How to make a mini Halloween countdown calendar - with printable

Well hello there. As part of my run up to Halloween (and revealing my finished Cabinet of Curiosities) today I'm bringing you another easy little craft that is kinda cute.

Since my project is primarily meant to be a countdown calendar, there really has to be some kind of number/time element... somewhere. Considering there are a limited amount of shelves/drawers it couldn't work like a advent calendar with opening doors/drawers.

I thought about clocks or dials but really I wanted something that would fit under that little bell jar and, well, I like paper. Hence the actual calendar idea. The pages turn over the top and I've added enough numbers to count down from 99, but 31 will probably suffice. It's only about 7cm tall (2.5in).

I'm sharing it as a printable if you want to have a go at making your own teeny tiny calendar, click on the image at the bottom of this post and right click to save a nice big print resolution version. It's still for personal use only though. Just for fun, guys.





You will need:

Printer & One sheet of thin card
I'm suggesting using thin card for this, I did try it with bog standard printer paper and it was okay but a bit flimsy. It didn't have that old paper look I was going for. They made things proper in the olden days.

Two 5mm jump rings (thats 3/16th of an inch apparently - is that a measurement?)
I'll bet you've got some knocking about from that time you tried jewellery making. Here is a guide to opening and closing jump rings. A paperclip or fuse wire could work at a push.

2mm hole punch
You could use an awl or cut the whole thing with an electronic cutting machine.

Instructions:

- Print out the image at 100% (it should fit on A4 or letter)
- Cut out all the pieces (you only need numbers 0-3 for the first set if you get bored of cutting)
- Fold the calendar base into a triangle and put a small piece of tape or glue on the inside flap
- Punch the holes through both sides of the base at once
- Punch a hole in each number card
- Open both jump rings and thread each one through once set of numbers 0-9 and both sides (front and back) of the calendar
- Close up the jump rings
- That's it, now you can set the days until Halloween!

Here is the image:

Click the image for full size, then right click and select save as.

Don't forget to change it each day, I won't be help responsible if you miss all the Halloween fun because of bad calendar management!