From sentimental messages to your very own Christmas bucket list, count down the days until the holidays with these homemade advent ideas you can pop in your envelope advent calendar garland.
When you’ve made your envelope advent calendar garland you can use it year after year and fill it with whatever you’d like!
To craft your own you will need:
String
Brown craft envelopes
Scissors
Gold /silver pen
Mini wooden pegs
Using a metallic marker pen, number each of the craft envelopes 1-24 and if you’re feeling creative you can add festive doodles to the corners.
Now comes the fun part! You can fill each of the envelopes with whatever you’d like but here are some festive suggestions:
Festive Coupons
Hand-written messages with silly coupons like “free foot massage” will come in very handy after a hard days Chrismas shopping. Let your significant other or family members cash them in before the 25th. The perfect calendar where the only cost is your time and possibly some patience!
No more Chocolate!
The perfect option for those who are quite frankly fed-up of chocolate come December first, don’t worry we feel you! Fill your envelopes with something more preferable like different flavoured teas or coffee pods, miniature spirits for an evening tipple, or even just pictures of cute dogs.
Christmas Bucket List
Create a meaningful Christmas countdown full of ideas for things to do with your family. Some ideas can include bake a batch of Christmas cookies, make a Christmas playlist and go and look at a Christmas lights display. You can handwrite them onto gift tags or print them from your computer and slide them in. Every time you complete an activity, you can hang it on your tree for a sentimental decoration. Cute, right?
Attach each of the envelopes to the string in rows, gently opening the envelope and closing them around the string to secure. Alternatively, you can attach the envelopes to the string using wooden craft pegs.
If your wall space is wide enough, one piece of string will be enough for your garland.
Hang your festive garland using white tack or command hooks and enjoy counting down the days until Christmas.
There’s plenty of other advent calendar DIYs you can follow if you’re much craftier than us, here are a few of our favourites:
Takeout boxes
These cute little boxes are perfect for filling with chocolate, sweets, trinkets and hand-written messages to open every day on the lead up to Christmas. Write or stick your numbers on each box and stack them on top of one another on a side table in a pyramid shape. Get the tutorial here.
Christmas tree ornament
For the crafty and young at heart, you can create your very own Christmas tree ornament advent calendar to reuse time and time again. Decorate it with a mini bauble every day until Christmas Day for a simple and aesthetically-pleasing festive countdown. Get the tutorial here.
Ladder garland
Use a wooden display ladder to create a Scandinavian-inspired garland. Use small hessian pouches tied with red ribbon or decorated muslin craft bags and fill each of them with treats and small gifts. Tie the drawstring bags onto a piece of ribbon and attach either side of the ladder. Repeat until you have four or five rows of bags to create your garland.
Birch branches
Make a magical advent tree using birch branches or a bundle of twigs, mini baubles and chocolate coins. You can spray the branches with snow spray for a flocked effect or decorate with twinkling fairy lights. Arrange them in your favourite vase for a chic and contemporary calendar with a twist.
