Vacation Countdown Calendar

Vacation Countdown Calendar

Last year, we went on our first Disney Cruise and had a blast!  Before we got off the ship, we booked a cruise for this year.  Obviously, it was going to be a long wait, so I decided to make a fun visual way to keep track of how long until we leave.  This vacation countdown calendar also helps with teaching the days of the week for kids who are having a hard time with the concept of time and days.  It makes learning more fun.

This vacation countdown calendar is really easy and cheap to make.  I used an inexpensive frame that I purchased from Dollar General, along with Silhouette vinyl and my Silhouette Cameo.

The first thing I did was to take out the insides of the frame and left it with just the back, frame, and glass.

Then, I measured the black vinyl to fit the back cardboard part of the frame that opens up.  It is a little tricky to keep the glass and frame up in order to measure and place the vinyl.  I found it took an extra helping hand.

Now that the vinyl is in the frame, it is time to start planning out the lettering.  I chose the Waltograph font; since, we are counting down to a Disney Cruise.

I loaded the vinyl I wanted to cut into the Cameo.  Then, I programmed the cut into the Silhouette software.

After I cut what I wanted, I weeded all the extra vinyl away to expose the wording and decoration.  (Note:  I didn’t plan my colors very well.  Next time, I would definitely make the anchor and kite a brighter color because they didn’t show up as well as I wanted against the black.)

Then, I used my transfer tape to take each word…

over to the back vinyl under the glass.  Before placing the first word, I had already planned out where I wanted things to go.

After placing the word and rubbing over the word to make sure it was adhered to the black vinyl, I gently pulled back on the transfer tape.

After placing all the words where I wanted them, I was ready to add the couple of extra decorations.  Then, I closed up the back.  

We use chalk pens that can write on glass to change the date, day, and countdown every day.  It is an easy and fun way to countdown to our next vacation for years to come.  

If you are interested in making one for your family, I would suggest putting a fun shape where you are putting the number of days left.  This shape could correspond to what you are doing for your vacation, like a pail for a beach trip.  In our case, we may add a Mickey head…  😉