The countdown to Christmas is around the corner. One of my favourite parts about the countdown to Christmas is advent calendars! I have four advent calendar DIYs that you can do with your family to make every day until Christmas extra special.

The Ultimate Advent Calendar

This is a Christian Dare DIY for the more advanced. I used an Ikea Kallax 5×5 unit with 25 matching doors, wrapping paper and vinyl numbers to create the ultimate holiday giveaway advent. Custom vinyl gives it a clean and simple look, but don’t forget to fill your shelves with magical surprises. I love that the large size means you can hide all sorts of goodies inside.

For an advent calendar that won’t take over the whole house, I have three advent creations for custom Christmas fun.

Recycled cardboard house advent  

You will need:

• Recycled Cardboard boxes
• hot glue gun
• a craft knife
• craft glue
• a house stencil (which you can print off the web)
• puffy paint (optional)
• faux snow
• vinyl numbers

Instructions:

1. First print out a simple house stencil, I found this one online. If you feel super talented, you could even try making your own stencil.
2. Transfer your stencil onto your recycled cardboard
3. Once you have all 5 pieces of your house ready to go (4 sides and 2 roof panels). We are going to hot glue them together.
4. Allow to dry. Now you can add trim if you like with white puffy paint.
5. Next, we are going to cover the roof in craft glue and light sprinkle on some snow.
6. Add in your numbers and you are ready to go.
7. But don’t forget to place a surprise under each house!

Envelope Advent:

You will need:

• Wire hoop wreath form
• string or yarn
• wooden mini clothespins
• white square envelopes
• vinyl numbers or craft marker

Instructions:

1. First things first – fill your envelopes. I suggest picking experiences for inside these like ice skating with grandma or skipping school today and skiing instead… etc.
2. Once all your envelopes are filled, seal them up and either hand write numbers on each card or apply vinyl.
3. Now to hang them: I suggest pre-cutting 25 lengths of string or yarn and attaching them to the gold hoop wreath form and a miniature clothespin at the other end.
4. Now all you have to do is clip on the number envelopes. And don’t worry about the order, half the fun is hunting for the correct number.

Paper Tree Advent:

You will need:

• Coloured paper
• Scissors
• Glue stick.
• Oh, and candy of course.

Instructions: