Paperchain Days

There's just something about construction paper. No matter how much we have on hand (and let's be honest, there's usually lots) I can always talk myself into buying a few fresh pads of the stuff. It's just like opening a new box of crayons - the colors are bright, the paper is smooth, the pack is full of promise ... it even smells good!

Fall is such a great papercraft time of year, too ... pumpkin faces, handprint turkeys, paper snowflakes and of course, good ole paper chains. And so that (at last!) brings me to the point of my post! ;)

Because I have a middle son who likes to know at all times how many days it is until the next big thing (holiday, birthday or other special event) I decided to make a paper chain with a holiday twist:

I used regular construction paper for the days leading up to the upcoming holidays, and patterned paper for the big days themselves. Above you see from left to right, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's.

And below you see how it looked strung across our windows:

I toyed with the idea of making a year-long chain, but after an hour's worth of snipping, stapling and draping, I figured I'll revisit that thought in January.

Here is the Halloween corner (9 orange and purple, 1 patterned):

And the Thanksgiving section (21 pale blue and brown, 1 patterned):

Next came Christmas (28 red, white and green and 3 purple, 1 pink, 1 patterned):

Oh, right! I made sure to put in a party-patterned link for Earlybird's birthday!

And finishing up the right side of the window is New Year's (6 multicolors and 1 confetti patterned):

Now we're ready to count ... one day at a time, one link a day.

And so my curious Crackerjack can simply check the windows to know in a glance how many days there are until the next special day. But of course, when you're eight every day is the next special day. :)

Comments

[Jennifer]

That's such a great idea! I think it would be a helpful reminder to adults as well to get their stuff together for making Halloween costumes...

[Grace]

Beautifully simple! I had forgotten how pretty paperchains are, and how fun to make. We will be making some soon, now, too. Thanks for the reminder!

[CityMom]

This is adorable, I have been asked how many days until Halloween several times today! Do you plan to tear off a ring every day to countdown?

[Crisanne]

How fun!! My Belle, 6, will love this idea! She has a countdown to Halloween on the fridge which was great pratice in her number writing. I'm wondering if she could write the numbers on the strips before we staple them. I think I'll be cutting up some paper this week!

[Stacie.Make.Do.]

We've done this several times for Advent, but I never thought of it for other count-downs. Brilliant. Thanks!

[Lisa]

I love your idea of making one chain for the whole holiday season. We did this a lot when the children were younger for Advent and the holidays, celebrations and daddy's homecoming during business trips. But to put them all together is fun!

[Chrissy]

How creative! I would never of thought of that. What a great countdown tool.

I just might have to do this. Thanks again.

[Eileen]

Awesome,yet elegantly simple, idea! This one, Dawn, I think I could copy, without too much angst! :)

My ds-4 is really into using different tools, and he would love to put the paper cutter and stapler to good use. I love the idea of color-coding the chains, too. Plus, he's really into making simple two-color patterns!

My daughter really relates to paper chain timelines, too--we used one before her very first day of homeschool a few years back, and also for when her two older sisters went away on a vacation for two weeks and she couldn't imagine how long that would be.

I don't know if I would be ambitious enough to do a paper chain for a whole year, but it occurs to me now that a chain color-coded for the liturgical year, maybe with a few special saint days marked off, could really be fun! My 8yo daughter might enjoy working on something like that. Hey, maybe we could even do it "backwards"-put together the current season as it happens, and take the whole year to complete it--and then break it apart the next year. Two for the price of one!

Warmly,
Eileen

[jen]

What a neat idea! We love paper chains, and this is a great twist. No more "how many more days, Mom??" :-D We will definitely have to try this.

[Cindy]

Very, very cool idea! :o)

[julie]

What a great idea... I love the thought of counting down the holidays and the remainder of the year!

[Karen Edmisten]

I love that! What a great idea.

[stephanie]

What a great idea! I was just thinking about putting up some kind of calendar. I should have known to come here. :)