(Dear Reader: Please be sure to credit "My Little Mochi" and link back to this post if you are going to share this project on your blog or website. It's been a little disheartening to see gum advent calendars on so many blogs without crediting where the original idea came from. -Aloha, My Little Mochi)
Over the past few weeks I've been thinking about what kind of advent calendar I should do for Buddy this year. I wanted to do something different from the snowman origami ones I've done over the last couple of years. So I created these pocket ones which were really fun and so fast to make that I think I'm going to make a bunch more for friends and family.
I came up with the two different versions pictured above. I made the red one in a "book" style. Here's the inside, can you guess what it is?
I bought two Dentyne Ice gum packages that come with 12 pieces of gum a piece. First I removed the foil blister packs from the cardboard sleeve and traced the sleeve onto cardstock after carefully taking it apart along the seam. I cut out two sleeves (for the book style one) and glued the two sleeves onto another piece of cardstock and used a tiny circle of sticky back velcro on the inside as a closure. For the countdown numbers I just used red and green Sharpie pens to add the numbers onto the foil side of the blister packs.
For the green polka dot one, I made one sleeve, but doubled the width of the spine to hold two blister packs. I tested the tightness of the sleeve before gluing the seam to make sure it was tight enough that the blister packs wouldn't fall out.
There were many different brands of gum to choose from at the store that come with 12 pieces in foil blister packs and they all seem to use the same size sleeve and blister packs. I like the Dentyne Ice ones because of the little peek-a-boo cut out on the sleeve that was perfect for adding a snowman face with Sharpie pens. The snowman is piece number 23 so that it's one of the last ones eaten. And now I'm thinking I should add buttons to the piece below for a body or maybe even draw some branch arms too?
I'm not a scrapbooker or stamper so I didn't have too many supplies on hand and just printed my wording on the computer, but you could use stamps, stickers or even Christmas tags to decorate them instead. And you could also print the countdown numbers onto stickers instead of using Sharpies.
Like I said, I'm not a scrapbooker and I'm sure there's a lot of ways your could really jazz these up, but I'm still very happy with how they came out. Now I just need to start working on Christmas gifts...
This is adorable! What a fun, easy advent!
Posted by: Jocelyn | November 14, 2010 at 08:16 AM
For teenagers, this is perfect! They are always stopping by the store to get a piece of gum. THANK YOU for the idea--it's awesome.
Posted by: Kim Hansen | November 17, 2010 at 03:55 AM
Oh, I wish I would have thought of this! I vote it the "most creative idea" of the season!
Posted by: Pamela | November 18, 2010 at 06:08 AM
Super cute idea! I think I will make them for the kids. They will love them!
Posted by: LaRea Ras | November 18, 2010 at 07:50 AM
I love LOVE this idea for Christmas 2010. I tweaked it a bit and added Scripture too. Thank you for such a fantastic idea!
http://sixgoldencoins.blogspot.com/2010/11/chewing-gum-advent-calendar-take-2.html
Posted by: Elizabeth | November 30, 2010 at 05:05 AM
I am in LOVE with this darling idea. . .Stumbling it, Pinning it. . . :)
Posted by: Robyn Rasmussen | October 13, 2011 at 07:10 PM
THESE ARE FANTASTIC. I will be making many of these this holiday season. Last Christmas was spent making about twenty of your wonderful felt mushrooms. Thank you so much for your ideas!
Posted by: Ariel | November 20, 2011 at 05:50 PM
I'm sharing your cute countdown on my blog today. Thanks for sharing! :)
Posted by: Brittany | December 02, 2011 at 05:47 PM
This is a super cute idea! I shared it on my CraftBliss Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pages/CraftBliss/190060791018426 and linked back to you. Thanks for creating and sharing! ~Dee
Posted by: Dee | December 10, 2011 at 04:12 PM
I saw your idea on Pinterest. It wasn't directly to your blog which always makes me sad. Anyway, I traced it back because I was wondering what kind of marker you used to draw your snow man? It's perfect! Thanks for a great idea!!
Posted by: Mrs. Jones from the Circus | March 11, 2012 at 06:39 PM
I'm so glad to finally find the original post! I've seen this idea repinned all over Pinterest and had to follow it back to the source. Such a cute idea and I'm happy to add the link to you!
Posted by: Heather Henderson | March 17, 2012 at 08:18 PM
Awesome and creative idea. Fun for any age. Thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Stephanie S. | July 26, 2012 at 09:07 AM
I blog over at http://www.2crafty4myskirt.blogspot.com/ and I just wanted to let you know that today I posted a round up of Christmas Countdowns. I featured this project in the round up. Please let me know if you are not ok with that and I will remove it from the post! Thanks!
Posted by: Alese | November 15, 2012 at 07:03 AM
Oh how cute! I've been looking for Advent Calendars in the stores to no avail.
Posted by: Suzanne | December 05, 2012 at 09:26 AM
so creative. great idea,
Posted by: Susan | August 23, 2015 at 07:06 AM