Are you excited about the holidays? I mean, who isn’t? It’s a time for family, appreciating our blessings, as well as giving back. Aside from putting up Christmas decorations or a Christmas tree with your family, one of the most fun activities you can do is creating a homemade advent calendar. It’s a fun activity to do with your kids and the cutest way to pass the days until Christmas itself.
Creating a Homemade Advent Calendar: A Brief History
Before we start creating our homemade advent calendar, let’s learn about the origin of the advent calendar. According to Mental Floss, Advent calendars typically don’t follow the period of Advent. Instead, they begin on December 1 and mark the 24 days before Christmas. Today, most Advent calendars include paper doors that open to reveal an image, Bible verse, or piece of chocolate. The tradition dates to the mid-19th century when German Protestants made chalk marks on doors or lit candles to count the days leading up to Christmas.
How To Make a Homemade Advent Calendar
Now for the part we’ve all been waiting for, here’s how you can create your own homemade Advent calendar:
Decide on a Theme
Let your kids decide on a theme. It will be much more enjoyable to them, especially if they are into the theme of the calendar. However, if they’re having a bit of trouble choosing an idea, you can suggest a theme you think they’d love.
Prepare Your Materials
Once you’ve decided on a theme, go and prepare your materials. If you have a crafts room, utilize your spare or excess materials and create your project with your kids there. Make sure to supervise your kids when you’re giving them tools or materials.
Homemade Advent Calendar Inserts
Before you start crafting your calendar, pick something you’d put inside each day of your calendar. It can be a small toy, candies, or even messages. Alternatively, you can create a coloring book where they’ll color an image until Christmas. Once they’ve completed coloring the images, you can give them a small gift.
Start Making Your Homemade Calendar
And we’re off to creating things! Depending on your theme, make sure to get a clear idea or a plan on how your calendar would look like. Use spare design accessories or materials you’ve bought from the store to decorate your Advent calendar. Draw images, sprinkle some glitter, and paste decor if necessary. Get inspiration here.
Final Step
Lastly, once you’re done creating your homemade Advent calendar, put it somewhere where your kids can easily have access to it. Make it a routine to open it or read the messages in it each day until Christmas.
That’s how you craft a homemade advent calendar. I hope you had fun creating it with your kids, siblings, family, or friends. Remember to share the true spirit of Christmas or this holiday with your loved ones. Do you have any suggestions to add? Leave them in the comment section below.