Hallmark Designer Ashley H. likes to make things, and she especially likes making things for her kids. This year she decided to make a Halloween Countdown Tree her kids could enjoy and at the same time put the constant questioning of how many days until Halloween to rest. Read on as she shares all the deets for making your own!

I don’t know about you, but my kids are all about countdowns. We countdown everything­—days before major holidays (or any holiday), days until a vacation, a sleepover with cousins, and even pizza night. This year for Halloween I thought I would deal with the daily question of “how many more days until…” with a countdown tree. Of course, 13 is the perfect number to countdown to Halloween for the creep factor and the proverbial unlucky qualities. So the first step for me was to count back 13 days from Halloween to set the countdown start date of October 19^th.

Supplies for your DIY Halloween Countdown Tree

• a branch or two (take a walk with your kiddos and let them help in the search for the perfect branches)
• 13 cloth bags (found at a local craft store)
• black fabric dye
• plastic container
• black craft paint
• number stamps (or paint on the numbers with a paint pen or paint brush)
• basket (or vessel to place your branch in)
• floral block
• clip
• dowel rod
• moss

Now that you have all your supplies gathered, you can start making your Halloween Countdown Tree. Let’s start with the bags:

Dip Dying cloth bags

Gather your supplies.

Pour the black dye into the plastic container. Clip your bags together and thread a dowel rod through the clip.

Drop the bags into the dye, resting the dowel rod on the top of the container. Let them soak for a few hours.

Rinse the bags under water to remove excess dye. Let the bags dry.

Once dry, add the numbers 1 through 13 to the bags by stamping or freehand painting. If you slide a small scrap of paper into the bags before marking them, it won’t bleed through to the other side. And if you find the stamped numbers aren’t quite solid enough, fill in the numbers with a Sharpie.

I rethreaded a black velvet ribbon into each bag because I liked the look better, but that’s totally optional.

Make your countdown tree

Cut the floral blocks so they’ll fit into the bottom of the basket. I chose to stack three blocks on top of each other to add height to the branches.

Push the branch or branches into the floral blocks until secure. You might have to add rocks to the basket for stability.

Add moss to the top to finish the look.

Finish with Halloween tricks and treats

Fill the bags with Halloween treats and trinkets. You can also add little slips of paper with activities for your family such as “Go to the Pumpkin Patch.”

Tie the bags to the tree.

Find a cute spot in your home to place the Halloween Countdown Tree and let your kids “Ooo” and “Ahh” over your craftiness while they lose their minds with excitement each day they open a new bag.

Have a Happy Halloween Countdown!

Show us how you’re counting down to Halloween! Tag us in your Instagram photos (@think.make.share). And don’t forget to check out what’s going on in Hallmark stores for the spooky season!

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— Ashley H.