GSL Cuts: Advent Calendar with Alicia Barry

So Thanksgiving is over and I hope everyone had a wonderful day. Now it is all about Christmas. This is a big deal in our house. I love to decorate. I have created this Advent Calendar Shadowbox to fit in with my tree decor. My tree is aqua with gold and silver. Not so traditional.

The Advent calendar kit will give you the structure of the shadow box, including a template for the boxes. You can also purchase the Pre-cut Drawers separately. This will save you a lot of time. You simply fold along the score lines, glue the tabs and you're done.

I chose to cover mine with paper. It was as simple as cutting strips and wrapping around. For the notch in the front, I covered two of the sides, starting at the back, then traced the inside of the notch and cut with scissors before adhering the last two sides. I found it important to glue those two sides first, as it allowed me to place the notch perfectly. Of course, you could just paint the boxes too. Whatever you use, keep it simple and adhere closely, as the spots for the boxes to slide into are tight.

For this project, I chose to assemble and adhere my shadow box into place before painting. I knew I would be covering most of the surfaces with paper, and that the insides wont be seen at all, so the only surface I really needed to worry about are the forward facing edges. A quick spray with metallic paint mists was sufficient, and far quicker than painting. Don't worry about the overspray, it will be covered.

I then slotted my boxes into place and lined the inside of the shadow box with decorative paper.

At this point, I also added metallic numbers to the front of the boxes using foam dots. By raising them, they act as little handles.

Next I took some Art Deco Borders and Corners and covered with white gesso and fine glitter. I wanted them to look snowy. I adhered these in place as shown, making sure that the boxes could still slide out easily.

I decorated the inside corner of the shadow box with a lamp post image from the Christmas Shape Set, layering a wreath and bow over the top. These also had glitter added. I used a little texture paste with more glitter to resemble snow. The base of the shadow box has some batting glued in place. A tiny drop of dimensional paint resembles the flame.

I then added some small pinecones and foliage along with a small Christmas ornament. (I recommend using a hot glue gun at this point). This all has texture paste and glitter over the top.