Marie from Makes and Takes created this simple and beautiful paper ring Christmas tree version:
One of the featured crafters on Makes and Takes also had a great idea to wrap one children's holiday book for every day and use those to count down to Christmas.
How fun would it be to read a different holiday story at bedtime every night?
I also love this idea Marie featured from Gingerbread and Snowflakes who created a mini pinata ornament Advent calendar!
The mini pinatas are time consuming to make so I don't know if you'll be able to knock this project out in the next 48 hours but they would be great gifts or party favors too. Did I mention they're made from water balloons? Kids will love these! You can find the step-by-step instructions here.
Makes and Takes also highlighted this fun Cookie Sheet Advent calendar by Anya at Life is What You Make It.
She took a metal cookie sheet, decorated it with scrapbook paper and then made all of the cute magnets with the dates on them.
No time to make the magnets? You could easily buy some or even use Christmas ornaments and attach a small magnet to the back of each one instead. Find out more about Anya's version here.
And last but not least, I have to share this adorable baby sock Advent calendar that I have bookmarked from Martha Stewart.
It really doesn't get any easier than this. All you need are a bunch of socks your little one has outgrown, some adhesive numbers, a clothes line or ribbon and some small clothes pins.
Put a number on each sock and fill them with tiny treats like these toys from the Dollar Store.
Hang the ribbon along your mantle or wall, attach each sock with a clothes pin and you're all done. Simple and sweet! You can get the full how to here.
Want to check out more great Advent calendar ideas? Kids Craft Weekly has a terrific list and don't forget the Candy Calendar I posted about earlier this month. And if you don't celebrate Christmas, you can easily tweak the number of days in these calendars to count down to Hannukah or New Year's too. Happy crafting!
Images: Makes and Takes, Gingerbread and Snowflakes, Life is What You Make It, Martha Stewart
Ok so the baby socks idea is adorable. I would love to do this, but with three kids, I may run out of room on the mantle lol
ReplyDeleteOh my, love the sock one!!! We have a Grandma-made one that we fill with similar type stuff, but I have been wondering what to do now that we have THREE kids instead of just one (this year my twins are too young to notice, I am hoping). I think they will have to take turns next year? Or I will have to get three of everything! Yeeeps!
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