Hey guys, Masha here from Masha Plans!

Christmas is still a few months away, but shops are already filling out with some red and gold goodness to bring cheer to our houses and hearts.

I personally love Christmas! It’s been the biggest holiday of the year since I was a kid and nothing brought me more joy than playing with my Barbie dolls under the Christmas tree.

I also feel like 2020 has been very difficult for us all, so maybe we all need some extra cheer this holiday season.

That’s why today, we’ll be creating a Christmas countdown. Something to add a bit of holiday spirit to every day.

SUPPLIES

For the notebook, I’m using my Kraft journal again. It’s been my obsession lately and I’m not ready to let it go.

I also decided to use some of my acrylograph pens, since they are beautiful and I love their vivid colors!

Don’t forget that if you want to buy any of Archer and Olive goodies you can use code MASHA10 for 10% off your order.

THE CONCEPT

When you create a countdown, it’s nice if every day you have to color something, or cross something out.

For me, it’s always been coloring. Just check my countdown page from last year in a B5 Archer and Olive journal.

You can also do it differently and create (or find) a list of doodle prompts  to do every day until Christmas.

But today I want to do something a little bit different, more minimalistic.

Holiday season is also probably the busiest season out there with all the preparations for the big day, and all the work related things you need to finish before the end of the month.

This month, I’m planning to go full on work crazy, with full on self care moments. So I wanted my countdown to be as simple as possible.

So! here is the idea - I’ll create 25 doodles in 25 sections, and each day, I’ll just add a dot in the corner with the number.

I also decided to write the numbers from 25 to 1, so it’ll be easy to see how many days there are actually left until Christmas.

I also really like the simplicity of black and white ink on kraft paper, so I’ll be only using that for my doodles. That way the dot that symbolizes the day is over will be even more noticeable.

Ok, let’s get into it!

STEP 1 - PENCIL SKETCH

I always start with the pencil, so here it is.

This time I first created a table with 25 sections, and then penciled in a header idea.

I wanted to write Christmas instead of Xmas, but there was not enough space for the size of the letters I liked, so Xmas it is.

STEP 2 - 25 SECTIONS

The next step is to create those 25v sections you need for the countdown.

It can totally be a table, but I felt like I really wanted it to be separated boxes. I’m not sure if it’s well seen, but I also added a shadow to the right and bottom part of each box. I’ve been really loving this effect as well, so couldn’t resist.

STEP 3 - HEADER

Next step is creating our header.

I went with a pretty simple one you won’t have any difficulty replicating - just some capital letters and a huge bubbly font for the big word.

I just want to mention again how much I love the acrylograph pens and how perfect these colors are!

STEP 4 - DOODLES

This is the most fun and the most time consuming part - actually creating 25 Christmas themed doodles.

Don’t worry though, here are some ideas for you:

• Mittens
• Socks
• Bells
• Candy
• Christmas tree
• Stockings
• Marshmallows
• Cocoa / coffee
• Christmas tree decorations
• Santa hat
• Candles
• Bells
• Presents
• Snowman
• Christmas lights
• Star
• Gingerbread cookies
• Christmas card
• Polar bear
• Santa
• Penguin
• Elf
• Snowflake
• Tree topper
• Wreath

What I decided to do here is to draw each doodle in black or white and add grey shadow. I just really dig this effect on kraft paper.

But again - you can do the same doodles with just an outline and later color one every day.

STEP 5 - ADD DATES

The final step is to add the dates and the countdown is ready to go!

PLAN WITH ME

Come and let’s doodle together in this little video.

FREE PRINTABLE

Your free printable today if a countdown page, but here is the trick - I left the fun doodling part for you!

Have a little bit of fun each day filling out this tracker.

Will you be creating a countdown page in your Bullet Journal? If you will be sure to tag me @mashaplans and @archerandolive on Instagram, we would love to see your creations.

Keep Bullet Journaling and Don’t Be A Blob!