Handmade Advent Calendar ideas and inspiration

This round up of handmade advent calendar ideas was first published in November 2014 and has now been updated and republished.

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 (whoo hoo!) 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 2000s 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 chocolate 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 let me tell you about our old handmade Advent Calendars

Paper mache box advent calendar

Our daughter made this paper mache advent calendar when she was about 8 or 9.

It is a large piece of thick card with 25 small boxes glued on. We spent a few weeks collecting lots of boxes before the make. Toothpaste boxes are a good size, you can use both ends and get 2 days from each box too.

The boxes were glued in place with a pva glue then the whole things was covered in paper mache. We used kitchen roll and watered down Mod Podge.

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

Our daughter then went to town cutting out coloured card shapes and decorating them with numbers 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.

I make these mistakes so you don’t have to: Here's a word of warning if you do have a go at making this kind of advent calendar. Don't use very thin, narrow boxes (like number 7 in the photo below) , it is really hard to get the sweets out! After the first year of difficulty I took to attaching a long thin strip of paper to the sweet I placed in box no 7 just so she could get it out without tipping the whole thing upside down.

Matchbox advent calendars

Our boys were younger (around 7 and 4ish) when we made these advent calendars. Bear in mind they’d been used every year for 10 years when these photos were taken and they’ve needed a few repairs in that time.

The boys both decided on making 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. Tip the matches into another container and you won’t run out of matches for years!

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.

Each of the drawer bit of the matchboxes had a paper fasteners (split pin) added to make a little handle. I did this by stabbing though with a skewer holding a lump of bluetack inside. I had those all prepped before we made these advent calendars, 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 the boys stuck some decorations on to decorate. I had picked up a few tiny things for them to use; cake decorations, a little paper tree, tiny model railway people and some (giant!) presents made from playdough to go round the Christmas tree, sadly I see a few have dropped off over the years :-(

I make these mistakes so you don’t have to: Another word of warning. If you make a matchbox advent calendar you are limiting what sweets you can fit in those little boxes. I struggled sometimes to find things that would fit. They always knew when mini chocolate santa day was coming because the little drawer wouldn’t shut properly! Only the smallest chocolate coins will fit so the boys ended up with a small square wrapped chewie sweet most days.

Mini Envelope Washing Line Advent Calendar

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 (bless him!) 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 envelopes are just attached to a length of yarn by an assortment of mini clothes pegs.

I make these mistakes so you don’t have to: Our mini envelopes are in number order as we don't have time in the mornings to be looking for the right day, however by about the 10th December it doesn't hang very straight. The weight of the sweets on the right makes it pull across forming a weird shape - by the 25th all the sweets are gone of course and the advent garland 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?

Check out some of these lovely handmade Advent Calendar ideas. There are lots of fabulous alternatives, some involve pockets for daily treats or sweet but some are more picture based. Click on a photo to go straight to the tutorial:

Upcycled Record Advent Calendar

This round advent calendar by Organized 31 is made from an old record - what a clever upcycle

Snowflake Christmas Tree Advent Calendar

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

Printable 3D paper tree

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

Washing Line Advent Calendar

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

Decorated Chest of Drawers

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

Felt Advent Calendar

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

Reversible Art Advent Calendar

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!

Upcycled Baking Tray Advent Calendar

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

Advent Calendar with Pockets

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.

Coat Hanger Advent Calendar

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.

Denim Pocket Advent Calendar

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

TP Tube Advent Calendar

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.

Felt Advent Calendar

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

Crochet Mini Stockings

These little crocheted stockings from Hobbycraft are just adorable.

Advent Village

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

Christmas Countdown Jar

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

Crochet Advent Calendar

This crocheted advent calendar is a free pattern from My Poppet Makes. It looks fancy but this simple shapes so would be easy enough for even a beginner crocheter I think. Maybe not a first ever project, but really quite straightforward. One to plan early for next year maybe?

Clay Tag Advent

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 if you are looking for more ideas.

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 homemade masterpiece, no-one will ever know!

Julie

I'll be linking up at some of these link ups

Check out some more Christmas crafting ideas: