Last year the advent calendar I made for Anya was a huge hit.  She loved opening those boxes so much and since about June of this year she has been regularly asking when she could have another advent calendar.  Of course I was going to make her another one, just not in June!  I think the advent calendar may have been her favourite part of Christmas which is just as much about the build-up as it is about the day.

This year I’ve made it a bit earlier as I wanted to share it with you sooner and I hope you like it.  I was drawn to origami as I chanced across some lovely matt origami paper in a deep green.  So I thought why not make a forest of mini Christmas trees and that’s exactly what happened.  But of course I needed to find a place for the gifts and what better place than under the trees?

To make this DIY advent calendar you will need:

Origami paper – you can choose any colour but I went for two shades of green
Mini paper cups – they’re called souffle or sauce cups
Gold spray
Mini number stickers (or you could hand write the numbers on)

To start with make the trees.  I followed an origami tree tutorial that I found online.  It was a bit tricky at first but after the 2nd or 3rd tree it was really easy so stick with it.  I didn’t even need to look at the instructions after the 5th or 6th tree.  Follow the tutorial exactly but I added one more step.  I blu-tacked each fold of all the trees as I found that they flared out too much otherwise, and didn’t stand up quite as well as I wanted them to.

Next take your mini paper cups – these are the little paper cups that you fill with ketchup and mayo.  They’re called soufflé cups and cost very little for loads of them.  I had them at home as I’ve used them in the past for Anya’s birthday parties to serve ketchup.  They make the perfect little pots to balance the trees on and of course to put your little gifts in.  Spray them gold – best to put them in a disposable cardboard box or similar otherwise they fly around when you spray as they’re so light.

Finally take your number stickers (if using) and stick them on.  Fill each pot with your little treat and place the tree on top.  That’s it – done!  You have an easy DIY advent calendar that looks so great.  Do you usually make your own advent calendars or do you buy them?

P.S. Don’t miss our newest DIY advent calendar for 2015. It’s a goodie!

I have linked up to Honest Mum’s Brilliant blog posts. 

P.S. Have you checked out our new kids clothing shop yet?

{All photos by ebabee}