Last year I discovered how fun it was to make and give Advent calendars (
HERE). When it came to my husband, I went the store-bought route with the 2014 Star Wars Lego Advent Calendar. He was amused with it and thought it was 'neat', but I knew this year I wanted to come up with something that would wow him. Beer....beer would really wow him!
I've been brainstorming for a while and thought long and hard about the packaging (I seem to hyper focus on packaging when it comes to these projects). I found this
24 Bottle Pack carton sold at Uline.com. The boxes are extremely sturdy and a perfect solution. I did have to buy a bundle of 10 boxes, but I think I'll be reusing this idea in future years.
I wanted every day to be a different beer and each to be a surprise, so I came up with an idea to create little covers for the tops of each bottle. Using the Gift Box Punch Board from We R Memory Keepers, I made (24) 2 1/2 x 2 1/2 x 1 3/4 inch boxes. I snipped off the flaps that create the top of the box to give me an open container, so that each bottle could be covered with the calendar numbers.
For the numbers on the boxes I turned to my (retired) 25 Days stamp set from Stampin Up! - this has been my go to stamp set for Advent calendars. Stamping and heat embossing the 24 numbers did take a bit of time for this project, but I'm happy with the results. I ended up using three different gold embossing powders and realize one would have been just fine. Hey - I had them in my stash....might as well use them! Actually, most of the items for this project I already had in my stash with the exception of the cardstock (cost was only $3), glitter wrapping paper (clearance), bow (clearance), the box....oh yeah, and the BEER!
Let's discuss beer - this is winded and boring, and maybe the last sentence is the only relevant one. We live in Pennsylvania, a Commonwealth with very strange alcohol laws and regulations. For the most part, beer can only be purchased from a restaurant, bar, licensed beer store, or distributor. Beer distributors mainly sell kegs of beer and cases. Six and twelve packs can be sold at bars and some retailers. Only within the past few years did some supermarkets start to sell alcohol and there VERY specific rules that go along with that grant (one of them being I can only purchase 2 six packs of beer at a time). I certainly didn't want to purchase 24 cases, two 1/2 cases or even 4 six packs. My goal here was to have 24 different beers.
The Wegmans near my house allows a customer to create their own six pack. The maximum number of six packs that can be purchased at one time is 2. That's only 2 trips to Wegmans....at $11.99 a six pack. Whoa! The things I do for a good Advent calendar.
Now to the assembly - I cut the lid flaps from the box with a (wait for it) box cutter. :D I wasn't crazy about the edges of the compartments, so I used gold foil tape from my stash and covered the exposed edges. I actually think this step was unnecessary as you can not see the edges well with the box caps in place.
I found some great glitter wrapping paper from Michael's and wrapped the box, folding pieces over the top to cover up the exposed edges. I used score tape for this because regular scotch tape did not stick well to the paper. From my stash I had a two inch wide black ribbon and wrapped it around the center of the box and attached a purchased gold bow to the ribbon.
I did purchase the 2015 Star Wars Lego Advent Calendar as back up, but something tells me he will love this!
Supplies Used:
Paper:
Cream 65lb (Recollections), Metallic Papers (Anna Griffin), Gold Glitter Wrapping Paper (Recollections)
Stamps:
25 Days (SU!)
Ink:
Vintage Cream (PTI)
Other:
Beer Box (Uline), Enchanted Gold Embossing Powder (Ranger), Jeweled Gold Embossing Powder (Stampendous), Fine Clear Embossing Powder (Filigree), Black Embossing Powder, Detail Gold Embossing Powder (Stampendous), Gold Bow (Hobby Lobby), Beer (Wegmans)
When you find something you enjoy creating and people seem to enjoy receiving, you just keep doing it - right?! The beauty advent calendars I gifted to my sister and a dear friend were a huge hit last year (HERE). I'm stepping up my game this year and adding my mother to the recipient list! I actually had enough samples this year to make three complete advent calendars. There was so much product that my crafting table was just too small for the group shot of all the items and I had to spread them out on my family room floor and get a photo from above. I'm walking a fine line between being embarrassed and extremely proud of myself for the size of the pile. I'll go with proud!
