This article was written by The Zillennial Zine’s spring editorial intern Asa Conroy. Find them on Instagram at @asakayconroy. If you would like to share an article with The Zillennial, send us an email at thezillennialzine@gmail.com.
Everyone deserves a fun holiday countdown, but sometimes the store-brought advent calendars don’t cut it. Either you can’t find the right theme to go with or you’re like me and have a specific hatred of advent calendar chocolate (it’s so plastic-y). Maybe it’s time to make a special calendar for yourself or your loved ones. Think about all the little gifts you could give to make the holiday season special and build your calendar. So, if you’re ready to make your DIY advent calendar ideas come true, here are some tips!
Get a General Idea
I’ll offer some specific ideas later, but a general idea will help you form your base. A traditional base is a wooden or cardboard box with doors/shelves for each day. The shelves are small for a singular piece of chocolate. So, you need to decide if you’re going for something “chocolate-sized” or “not-chocolate-sized.” The two most necessary measurements. Once you have your general idea, or specifically the size of your general idea, then you move onto your base. Or you could ditch the base altogether.
It’s your advent calendar, but you should set your limits early so you don’t wind up with a gift twice the size of your base and must start over. On the other hand, you don’t have to get the base first and only get a bunch of key chains, because those are the only trinkets that will fit. All you need is one rope to tug on and the rest will follow.
Base
Advent Calendar bases are available anywhere, you can pick one up on Amazon or Etsy. For the sake of timing, I’ll focus on some 12-day calendars so hopefully, you can have some time to be prepared without skipping a week or two. Additionally, if you don’t want a pre-made calendar you could make your own. Once you have your gifts planned, find a regular or decorative box that will fit them all, and then wrap and number each gift to place inside. Another idea is to number gift bags, depending on size you could hang them on twine or something similar. Lastly, this tutorial from Coquette Natalie will help you build your own!
- Advent 12 Drawer Countdown Box (PDF File Download) by PaperClosetDesigns
- Empty Advent Calendar Packaging, 12 Days of Packaging Countdown Calendar by MissCookiePackaging
- Countdown To Christmas with Festive Burlap Hanging Advent Calendar Bags (24 reusable bags) by Lucaidian
- Empty Advent Calendars to Fill Christmas Advent Calendar Boxes 24 Days Christmas Countdown Calendar by Falizifu Store
Calendar Fillers
The world is your gift list. You could put virtually ANYTHING into your advent calendar, but that sounds way too overwhelming. Also, it’s probably why you’re reading this, so focus on what best works for the person you’re making this for. If it’s for yourself, what do you want this holiday season, and if it’s for someone else, what could they want?
1: Chocolate/Candy
If pre-made advent calendar chocolates aren’t your thing, get a whole bunch of your favorites. They probably don’t come together anyway. You could put one piece per day or make a little gift bag for each day. If you go with the gift bag, go with a theme. You could have chocolate days and sour candy days!
2: Snacks
If you’re making the countdown calendar for someone without a sweet tooth, you could gift non-sugary snacks. You could get snack packs of the opener’s favorite chips, pretzels, popcorn, trail mixes, or whatever else you could think of and give a pack each day. Again, you could do with some theme days, chips one day and popcorn the next.
3: Drinks
You could find small bottles of your favorite drinks or even the ingredients to make them. Tiny bottles of champagne or wine are easy to come by, but you could also get larger bottles to share with others. I encourage drinking responsibly either way. If you’re looking for a non-alcoholic drink, you could do the same with juices or hot chocolate bombs. Regardless, remember to store them in proper temperatures.
4: Self-Care
There are quite a few self-care activities or products you could put throughout the days. You could gift bath bombs, face masks, lip balms, and more. You could also put some activities such as yoga, meditation, or journaling exercises. Just give yourself a few days of advent-mandated self-care before the holidays hit.
5: Accessories
This one covers a lot of ground, but you could gift a new accessory each day. This could be hair clips, bows, sunglasses, socks, necklaces, rings, bracelets, and I don’t think I left anything out but if I did you could add those too. These could be special wintery gifts to get in the mood or just regular ones you would want to give someone else or just to yourself. Earmuffs would be perfect either way!
6: Gift Cards/Coupons
Probably best to do it with someone else or a few others. Get a gift card or coupon for every day of the week and combine your countdown calendar with last-minute Christmas shopping. Obviously, a limit should be set so everything’s fair and no one gets a $10 gift card while someone else gets $50.
7: Dice/Toys/Games
These are the perfect small gifts for calendars. Toy may be geared toward a younger audience, but you could also aim for some small desk toys to use whenever you get bored at work. Games could range from card games to even video games. Not to mention, dice usually come in a pack anyway. Small trinkets to pass around a group so everyone could play together!
8: Ornaments/Decorations
Great for anyone who has their tree ready or needs a decorating schedule. Add to the fun of just opening a box or bag and putting up a new ornament each day. If you don’t need that many decorations for a tree, you could also do things around the house. Leave little notes if they can’t fit in a box to hang up some lights or a wreath. Just a new decoration every day.
9: Crafts/Craft Supplies
Get a bunch of little crafts to do for each day. For example, you could put in the supplies for new decorations, gift bags, tags, or supplies for a snowman. A quick trip to the store to buy some crafts or look up some fun crafts online. Additionally, you each day could have the supplies/steps for one big craft you finish at the end.
10: Christmas Movies
Or other holiday movies. If you have the DVDs that’s great! If not, the names will suffice. Each day, a new film. Get a list of your 12 favorites and have a fun marathon. That’ll get you in the mood. Bonus points if you combine this with the snack/candy calendars your movie nights will be perfect!
11: Sentimental Messages
Perhaps the most cost-efficient diy advent calendar on this list and another great one to do with friends and family. For each day, you could write a sentimental message or affirmation on a little slip of paper (or special stationary!) to boost everyone’s holiday spirits. Who wouldn’t love quick and kind words on these cold winter nights?
12: Winter Bucket List
I think I saved the best for last. Creating a bucket list is a great way to plan while making some winter memories. For this to work, you might have to glance at a weather forecast. You could pick some days to go sledding, bake cookies, build a snowman, read your favorite book by a warm fire, or whatever else you wanna do. It’s your bucket list!
Think You Can Do-It-Yourself?
I’ve given you a few ideas, but really, it’s still a do-it-yourself thing at the end of the day. Hopefully, I’ve helped inspire you to make some wonderful holiday memories. Everyone deserves some fun as they countdown in December. So go and be merry! You really can’t say that any other time of the year.
Do you think you’ll make a DIY advent calendar? What would your theme be? Let us know in the comment section below!
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