Sunday, September 12, 2010

Halloween Countdown Chain & Giveaway

Update: Giveaway now closed. Thank you!



My children are obsessed with holidays, is that normal? I hope so because I love their excitement, it makes everything really fun!!! One of their favorite holidays is Halloween, although they dress up pretty much every day of the week! My daughter loves paper countdown chains because they give her a visual representation of how much longer she has to wait for something. We have made them for everything... days until a birthday, a vacation or even days until Papa comes back from a business trip. It makes the waiting easier for the little ones, and helps them practice good skills such as counting. In an effort to try to be more green, I decided to start making them out of fabric so we could reuse them.

This was my first attempt. Unfortunately I went to the craft store with my 2-year-old, big mistake. I wasn't able to concentrate and ended up getting the wrong webbing (sewable instead of iron-on) and forgot the velcro. So I did what I could and after cutting 62 strips of fabric, 31 of seweable webbing, creating 31 button holes, and sewing on 31 buttons... I present to you our Halloween Countdown chain!



I hope to use this for many more years to come!



As I was getting ready to look at the pictures I had taken, I realized that this would be my 100th blog post. I think that calls for a celebration... don't you? So I rushed out to the craft store and got the correct items and made another countdown chain to give away to one of my sweet readers. This one looks neater since I didn't have to sew the webbing and instead ironed it on, and because I used velcro.



I wish I had more pics to show you, but I finished it pretty late and had no natural light at that point. I also didn't have enough time to make a matching bag, so I got a cute felt one at the craft store. I promise to be more prepared for my 200th post giveaway!



To enter the giveaway simply leave a comment on this post by midnight on Thursday, September 16th. I'll announce the winner on Friday, September 17th. This giveaway is only open to followers, and thank you so much for all your support!

Proudly linking to:

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My Craftie Life http://www.thethriftyhome.comShow and Tell Green
NightOwlCrafting giveaways
Get your craft on Thurs.

40 comments:

momstheword said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Alison @ Oopsey Daisy said...

Pati, these are just stinkin' adorable! What a fun way to anticipate Halloween! I love that you sewed a fabric chain for longevity, too! Bravo, my friend!

That Crazy Ajumma said...

These are really cute.What a nifty version of the paper chain!
I love that they can be reused year after year,very cool!

Andrea said...

Ha! What a smashing idea. Love the use of fabric! My daughter would love this, I need to get to work asap and make one too!

Cindy said...

Patti,

Cute, very cute. I think this is something that I could actually do. Love this idea. Thanks for sharing!

Hugs!

Sassy Sites! said...

So cute! I am featuring you over at Sassy Sites today! And I would love for you to join us on Friday, for our Friday Feature! xoxo Have a great Monday!

-Marni

Sassy Sites! said...

...forgot to say that I'm a follower! :)

texttussi said...

Such a neat idea! I have thought about crossing off days on a calendar with my daughter, but this is much better!

Lyndsey said...

Oh my gosh .. I love love love this idea!!! My kids would think this was the coolest thing ever! What a clever way to count down the holiday!! You are amazing:) I am your newest follower!

Kyla Armstrong said...

This is fantastic! I found you via Sassy Sites and I'm your newest follower.

http://funkypolkadotgiraffe.blogspot.com/

Donene said...

What a very cute idea and reuseable too!!
I have a big request for all of you bloggers out there, I am in a contest for one of the posts I did on losing some weight. I just really need to have your vote because I would love to win this contest! All you need to do is go to the link I will put below and first become a fan or push the like button and then go to the right column and under the 14 pictures, click on my picture and make a comment that you vote for me! I know the power of blogland is big, so can you please vote! I would so, so, appreciate it!!!
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Lehi-UT/Kristi-Approved/391083710513?ref=ts

Taya said...

Such a fun idea if I don't win I may just have to make one. We are huge fans of Halloween at my house.

Leah @ A Butterfly In My Stomach said...

Very neat idea..and reusable! I am loving that!

leahforlove(at)aol(dot)com

maryanne @ mama smiles said...

Very cute, and I love that you made it out of fabric!

Laurel @ Ducks in a Row said...

What a perfect day to find your blog - such a cute idea!

Fowl Single File said...

This looks like the perfect Haloween project...cute and simple. Thanks for sharing!

Shayna @ Texas Monkey said...

Again, I love this countdown! This is so unique and FAB, thank you for linking up with All About You Monday. I hope you come back next week where the theme is all about ribbon but any fun project, craft, recipe, etc is welcomed! So glad I found your blog!

Unknown said...

These are cute! We do something similar for Christmas, but we use construction paper. I love that you made it reusable!

Unknown said...

My little girl is obsessed with halloween. She would love to have a count down chain. Thanks for the good idea.

Melissa said...

What a brilliant idea! And cute, so stinkin' cute!

DeBran said...

These are adorable! If I don't win one, I'll be making them right away! :)

saraban13 said...

wow wow wow!! what a cute idea!! my 3 year old daughter loves the countdowns also.. but i never thought of making one out of fabric rings! what a clever idea! i love it!!

sarabanister13@gmail.com

shannon said...

This is so cute! mamatkins@hotmail.com

Army Wife Quilter said...

way cool. it would kill my kids everyday waiting for the day.

Amy C said...

What a great idea! I would have never thought to make a countdown out of fabric! I'm terrible with countdowns, I forget, so we end up taking 3 days off at a time. :) Your newest follower.
Amy @ The Happy Scraps

Aimee said...

Such a GREAT idea! I love the idea of making the chain more "permanent".

Crystal said...

What a cute idea! :-)

Melissa said...

I love this idea. I love that you have it forever and you don't have to do it every year. Plus it doesn't take up much room to store. Thanks for linking up to Tuesday Tell All. Also congrats on your hundred post.

ANKH said...

I just found you thru a link and am your newest follower, so I'm sure I don't count. But if you have a recycled Halloween craft tutorial, you can enter it in the Recycled Halloween Craft Challenge here:

http://henthornehandmade.blogspot.com/2010/08/recycled-halloween-challenge-will-you.html

I'll be making one of these and linking back to you after the contest is over. :)

Katie said...

For what it's worth, and it sounded like A LOT of work, it's super cute! I like how you can reuse it year after year and just tell yourself that buttoning is better than velcro, more fine motor practice! I've never seen a paper chair made with fabric, this is so cool! Thank you for joining us at Show & Tell on ABC & 123: A Learning Cooperative!

FYI: I also have a crafting linky party on my personal blog now. Would love you to join me at A Crafty Soiree, every Thursday.

Devin and Brooke said...

hey I LOVE YOUR FALL ideas come link up on my link party

curlyqcrafts.blogspot.com

holly said...

This is so cute. My kids love making paper chains. I like these so much better than the candy advents, I hate using candy to count down to candy!
hollydonahue{at}hotmail{dot}com

Crystal said...

This is such a brilliant idea! I never thought to make a reusable countdown. I'll be featuring this tomorrow!
crystalscraftspot.blogspot.com

Unknown said...

Fantastic idea... we are always counting down by the number of 'big sleeps' left. How many until school, how many until parties etc, but our main one at the moment is quite a long one. How many big sleeps until Grandad comes to visit (he doesn't arrive until early December!!). I love how they are able to see it right in front of them and to see it getting smaller must give a lot of excitement. Great idea! Thanks for sharing!

Anne said...

nice countdown idea. my son is super excited about halloween this year, everyday he pionts to the street we trick or treat on. this would be great for him!
annemolino at hotmail dot com

Aimee said...

I LOVE your idea to make the countdown chain reusable and featured it here. So clever!

Eileen said...

absolutely adorable idea. hope it's ok for me to borrow it because i did. looking at yours i'm thinking i did mine shorter, but i only had so much material in halloween colors and wanted to make a set for both my daughter's and son's families. just so clever. thanks!!

Ashlee Marie said...

I love it! I would love to make this for favorite holiday's (Christmas) and my kids birthday's! I'm featuring this on my blog today! Thanks for linking up to Topsy Turvy Tuesday's!

Ginger said...

Don't forget to check out The Halloween Scene at SSB!

http://superstinkyboys.blogspot.com/2010/09/halloween-scene-1.html

xoxo
Ginger

TBonesMom said...

I found your blog doing a google search for countdown chains. Do you have a step-by-step tutorial on how to do this by any chance? I'm a craft newbie and I need help! You can email me at lovetennisshoes@yahoo.com if that's easier. Thanks!