DIY Advent Calendars for Your Christmas Countdown

This advent calendar is perfect for anyone who enjoys origami. In this calendar, each day is represented by an origami envelope made from decorative paper. You can use any scrapbook paper you might have lying around the house, or you can get specifically Christmas-patterned paper. You’ll need 24 squares of this patterned paper, a piece of cardstock to mount the envelopes on and other assorted art supplies. The origami process is quite simple and when you’ve made all 24 envelopes, you simply paste them to the cardstock and insert some treats!

This next advent calendar is adorable and makes use of the most ubiquitous symbol of the Christmas holiday — the Christmas tree! For this advent calendar, you’ll need a template that is available to download at the link below, green paper and some other crafting supplies. Using the template, create the cone-shaped Christmas trees. Then cut out 24 small circles of green paper and write the numbers 1 through 24 on them. These will be stuck to your trees so that you can count down the days to Christmas. Lay the trees out in any order somewhere in your home and place treats and small gifts underneath for your kids or guests to find.

This advent calendar is made from a muffin tin, which has its own, built-in compartments for the treats. You’ll need a muffin tin (a mini-muffin tin would also work well), a package of magnetic sheets and assorted scrapbooking supplies. First cut 24 squares out of the magnetic sheet. Then, using a circular model, cut circles from those squares. Cut numbers 1 through 24 out of scrapbook paper and paste each number onto one of your circles. Then you simply fill each compartment of the muffin tin with some candy or other treats and place the magnetic circles over the compartments.

For this advent calendar, it’s more about giving to others and spending time with family than it is about grabbing a piece of chocolate each day. To make this advent calendar, you’ll need 25 clothespins and 25 Christmas present tags or Christmas-related shapes cut out of scrapbook paper. Use whichever shapes you’d like and decorate them however you want. Then you need a Christmas ribbon or string of garland from which to hang these shapes via the clothespins. You can string these from your mantlepiece or down the bannister of a staircase.

This advent calendar is especially innovative! It’s constructed out of 2-inch round party tins, a metal sheet, colored and patterned paper, and some other crafting supplies. To assemble each tin to represent a day on the way to Christmas, you’ll need to create the circular pieces of cardstock with numbers printed on them and adhere them to the inside of the party tins with Mod Podge. Add a circular piece of scrapbook paper to the bottom of the party tin as well, this one should be printed with a fun family activity. When you open each party tin, there will be a treat of some kind as well as a family, Christmas-related activity.

While all of the other advent calendars were in the more traditional style, this one is way out there and way awesome! If you have some old CD towers or shelves that you don’t know what to do with anymore, this craft is a great way to put them to good use. You’ll need red and green paper bags, which you can find at any craft store, various scrapbooking supplies, and of course some trinkets or candy to put inside each bag. This is by far the most creative advent calendar on this list, but it’s also the easiest to assemble. Simply put your trinkets in your bags and then arrange them artfully on your shelves!