Back To School Countdown Calendar

Disclaimer – This is a sponsored post brought to you by Canon.  All opinions are 100% my own.

Ever have a toddler ask you a million times how many days left till school starts?  or how many days till vacation?  or DISNEY?  OR CHRISTMAS?!

Sorry for yelling but it is for emphasis.  It’s enraging.  I have three little ones that will ask me how many days till….fill in the blank….and they don’t understand how long a day is, or that a week is longer than an hour, or that mommy is stressed easily by repeated questions….but they ask.  over. and over. and over.

And that is when this project was born.  I wanted to come up with an easy way to show the boys the number till we headed back to school.  or till Santa comes.  or till their birthday.  I looked at a bunch of stores and NOTHING.  Nada.  I couldn’t find anything that would blend well with my decor and so I decided to make this beauty.

Isn’t it adorable?  And super easy!

So first – let’s all be jealous of my printer stand….

And get excited because you can do this project with four semi-gloss letter sized sheets of paper and your Canon PIXMA MG7720 wireless printer.  It’s really SUPER easy.  And the printer still looks beautiful in it’s shiny white glory even if the stand is less than stellar.  (working on a plan for that btw!)

So I created these printables for myself to hoard and enjoy.  You people will have to figure it all out yourself.

Kidding!  I’m a sharer!

I created these four sheets and here are the PDF’s for all the free downloads.  You can print them out on 8.5×11 photo paper and make sure you use semi-gloss because it resists little sticky fingers the best and these are gonna be touched.

PRINTABLE #1-#6

PRINTABLE #7-#2

PRINTABLE -DAYS TILL

PRINTABLE – WINTERBREAK

****font is AVENIR NEXT

****new blanks circles and additional printable for you guys!!!  HERE IS PRINTABLE – BABY DUE

I made them so that you can do a back-to-school countdown AND switch it up for any holiday, break or event that I could think of.

You will also need four long nails, some craft rounds (I got mine at Walmart for $1.26 for 6 rounds) and some scrap wood.  Mine is 1×10 that we cut into 9″ square and then a little 1×3 cut for it to stabilize on the back.   You will also need a hole punch, brad nailer, rubber cement, your finishing material (paint, stain or in my case, adhesive laminate) for the wood, and a drill.

I also used one of these 3″ crafting punches to cut out my circles and save time.  You can do it just fine with scissors though!

With the punch, I like to line it up by viewing the punch upside down.  Then I can make sure to leave a small margin at the top of the number circles for where the nail will be.

Finishing the wood is really up to you.  Anything is a possibility!  I tried to make something I wouldn’t mind having out in the kitchen all year long.  First I lightly sanded the wood…because splinters aren’t cool unless you are a rat that knows karate.

And then I broke out the adhesive laminate.  This is my first time using this product – and I actually really like it!  I bought it to line some drawers in an old dresser but it’s almost too pretty to hide away!

I cut a piece to cover the front of the larger wood piece and to wrap around the support.

Then I just wrapped them like a present.  Lookin’ good!

Then I just lined them up like the photo below and used a brad nailer to attach the smaller board through the big board.

Okay!  Stand complete!  Now let’s make the interchangeable numbers and event tags.

The photo circles will go on top of the wood discs.  If you wanted to hang them as photo paper – that would totally work too….it just wouldn’t be as beefy 🙂

The wood discs are plain and inexpensive.  I used three packs for this project.

So first hole punch your photo circles.  Then you will want to lay them on the circle disc and mark where the hole should go.

Then use your drill and a bit that is larger than your nail head to drill a hole in each circle disc.

The event tags can be double sided but the numbers really need to be individual if you want to use them up to 9.  I decided to make a couple extra numbers (1 & 2) because that allows me to count all the way up to 32.  My kids cop out at 24 and skip right to 100 so I think I’m good.

Add a smear of rubber cement to the back of the photo before lining it all up and letting it dry.

Then all you have to do is line up your circles and put a little nail in each spot!  It’s super easy at this point and so fun to change out the events.

Doesn’t it look so cute?  I love how now we can do this fun ‘switch’ each morning.  And since it is directly over my coffee machine, it will give me something to do other than complain about burnt tastebuds from drinking coffee too soon 🙂

I actually love it so much that I think it would make a fantastic gift – especially for anyone that likes functional art.  It’s clean and perfect for anticipating those big events!

Actually tomorrow is when our first day of school is for William but Weston is going to start preschool this year and we adjusted the numbers for him.  I can’t even handle the fact that my kids are so old.  Will’s teacher told me to not blink because if you open your eyes, they will be sophomores in college.  I started crying.  I did.  Right there in the classroom.  Right next to the supply closet and the reading corner.

Seriously though….I’m equal parts dreading them going off to school and leaving me forever and then also relieved because we will be back on a schedule with a real routine.  At least now we will know exactly how many days till fall break 🙂

Doesn’t it go well with the other black & white things I have on my shelves?

The best part is – you can make it however you like!  You can paint that back piece or stain it or add fabric for a pattern or try wood burning or ANYTHING.  It’s perfect for personalizing!

Now I’m off to go double check the lunch got packed for Will.  Knowing me, I probably packed one and then ate it 🙂