DIY Great Advent Ideas

Well it is that time of year to start counting down 'til the big man heads down from the North Pole!  The idea of an advent calendar is huge for little ones and adults! Hey we need to know how much time we have left to buy, bake, party, and whatever else, but then knowing when we turn over # 24 that we have that one day to sit around in our pj's makes it all worthwhile! :)

So how can I make my own advent calendar you ask?  Here are some of my favorite ideas from my art teaching days and now my pinterest obsessed pinning days!

This printable Santa Beard Advent calendar is super cute and way inexpensive!  24 cotton balls and the printable version makes this project easy-peezy for 2+ years.  As well as affordable!You can have one for everyone to do in the house.  Trust me it's the worst when you hear fighting coming from the advent area of who's going to turn over the paper today! My hubby's the worst ;-)




Paper Ring:
Now who can ever forget the endless paper ring trains you'd make in elementary school.  These are awesome for counting down birthdays, school letting out for summer, and of course advent calendar.  What I love about it is that it can be in green's and reds for Christmas and blues and whites for Hannukah! You can work it one of two ways.  Waxing or waning :)  So you can add a ring for everyday or have fun one day after Thanksgiving and assemble your entire garland or tree (to do this tree refer to this picture to assemble) and then take a ring off for every day!
*Side note when assembling the these rings make sure you splurge for the tape, assembling with glue is a mess!

Christmas book advent:
Gather 25 children’s books preferably Christmas books, consider swapping some books with a friend or get some at the thrift store. Wrap all 25 of them in Christmas paper and let the kids pick a new book to unwrap each night.Great way to bond with your kiddos, get into the spirit and read to your kids!

Now for the more adventurous, artsy parents here are a couple that might require hot glue guns, nails and hammers and lots of prep, but totally worth the time!

This up-cycled #cothespin calendar is awesome if you don't want to get too fancy but still are just itching to make something.  Difficulty level is a 3 out of 5 let's say.  You'll need a printer and paper, paint, sturdy card stock(poster board will be too flimsy, cardboard would be fine too) and ribbon!  We love the green aspect of this calendar!

Another up-cycled calendar is this toilet paper roll calendar.  The simplicity and beauty of the toilet paper rolls makes this easy and so nostalgic looking! The candy doesn't have to be a kitkat obviously, but if you have left over Halloween candy you could use this, you could put healthier snack options like raisin packets, ornaments, crayons, etc...the options are endless!



Finally I save the hardest for last... The reason I think it is the hardest is that you have to come up with 24 daily and new activities to do for the Activity Calendar...for the whole family!  It does require some cutting and gluing and printing and who's to say that you couldn't have some repeats.  I think hot chocolate with a peppermint stick can be used at least 2,3, maybe even 4 times ;-)


*couple of tips... go to a craft store and buy scrap book paper and poster board. If you have  double sided tape that will work best!

Have fun coming up with fun winter activities and enjoy the countdown!