Advent Star

I know it's only June, but the rate that this year is flying by we will be upon Christmas before we know it.

I was browsing Twitter the other day and I saw on there Advent Star asking if any crafty people would like to review one of the new Adven Star, home made advent calendar.  I thought, ooo this is something I wouldn't mind having a go at, I'm sure Grace would like to help, so contacted the lovely Amy and asked if I could be of service, she said I could and a few days later a package arrived on my doorstep.

All the sheets were printed on good quality thin card and the descriptions and instructions were easy to read and follow.  There were also hints and tips for adults, so if your child was old enough they could be left to colour or decorate by themselves but there was information that they knew they would have to share with their designated adult.

 Once I had read through the instructions it was just down to gathering supplies and colouring implements.

As you can see I did test on the back of the instruction sheet to see which medium would transfer best on to the card and felt tips were definitely more vibrant.  You could use paint or coloured pencils also, I wouldn't suggest wax crayons too much as I felt that these weren't quite as neat, but it all depends on how precious you are with the application.

 As the weekend wasn't too pleasant this week we settled down for some colouring skills on our small coffee table in the living room.  I can imagine nearer to Christmas with fragranced candles burning and carols on the radio this would be a good way to get children excited for Christmas but also a calm activity for them to partake in.
Some of the smaller pictures, the ones that go 'inside' the windows may be a little fiddly for tiny fingers but again, depending how precious you are about neatness will dictate who coloured in what.  For myself and Grace I coloured the smaller pictures whilst she coloured the outer shell.

 Once all the colouring had been done we added just a small amount of glitter to the snowflakes and snowmen, just to have a bit of sparkle, depending where you were to put the calendar I think it would look nice with the twinkly lights just shining off the glitter.  Then all the pieces were cut out (be careful with craft knives people as accidents happen, even for the grown up. As my Instagram testified yesterday) I did find it neater to use a scorer for the folds but it wasn't necessary as the card wasn't too heavy and easy to fold.
Now comes the fiddly part, I only worked out an easy way of doing it on my last pyramid (isn't it always they way?) Dependent on the age of your child or children is whether you would like them to help you or not.  By this time Grace just wanted it made so I told her it was easier if I put it together myself!!

Before you close up the last pyramid you can loop some ribbon on the point, I didn't, and then you are complete.

I really enjoyed this project, I would say though if you have very young children this might not be something that you wanted to try to finish in one day, maybe over a week in the evenings, the last week in November so it is all ready to begin the countdown on the 1st.

Where you put your star is up to you, I thought it would be nice to maybe hang from the tree itself, but if you haven't a large tree you could have it on the dining table and every morning over breakfast try to guess what picture is behing the door.

Overall a really good idea and a great bonding experience and not too excitable.

Thanks Amy for giving me the chance to try out this great product.

You can buy these kits at Advent Star, where you can not only buy the colour your own sets but also coloured sets.  You even have the chance to buy All Things Glittery to really get you started.

Would this be something you would like to share with your children?  Do you think you may purchase a kit or two?




*The Advent Star kit was sent to me for review.  All opinions are my own*