Well, here we all are in the fast lane to Christmas once again. But while November is disappearing at a rate of knots, it’s not too late to add a special personalised touch to your children’s Christmas experience, with a DIY advent calendar. So, this weekend, grab your kids, break out the glue sticks, and get your Christmas craft on!

Four Steps For Making a DIY Advent Calendar

Choose your advent calendar style

The beauty of DIY advent calendars is that you can choose a style that suits you and your budget. So, if you’re good with a sewing machine, you can create an advent calendar out of fabric. Simply sew 24 or 25 pockets on to your fabric of choice, add a hanger, and you’re done! If you have a bit of cash to splash, you can buy wooden advent calendar blanks from just about every craft shop in town and decorate it yourself. You can use a series of small, numbered boxes. Or for the lowest possible budget, simply write a clue list on a sheet of A4, and create a daily mini treasure hunt for your children to enjoy.

Get the kids involved with decorating

Advent calendars always feel that bit more special when they’ve been decorated by your children. So, break out the paints and glue, pens and stampers, and let their creative juices run free! The only thing you really need to worry about is making sure that each drawer, box, or pocket is clearly labelled with a number.

Choose some gifts

It’s tempting to go overboard when you make your first advent calendar. But remember, you’re setting the bar for future years. And as your children get older it’s only going to get more expensive. And as some children at school won’t have advent calendars, it can be kind to minimise the bragging rights. So, it’s a good strategy to opt for smaller, cheaper gifts, with one or two bigger surprises mixed in for good measure, if you have the budget. If you’re shopping for one child, then a bag of Swizzels Scrumptious Sweets is a great place to start. With an average of 18 sweets per bag, that’s the job almost done. If you have a larger family, a 3kg pack of Mini Me sweets will give you a couple of sweets for each advent calendar pocket and leave plenty to spare for Christmas games and guests.

Mix it up

To add a bit of variety and maintain the excitement, it can be fun to integrate different elements into your advent calendar. So, maybe put the weekday treats in the drawers and hide the treats for weekend days, putting clues for your children to decipher. Or if you also enjoy setting up Elf on the Shelf activities, let your elf hide the advent calendars for your children to find.

While there are plenty of branded advent calendars to choose from, there’s something special about making your own. It adds excitement to the festive period. And it can give you a little something to treasure and look back on when your littlies have littlies of their own.