Entries Tagged as 'DIY advent calendar'

DIY advent calendar

It’s that time of year – time for my annual DIY advent calendar.  Since I shared my mini forest DIY advent calendar last year, I have had so much love for it.  It even got featured in Marie Claire Maison. Wow!  So this year the stakes were high – I’ve also had readers asking me months ago what I was going to make this Christmas!

I went through a few DIY advent calendar ideas but in the end I loved the idea of making santas and their little elves.  Aren’t they so Christmassy and cute?  I chose different sizes as they not only look great but also allow me to put different size gifts under each one.   I love making my annual advent calendar to share here and inspire others but also it’s Anya’s favourite part of Christmas by far.  She adores the little surprise that each day brings and that makes making my own advent even more special for me.

diy advent calendar

To make this DIY advent calendar you will need:
24 craft cones in different widths and sizes
acrylic paints (in your chosen colours)
a fine black pen
mini felt balls
number stickers
glue

advent calendar to make for childrenmake your own diy advent calendar

First of all get your cardboard cones and using a pencil mark out the outline of the hat area and face for the santa cones.  Also mark out the little face area for the elves.

Next paint the santa hats in your chosen colours, paint the beard bit white and the face bit in a skin tone colour – I used an acrylic paint colour called antique white.  Similarly paint the elf cones and their faces. Some colours will require two coats for a better finish otherwise the cardboard will show through.

Using a fine black pen draw on little eyes for both the santas and the elves.  Glue the felt balls on to make santa’s noses and thats the cones done.  Either use number stickers to number the cones or you can even paint or write them on.  Finally, add little gifts, notes or whatever you like under the cones and you have a super cute advent calendar.

DIY advent calendar for kidsDIY advent calendar santa

What I especially love about this DIY advent calendar is that it’s simple enough for kids to make.  Just get them the cones and they can create and decorate the santas as they wish.  Also once the advent calendar has been used, you can easily turn these santas and elves into hanging Christmas tree decorations.  Do you make your own advent calendar?  I’d love to hear about what you make.

{I bought the cones on ebay but they are easily available from craft shops as are the felt balls.}

"DIY Christmas advent calendar"

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?

"DIY origami advent calendar""DIY Christmas tree advent calendar"

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)

"DIY Christmas advent calendar 2014"

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.

"make your own advent calendar"

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.

"DIY advent calendar ideas"

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}

"DIY stars advent calendar"This year I really wanted to make an advent calendar for my daughter Anya.  Being Indian, while growing up we didn’t really celebrate Christmas although we did occasionally get gifts.  But we never had anything as fun and exciting as an advent calendar.  So this year I decided to make Anya these little gold star topped boxes with a hint of neon pink. "DIY gold start advent calendar"This DIY advent calendar was easy and fun to make.  I used: mini white favour boxes, glittery gold card, cocktail sticks broken in half, washi tape, real leaves, gold spray, gold glitter and tape. "DIY advent calendar" I cut out 24 stars from gold card and stuck each star with tape on to half a cocktail stick that I had covered in neon pink washi tape.  I also added an extra little detail of a gold leaf on each box.  I took 24 tiny leaves from a bunch of flowers I had at home and sprayed them gold.  At the moment I’ve numbered the stars graphically but I have little white number stickers and I’m going to let Anya do the stickering which will delight her no end!  Alternatively, you could also put the numbers on the gold leaf.  Finally, I sprinkled some glitter over all of the boxes to add a bit of extra sparkle.

Have you made an advent calendar this year?  What did you make?

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