Who's counting down to Christmas?

Make the countdown to Christmas even more fun for little ones with this adorable snowman advent countdown. Little ones will absolutely love moving the snowman’s nose each day and counting the days to Christmas… who am I kidding - we all love moving the nose!

So what do you need to make this? Well, the chart of course! (Which*shameless plug* can be found on our Etsy store). You will also need some plastic canvas, 14 count aida, an orange brad and a 7 inch embroidery hoop (a detailed list of supplies is included in the instruction sheet that comes with the chart).

If you have never stitched on plastic canvas, take a look at our how-to guide here.

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After stitching each piece it’s really quite simple to put together - no one else knows this and if you’re giving it as a gift, they’ll think it took you absolutely ages to make! (Your secret's safe with us :))

First thing to do is to separate the stitching hoop by loosening the screw. Take the inner ring and place it onto some white felt and draw round the outside of the ring. Using a disappearing ink pen makes this task a bit easier as there’s no ink to showing if your cutting isn’t quite up to par! This is the one I use.

Cut the white felt using sharp scissors to get a neat edge. The scissors in the picture are ones that I got from a quilting friend and they are the sharpest scissors I have and they are wonderful (you can get a pair here). They’re called duck billed scissors or pelican billed scissors (I had to look that up as I had no idea what they were called!) Any sharp scissors would do, I just thought I’d explain the unusual scissors I used!

Once you have cut the felt, put it to one side for later.

Trim the plastic canvas pieces one square from your stitching, using sharp scissors.

Now you are going to put the stitching into the hoop - lay the smaller inner ring onto a hard surface, such as a table or counter top and place stitching over the inner ring then set the top part of the hoop over the fabric and push down so that the fabric is caught between the two hoops. Make sure that the screw is at the top of the design….this will be hidden by the snowman’s hat. Tighten the screw making sure that the fabric is taught and adjusting as necessary.

Place the orange brad through the snowman’s nose and then through the aida fabric – widening the hole of the aida by wiggling a needle will make this process easier! Push the legs of the brad apart so that the nose is attached but can still move.

Turn the hoop over and trim the aida to approx. 2inches from the hoop – just eye-ball it, it doesn’t have to be exact.

Using the white sewing thread, sew a running stitch all round and then pull tight so that the fabric gathers at the back and then fasten off thread.

Sew the white felt to the back of the hoop…this is the most time consuming part of the project. You can use a whip stitch or a blanket stitch to attach the felt. Using the same colour of thread as your felt makes any imperfections less noticeable.

As you can see from the picture, my stitching isn’t exactly the neatest there is… but guess what… nobody will notice as they are too busy looking at the cute snowman on the front! Remember it’s better to be not-so-neat and finished than left sitting unfinished. :)

Attach the hat by gluing it to the wooden part of the hoop. Make sure to leave it dry thoroughly before moving….you don’t want a lop-sided hat! I recommend Aleene's Tacky Glue.

Now let the Christmas countdown begin! How are you counting down to Christmas?