Who’s tired of buying cheap advent calendars from the dollar store that are filled with chocolate of questionable quality?
I am!
There are plenty of options when it comes to DIY Christmas advent calendars – some may take a bit of time to put together, while others are super easy to make.
So, if your looking for ideas for your yearly Christmas advent calendar, check out these awesome DIYs:
1. Envelopes
Take some colorful envelopes and tape them to a piece of bristol board or the wall – or you can use pushpins to stick them to a piece of corkboard.
Make sure to number each envelope!
You can place candy or small items in each envelope or a slip of paper with a fun holiday activity written on it.
2. Stacked Boxes
You can reuse old boxes, coffee cans, and more into a fun DIY Christmas advent calendar for kids! Decorate your vessels using paint or wrapping paper and number each of them.
Fill each box and can with a Christmas treat.
You can easily stack the boxes anywhere in your home – plus, this makes an adorable Christmas decoration!
3. Tube Countdown Calendar
In the spirit of recycling and reusing, you can also turn toilet paper tubes into a beautiful countdown calendar.
Close the bottoms of the tubes by using hot glue (watch your fingers!) or running the bottoms through a sewing machine.
You can paint the tubes any color your want, except white will give them the perfect wintery look!
Decorate the tubes with stickers or stamps, adding the numbers to the bottom.
Wrap some ribbon or lace around a corkboard or canvas, making four rows. Use clothespins to hang the tubes and fill them with some Christmas treats.
4. Paper Bag Advent Calendar
The best thing about DIY Christmas advent calendars is that they don’t have to be fancy! It’s all about the fun of opening up a little surprise every day.
This paper bag advent calendar is simple to make. In fact, your little ones can help you decorate the bags!
Once decorated, use clothespins to hang the bags from a string attached to your wall. Fill with treats!
5. Coloring Book
Not all advent calendars for kids have to include treats – it’s all about celebrating the anticipation of Christmas day!
Print out some festive Christmas images and add numbers to them. Compile them into a binder or duotang and let your little ones color one picture each day.
So easy!
6. Felt Calendar
For a more crafty DIY Christmas advent calendar, make a banner featuring a felt Christmas tree. Line the bottom of the banner with little pockets, each with a number on it.
Now, create 34 cute little felt ornaments and place one in each pocket. Let your child pull an ornament from the pockets every day and add them to the tree!
7. Snowman Countdown Clock
You can get super fancy and make a snowman countdown clock out of wood or simply make one using a paper plate.
Either way, you need something circular in shape that you can use as the snowman’s head. Write the numbers 1-25 along the edge and decorate the face with eyes and a mouth.
Create a carrot that you can attach to the circle – this will be the hand of the clock!
Oh, and give the snowman a hat.
Each day, your kids can move the nose along the numbers as they countdown to Christmas.
8. Punch-Out Advent Calendar
Okay, back to toilet paper tubes. Cover one end of each tube with tissue paper and a number, then place the tubes in a box (such as a shoe box).
Each day, your kids can “punch” through the tissue paper to get their treat. So easy!
9. Christmas Card Calendar
Using a corkboard, tack on 25 numbered Christmas cards. If you want to get fancy, you can arrange them in the shape of a Christmas tree!
Write a message, surprise, or activity idea on the inside of each card and have your kiddo open one every day.
10. Origami Box Advent Calendar
Folding origami boxes is super easy, and you can use them to hide small treats for your little ones!
Place a number on each and hang them up in your home. You can dangle them from a curtain rod or hang a branch from your fireplace to tie them to.
11. Santa’s Bag
For a really simple DIY Christmas advent calendar idea, wrap up each treat or small gift and place them in a bag – Santa’s bag!
This way, you don’t have to get fancy with arranging your advent treats or worry about presentation. Just remember to number each gift!
12. Christmas Village Advent Calendar
I love DIY Christmas advent calendars that double as adorable decorations!
Using small gift bags, decorate the fronts with little houses (you can cut these from cardstock or paint them on).
Arrange your “village” and add your treats. Super cute!
