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A dear friend is retiring at the end of the month. I decided to take a twist on the season's advent calendar to commemorate her life's work by making a retirement advent calendar, "A Bouquet of Memories from Natural History."
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I took the calendar and stripped it down to it's base so that I had a sturdy cardboard backing and an easy hook at the top for the calendar to hang on.
Then, I cut velcro squares into quads. (Twice as many needed for the receiving side.) I arranged those quads on the top of the calendar. Around each piece of velcro I wrote a little "happy memory prompt" ... this is a retiring attorney so things like "best court moment," "truth stranger than fiction," "best argument"...
Then, I cut and taped the calendar for December 2011 to the base.
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For this project, I used the page on the calendar where it gives you a "preview" of all the pictures. I cut each of those mini-pictures around its edges to make small "advent cards."
I took each advent card and put a small piece of velcro for the attaching side on the back and covered the prompts.
Then, on the front page of the calendar, I attached the second set of receiving velcro at the bottom of the full size picture.
The front page was attached to the backboard with clips and ribbons. And voila!
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By the end of the month, as she takes one flower from the top and places it onto the bottom, she will create a bouquet and each day, she'll have a new prompt of happy memories to make the last few weeks fun.
This is a great recycling/reuse project for calendars, which are also abundant at this time of year. I usually cut the gorgeous prints and (re)use them for cards, wrapping paper or wall hangings.
This is a new and exciting use and a fun way to build anticipation for a special occasion!