How to Make a DIY Advent Calendar

Supplies: You will need a large strong sheet of cardboard, scissors, glue or glue stick, newspaper, green paint, brush, small bell, colored ribbon and individually wrapped candies. Colorful candies look great as does the ribbon.

Step One: Draw a diagram of your tree on the cardboard. Use a sheet of cardboard that is at least 14 by 18 inches. A little larger won't hurt. You can use a coloring book template if you choose for your tree. Then use the scissors or an ex facto knife and cut your tree out. Go slow. You don't want to bend your tree too much. The stiffer the cardboard finished product the better.

Step Two: Using the green paint and brush, paint your tree only on one side. Be sure you have it placed on newspaper. Then, set it aside to dry.

Step Three: Measure off your ribbon at least 10 inches long. Cut yourself 24 pieces of the ribbon.

Step Four: Space out the 24 pieces of ribbon on your green tree. Glue the center of the ribbon at different locations. Leave plenty of length on the ends of the ribbon. Set this aside to dry well.

Step Five: Make two small holes at the top of the tree and tie your bell in place. It will be tied on the backside of the cardboard.

Step Six: Tie your pieces of candy into place, with the loose ribbon strands. Make sure that they are secure enough not to fall.

Your Advent calendar is finished. You can mark each piece of candy with a number going from 1 to 24. Use a simple marker for this.

For each day, a ribbon is untied and a piece of candy is eaten. Save the best candy for the last few days. An Advent Calendar is a great lead up to Christmas. It helps to build anticipation of the big day, with a daily countdown.

Comments (1)

jswana said:

	... Okay. I know how important Advent is but never thought of a calendar. Unique and useful!
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November 27, 2011
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