My Mother-in-Law’s birthday is fast approaching. Since we live in different states, I wanted to mail her something special to help her count down to her big day.
With a little help from my toddler, we made her a birthday countdown garland!
(You can get detailed instructions on this project and print my free countdown cards here: Birthday Countdown Garland.)
In a nutshell, we printed a bunch of family photos, made countdown cards, and bought 11 boxes of candy.
Then, we unrolled some plastic wrap in a long, straight line (approximately 11-feet of it!). We made 11 countdown piles and spaced them evenly on the plastic wrap (each pile included two photos, one countdown card, and one box of candy).
Then we folded the plastic wrap over the piles, almost like we were wrapping a burrito:
We took some curling ribbon, and tied a bow at both ends of each pile:
Once our garland was complete, we decorated the inside of a USPS box (the Regional Rate Box B’s are perfect for this activity!). We used stencils to write “Happy Birth-day Grandma” on the flaps of the box:
Then we shipped the birthday garland off to help my Mother-in-Law celebrate!
The idea of the countdown is to let her cut off one piece a day, every day, starting ten days before her birthday.
This is the second birthday garland I’ve made, and they’ve both turned out so beautifully! I highly recommend this project – it’s a great, surprising way to help a loved one celebrate their big day!
Happy arting!