift.
I wrote out this little diddy and hung it on a black gift bag. (YES the ones left over from our wedding hotel bags. I might as well have named this project my ultimate Use Your Stash Challenge!)
Voila! I now had two fun DIY projects to gift to our families over the holiday! I hope they get good use out of them to countdown ten fun days to their next adventures!
In fact, I know my niece Brinley will be using hers come April since they invited us to join them down in Disney! It will be Brielle’s first time on a plane, in a hotel, at Disney and all the other first that come along with that fun!
Hey there,
I love this idea! do you happen to know if IKEA still carries those frames?? I need one for a project… It would be PERFECT!!
Hi Clarissa! I haven’t been to IKEA in a while to tell you if they still do. But know it was a popular style so hopefully they still have it! If you make one, I’d love to see it and feature it in my “reader’s feature” I have in the works :)