Handmade Advent Calendar ideas and inspiration

I love advent calendars, I always have done. When I was a kid I used to love opening the little windows to see what picture I would get each day (we didn't have chocolates back then - sigh!) I looked forward to the 25th so much. Usually that would be a bigger window with double doors (whoooh!) and you knew there would be a nativity scene behind it.

When our kids were really young they had shop bought standard calendars, you know they type - the rather un-Christmassy tv character picture on the front and the microscopic chocolates behind the doors. So in the early 2000’s they made their own and in typical "waste not want not", "ain't broken don't fix it" style we used them every year for at least the next 15 years. I add a little sweet for each day, mostly chewies as I like to use ones which are wrapped, but the odd mini chocolate Santa or coin got in there too.

So today I'm sharing our old homemade calendars in all their slightly beat up glory and a few words about how we made them.

Plus I have a fantastic collection of great DIY advent calendar ideas and tutorials which might inspire you to make your own too. Who knows, you might still be using it in 10+ years like us!

First then our old handmade Advent Calendars.

Our daughter made this paper mache masterpiece.

It is a large piece of thick card with 25 small boxes glued on. We saved a load of boxes, the sort that toothpaste comes in is a good size, you can use both ends because you want to cut the top off anyway.

The whole thing was then covered in paper mache all over, we used kitchen roll and watered down pva. 

Then when it was dry it was painted with green acrylic paint.

Then she went to town cutting out coloured card shapes and decorating them with 1 to 25. She used mostly puff paints, but I think there are some sequins on there too.

When the paint was dry the numbers got glued on randomly and a few final flourished added with gold and silver pen.

Here's a word of warning if you do have a go, don't use very thin, narrow boxes (like number 7 in the photo below) , it is really hard to get the sweets out!

The boys both went for a matchbox advent calendar. You need 25 matchboxes to make one of these. You can buy matchboxes especially for crafts but I actually found it cheaper to buy boxes with matches in them and we haven't run out of matches since!

The boys decided on the arrangement of boxes they wanted and we glued them together. Then we covered the edges with a strip of coloured paper.

The slidey out bit of the matchboxes had a paperfastener added to make a little handle. I did this by stabbing though with a skewer holding a lump of bluetack inside. I did NOT let the kids do that bit!

We drew numbers on each drawer front and they each got a sprinkling of glitter "snow".

Then they stuck some decorations on. A cake decoration boy, a little paper tree, tiny people meant for model railways and some (giant!) presents made from playdough to go round the Christmas tree, sadly I see a few have dropped off over the years :-(

The last homemade Advent Calendar in our house is one I made for my husband a few years ago as a surprise. He insists we share it so each year one of us is odds and the other evens.

This was super easy. I cut manilla envelopes in half and just glued them to make little packets and then just Googled Christmassy numbers, printed them out and stuck them on. The little packets are just attached to a length of wool by an assortment of mini clothes pegs. Ours is in number order as we don't have time in the mornings to be looking for the right day, however by about the 10th it doesn't hang very straight. The weight of the sweets on the right makes it pull across - by the 25th they are all gone and it hangs beautifully again. You might want to mix the numbers up to stop that happening.

Are you inspired to make your own Advent Calendar this year? 

There's still time and they don't have to be involves a sweet each day. Check out some of these lovely ideas too, lots of fabulous alternatives. Click on the photos to go straight to the tutorial:

This round advent calendar by Organized 31 is made from an old record - how clever is that?!

This beautiful fabric tree from Little Red Window gets gradually decorated as Christmas gets closer, so beautiful.

I love this 3D paper tree with pop out ornaments from Barley and Birch.

This washing line idea from While He Was Napping also has activities for each day, and free printables included.

This mini chest of drawers by Ribbons and Glue is just stunning, I love the metallic finish papers. 

Hugs are Fun have created this beautiful modern felt Advent Calendar with a brilliant super clear step by step tutorial.

Christina, Plain and Simple had a genius idea and did a temporary switch round on an existing piece of art just for Christmas time - clever stuff!

Here is another from Creative Ramblings, little bead pots attached to a baking tray with magnets, how cute is that? 

Here’s another Advent calendar made of fabric with pockets. This one has a cute stick that you move along as the days pass and is from The DIY Dreamer.

This is another idea with little paper envelopes, I love how Claire from Pillar Box Blue has used a wooden coat hanger to display them.

And here's another idea from Pillar Box Blue , an advent calendar made from jeans pockets -how fab is that?! 

Recycler extraordinaire Vicky Myers has used the insides of toilet rolls and washi tape to make her super simple Advent Calendar. Plus she has LOADS of ideas for activities you can add in there for the kids to do each day in preparation for Christmas.

The folks at Just Measuring Up made this felt masterpiece, so much fun.

These little crocheted stockings from Hobbycraft are just adorable.

Cushelle, the toilet paper company, has a craft section on their website full of fun ideas, like this Advent Calendar village. Cute eh?

I love the simplicity of the fabulous jar advent calendar from Little Kimono

This crocheted advent calendar is a free pattern from My Poppet Makes. It looks fancy but this simple shapes so woul dbe easy enough for even a beginner crocheter I think. Maybe not a first ever project, but really quite straightforward.

This simple clay tag advent calendar by Craftberry Bush is just beautiful. Perfect if you want something sophisticated to fit with your decor.

I have more advent calendar ideas on my Christmas Craft Ideas pinterest board too along with lots of other festive bits and pieces. 

Maybe this will be the year when you make a family heirloom calendar.

Don't worry if you've already bought a shop version, you can just eat those teeny chocolates with a cup of tea whilst making your home made masterpiece, no-one will ever know!

Julie

I'll be linking up at all these great link parties