You may have guessed by now that I get excited over Christmas! And to be honest, our whole family are Christmas fans. We’ve got two grown up kids but they still wake up (far too!!) early on Christmas morning to open their stockings. (And they still like us putting out Santa’s footprints on Christmas Eve. And we’re happy to continue this tradition as long as they are. Just don’t tell them I told you 😉 ). As you know with “Christmas in November”, the Christmas countdown has started early in our house this year. And this DIY charger plate is the perfect way to keep track of when the Jolly Fellow is coming down your chimney. It’s a great project that’s not only cheap, but heaps of fun to make too. Here’s how to get yours:
What you need for your Christmas countdown plate
- A standard charger plate – I love the red but you can of course go for any colour you want. I got mine for £1 in one of our local shops, but Amazon do one here if you like shopping online.
- “Countdown to Christmas” vinyl wording. I cut these with my Silhouette Vinyl cutter, but alternatively you can use your own imagination and add some words with these alphabet stickers
- Blackboard paint
- Ribbon to make a bow. Or of course you can use a decoration of your choice.
- A piece of chalk to keep count!
Here’s how you make it (it’s SO easy!)
I started by adding the wording to the plate (I got far too excited to wait!), but if I were to do it again I’d paint the centre black first. Honestly, the order of putting this Christmas countdown plate together doesn’t matter too much – it will still turn out equally as cute!
Next I painted the centre of the plate with blackboard paint. I used 3 layers in all, leaving the paint to dry completely between each layer of paint.
This is what it looked like after the first layer of paint. Not great I know, but the next two layers give you full cover!
Making the bow
For the bow I used two different ribbons. Partly because I wanted to add a big bow to really finish it off. And partly because I’ve got an E-Z Bowmaker and am trying to get to grips with how to use it! It was a Christmas present last year and this is only the second time I’ve used it, so really need to get my finger out and get some practice using it. (By the way, you can see my first attempt at a large bow in this post here, where I made one to finish off a Christmas lantern.)
I’ve not got any photos on how to make the bow as that’s a whole other blog post for another time, but I’m so pleased with how it’s turned out. If you’re thinking of getting an E-Z bowmaker, I highly recommend the investment! It was well worth the money!) It’s so simple to use. With great results! This is is mid creation 😉
I tied the bow together with a gold coloured pipe cleaner, but I wasn’t happy with the end result as the gold colour was completely different to the bow. So I cut a small strip of gold coloured ribbon to size and hot glued it to the middle of the bow to finish it off:
The results are in!
Finally, just hot glue the bow to the top of the plate. And you’re all ready to start your Christmas Countdown! I need to get a fancy plate holder to avoid having to balance it on our dresser, but I couldn’t wait to share it with you guys!
I’m still adding to our Christmas decorations all the time but I do like how this makes a focal point on the dresser. Here’s what it looks like with the countdown having started!
I think I’m in love with the bow!
What do you think? Not bad for a £1 charger plate!
Could you Pin me for later?!
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