Blue Peter Advent Crown

[kazboot]

As a kid I remember counting down the days to Xmas with the lighting of the candles on the Blue Peter Advent Crown.
Ooh! Four Blue Peters to Christmas!



They told you how to make it every year, but I never did.
Did anyone make one?

[sixtyten]

Re: Blue Peter Advent Crown

Guilty as charged.. amazing what a couple of coathangers and some tinsel can do

[Heather74]

Re: Blue Peter Advent Crown

We never seemed to have all the required stuff in the house at the same time. Plenty of loo rolls, cereal boxes and coathangers, but no sticky back plastic, pipe cleaners or glue
That goes for whatever they were making not just the advent.

"Send grannys, mummys and aunties out of the room"

[Danny]

Re: Blue Peter Advent Crown

We never seemed to have all the required stuff in the house at the same time. Plenty of loo rolls, cereal boxes and coathangers, but no sticky back plastic, pipe cleaners or glue
That goes for whatever they were making not just the advent.

"Send grannys, mummys and aunties out of the room"

There just never, ever seemed to be anywhere that actually stocked 'sticky backed plastic'

I used to think it was really made by the BBC props dept and that the Blue Peter presenters were unaware of that when they recommended it

[sixtyten]

Re: Blue Peter Advent Crown

Search would have been easier if the Beeb were allowed to use its trade name of Fablon

[Heather74]

Re: Blue Peter Advent Crown

along with sticky tac (blu tac) , Sticky tape ( sellotape) and the trusty glue stick (pritt stick)

[mazzer]

Re: Blue Peter Advent Crown

Oh gawd!!! Remember how they used to put tape over brand names? I can vividly recall them making something out out of a Smarties tube with just the word "Smarties" covered up. Like we wouldn't see through the cunning disguise!

[FLYING SAUCER]

Re: Blue Peter Advent Crown

Sticky backed plastic was expensive, we used to line cutlery drawers and the like, you had to buy a roll of it too - called Fablon? you can get it still, I would like to see some styles from the 1970's!

As for the Advent Crown It was so simple and kept you amused for ages, but never lit it, wonder how many set fire?

[Trickyvee]

Re: Blue Peter Advent Crown

It was really hard to find a lot of the things they used on Blue Peter. They'd often use stuff like shiny card, double-sided sticky tape and metallic markers which were virtually impossible to find in those days and they were expensive. It also annoyed me that they used pristine, clear glass pyrex dishes for all the cooking. I wanted pristine clear glass pyrex dishes when I was making my pancakes too, not my mum's assortment of chipped and mismatched bowls from the 70's!

[Megawitch]

Re: Blue Peter Advent Crown

We made an advent crown at home once. We put fairy lights on it and an adaptor for the light socket so it lit up when you switched on the light. It didn't work as an advent calender though as all the lights came on at once but it made a nice decoration.

I also did one with the Cub Scouts when I was Akela, again without the candles, just as a decoration.


You could get sticky back plastic on a roll like sellotape, (I think Sellotape made it). It wasn't easy to find though, only specialist craft shops had it in big towns. It is still available, I have some in my drawer here. You could also use sellotape rolled up backwards to achieve the same effect.

But how did we ever manage without Velcro? Sew on, sticky backed, long rolls, squares, dots etc?

[stockportyears]

Re: Blue Peter Advent Crown

Oh gawd!!! Remember how they used to put tape over brand names? I can vividly recall them making something out out of a Smarties tube with just the word "Smarties" covered up. Like we wouldn't see through the cunning disguise!

The 'Father Dear Father' feature film was on recently and Patrick Cargill was shown at his breakfast table with a box of cereal. However, with all the rules about branding in the 70s, someone had used red felt-tipped pen to alter the logo from Kellogg's Special K to Rellogg's Special R.

I looked for some Rellogg's Special R in a leading supermarket the other day, but they didn't seem to stock any.

[Grosh62]

Re: Blue Peter Advent Crown

The 'Father Dear Father' feature film was on recently and Patrick Cargill was shown at his breakfast table with a box of cereal. However, with all the rules about branding in the 70s, someone had used red felt-tipped pen to alter the logo from Kellogg's Special K to Rellogg's Special R.

I looked for some Rellogg's Special R in a leading supermarket the other day, but they didn't seem to stock any.

Stocky, I saw an old VHS in Oxfam called 'Rather Dear Rather' starring Ratrick Oargill, could it be the same film?

[Austin Maxi]

Re: Blue Peter Advent Crown

I used to watch Blue Peter all the time, but I must admit I could never be bothered to try and make an advent crown, besides, I didn't want to potentially burn the house down.

"Hang on though, I think I can hear the Chalk Farm Salvation Army Band coming up the hill!"

[Austin Maxi]

Re: Blue Peter Advent Crown

The 'Father Dear Father' feature film was on recently and Patrick Cargill was shown at his breakfast table with a box of cereal. However, with all the rules about branding in the 70s, someone had used red felt-tipped pen to alter the logo from Kellogg's Special K to Rellogg's Special R.

I looked for some Rellogg's Special R in a leading supermarket the other day, but they didn't seem to stock any.

I imagine if you go to a supermarket and ask where the Special Rs are kept, you might be re-directed to Amsterdam!

[Richard1978]

Re: Blue Peter Advent Crown

I've noticed in Open All Hours sometimes the logo had been blanked out on a product in a close up, even when there are lots of branding & ads in sight during the long shots.