Advent calendar blues. HELP NEEDED!!!

[missmeganmisery]

I was following burstandblooms advent tut with the styrofoam base.
(My original post here: http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=202589.0)
However, as i was about to cut out the third to last circle, the entire thing snapped in half. and basically shattered. peicing it back together is pretty much impossible (i have been trying for the last 2 hours) so now i need a new way to make an advent calendar. I dont want a typical felt one. i would prefer something non-sewing due to not having a sewing machine and i already have a ton of stuff to hand sew.

i was thinking wood, but im no good with a hammer.

im not sure if cardboard would work.

and thats as far as i have gotten.

IM IN DESPERATE NEED OF IDEAS AS TO WHAT TO MAKE THE CALENDAR ITSELF OUT OF!!! ANY HELP WOULD BE GREATTTT!

thanks.
and sorry for the semi-long post.

[burstandbloom]

hey, it's me, the creator of the tut you were following. i'm SO SORRY to hear that you're having such trouble!

another idea that i have seen used is...you get a cardboard coin holder...you know like those ones that hold all the quarters or something, then you just cover the holes. and you can pick and choose which ones to actually use (since i don't know if any come with the exact amount of holes)...the downside is that all you can fit inside are things no bigger than coins (chocolate coins are fun though! or hey...i'm sure whoever is opening wouldnt mind REAL money )  anyway, then you could just put little pieces of paper inside telling of activities or gifts etc.  hope this helps! i think those coin things are pretty cheap like at hobby lobby or something

[missmeganmisery]

thanks i will have to check that out. Im also playing with the idea of very thick cardboard . My mom also mentioned one of her friends had made one with toilet paper rolls. Hm.

[burstandbloom]

oh yes, i've seen the toilet paper roll one too...they did it in the shape of a christmas tree! it was cute

[A2JC4life]

What about magnets and a painted cookie sheet?  I am (eventually) going to make one of those perpetual calendars, using marble magnets, and those would work for an advent calendar, but other types of magnets would work, too - painted wooden cutouts with magnets attached, little scrapbooked squares or shapes on chipboard, etc.

[polkadottedmoocows]

My roommate and I are in the process of making this one for work.
http://www.bhg.com/bhg/slideshow/slideShow.jsp?slideid=/templatedata/bhg/slideshow/data/1187734041208.xml&page=2

We didn't use matchboxes because we couldn't find them.  I just found a tutorial online on how to make a rectangular origami box, tweaked it until I got the size i wanted and then folded all the boxes out of cardstock.

We then made a plain white loop cover for the boxes to slip into, and we're now in the process of decorating the plain white covers and the fronts of the "drawers" with scrapbook paper and notions, which are always on sale at craft stores this time of year, so it ends up being pretty cheap, too.

[burstandbloom]

on that same website, if you go through the holiday slides, there's another advent calendar made froma wooden shadow box that would be pretty easy to make as well

[Caine]

The one I made is not quite no-sew, but it is easy to hand sew it -- http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=203930.0 -- It is just 24 felt pockets strung up on some cord using clothespins. The I cut shapes from felt and glued them on. So the only sewing is the pockets -- it is super quick with a machine but my friend made one with hand stitches and those look pretty, especially if they are sort of chunky stitches (which totally works since you are just trying to get those pockets sewn together -- could use pretty big stitches in contrasting thread.) I used numbers from Michael's (stick on) but now wish I had dared to cut them with pinking shears, cuz it looks really sweet like that. The next one I make will have hand cut numbers and probably hand sewn pockets. A movie's worth of time to hand stitch those pockets and another one or two to cut and glue the pictures and you are home free, or?  Anyhow, would love to see what you do, whatever you decide .... can be the best when something goes wrong. Seems like true craft blooms best in the broken pots, so to speak!

[missmeganmisery]

wita lot of mod podge i have somehgow magically peiced back together my styrefoam one and am going to continue with the cutting out the slots process and see if i can make it work. if not, i LOVE the matchbox idea as well. =] thanks so much for the great ideas. i should have progress pictures sometim this weekend

[Tickle_Me_Pink]

I am doing that advent calender as well, and its proving to be difficult. Mine snapped many times, and the paper won't stick to it. Instead, I've decided to find a box that is approximently the same size as the styrofoam, cut out the circles in that, plop the styrofoam in there, so no one can see it, but it keeps the treat in the same place as well, and than go from there.