Christmas Countdown Frame by Jamie Gillahan

Files Used: Swirly Holiday Tree by Judy Stark BKD 166, Pop Kut Angel by Judy Stark BKD 161, Santa Bag by Lisa Schmidt 0882D
Materials: 12 x 12 frame, card stock, glitter paper, vinyl

I remember fondly as a child when my Mom would make a countdown calendar by hand on index cards. My brothers and I would take turns pulling of the day and watching the numbers get smaller. I can still feel the excitement!! :o) While I sincerely appreciate all the hard work my Mom put into that, I decided that I would take a different route with the intentions of being able to provide for my children that same excitement.

For this project I started out with a very plain 12 x12 slate grey frame with a 5 x 5 opening for a picture and as any crafter knows, that just won't do! For the top third, I added white vinyl and the bottom green vinyl. To ease the transition from white to green vinyl, I added some red ribbon.

The numbers that countdown to Christmas are on a simple ornament that I created in Funtime using 2 basic shapes. I started with a circle and a square that I had rounded the edges on. After welding them together, I went into the special effects and added the charm feature. Very simple and gave me exactly what I was looking for!

When I had one completed, I placed it in the lower left hand corner of my mat. In the transformation box I multiplied the number of ornaments by 13 and selected the fill page option. Before cutting, I ran a green sheet of card stock through my Xyron machine and laminated both sides of the card stock. The reason I chose to do this was to give the ornaments more durability since my almost 4 year-old daughter and 2 year-old son will be "helping" me count down. My Gazelle cut it like a dream!!

After layering the numbers in red and white card stock, I used a mixture of half white glue to half shaving cream for added dimension. Once I had the "snow" on the numbers, I added some extra fine glitter for that fresh fallen look! To complete the look, I added a couple strands of thin ribbon to the top.

I used the true type font SantasSleighFull Bold for "days until Christmas." The green outline is cut from card stock and the red is cut from out door vinyl. Once I layered it, I went along the outside of the red vinyl with a white extra fine Sharpie paint pen.

The silhouette of Santa's sleigh I found during an online search for coloring pages. After saving the image, I imported it into Funtime and created a cut file from it. This image is only 3.5 inches wide and about 1.75 inches high!!

Due to the thickness of the numbers, I needed a place to store them. My hooks just aren't big enough to accommodate all of them at once. So, using the adorable Santa Bag, I started by cutting out the bag in red glitter paper and the top trim in simple white card stock. The red glitter paper cut beautifully and there was absolutely no mess from glitter falling off!!

Using the same mix from the numbers, I added the fluffy white mixture to the top of the Santa bag and tied the top with some twine. To make a box out of it hold the numbers, I simply cut out a rectangle that was about an inch wide and 5 inches long. I scored it and folded it so that it would form a shelf with tabs on the sides to glue it to the bag and the frame.

The presents I added are scrap pieces of paper that I cut into small rectangles and then added some ribbon to it. 

The beautiful Swirly Holiday Tree is a new release from BossKut. After cutting the tree from the green glitter paper, I added it to the outline using Mod Podge for the glossy look. I also decided to add a tree skirt by easily cutting out an oval from some patterned paper.

I chose to top my tree with the Pop Kut Angel. She's absolutely gorgeous and I love how the pop kut wings gave added dimension to my frame. This little beauty measures only 1.25 inches high and look just how well she cut out from the glitter paper!!

Jamie Gillahan – BossKut Design Team Member
My Crafting Blog

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