A handmade advent calendar doesn’t need to be fancy. Twenty-four little containers, twenty-four numbers and something small tucked inside each one. That’s the whole recipe, and the fun is choosing what those containers are.
Below are seven DIY advent calendar ideas you can make at your kitchen table, from a little chest of paper matchbox drawers to kraft bags pegged along a string, with what you need, how to put each one together and how long it really takes.
Get the free DIY advent calendar printables
To get you started I’ve made a free printable set: a matchbox drawer template, a paper cone template, a sheet of 24 round number seals and a page of how-to steps. Pop your email in above and the five pages will come straight to your inbox.
Table of Contents
Before You Start: Three Quick Decisions
Quick answer: pick one container you can make 24 of, decide where it will live, and choose a small color palette before you cut anything. Those three decisions make every other step easier.
Where will it live? A chest of matchbox drawers sits happily on a shelf. Cones and bags need a wall, a mantelpiece or a branch to hang from. A jar or a basket of tubes can go anywhere, which makes them perfect if your walls are already full of Christmas cards.
Who is it for? For little ones, go for bigger containers they can open on their own: bags, cones and tubes. For a grown-up or a teenager, the tiny drawers and rolled scrolls feel special.
What colors? Choose three and stick with them. Cranberry red, forest green and mustard gold is the palette I used for the free printables, and it looks warm and old-fashioned whatever you wrap. A calendar in three colors looks planned. One in ten colors looks like a jumble sale (a lovely jumble sale, but still).
What You Need
Most of these use things you already have. Here is the short list that makes life easier:
- Thin card. 160 to 220gsm for anything that needs to stand up, like the drawers. A pack of vintage-style cardstock gives you lovely backgrounds without any printing.
- A strong, tidy glue. A tape runner like the Tombow Mono permanent adhesive is clean and dries instantly, so the tabs stay put while you fold the next one.
- A bone folder for crisp folds. A bone folder set is cheap and you’ll use it for every card you make from now on.
- Washi tape for closing bags and envelopes without glue, so they can be opened and used again next year. An assorted washi tape set covers every color you’ll want.
- Scissors, a ruler, twine or ribbon, and a pencil for marking.
This post contains affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you buy through them, at no extra cost to you. I only link to things I’d happily use myself.
1. Matchbox Drawer Advent Calendar
This is my favorite. Small paper drawers glued together into a little chest, each one with a number on the front and a surprise inside. It looks like something from an old apothecary and it takes up hardly any room.
How to make it:
- Print the drawer template from the free set onto thin card at 100% (it gives you two drawers per sheet).
- Cut out the tray, score the dashed lines, fold up the four walls and glue the small tabs inside the short ends.
- Cut out the patterned sleeve, score and fold it, then glue the tab to make a tube.
- Slide the tray into the sleeve and stick a number seal on top of the sleeve, where the template marks it. If you glue the drawers into a chest, write the number small on each drawer end instead, as the seals are too big for that little front.
- Make 24, then glue them together in rows. Four rows of six or six rows of four both work, or stack them in a little pyramid.
Time: about ten minutes per drawer once you’ve made the first two, so two or three evenings with a cup of tea. If 24 sounds like a lot, make twelve drawers and mix them with twelve cones.
Tip: glue the drawers into rows of four or six first, let them dry, then glue the rows together. Trying to stack all 24 at once ends in a slow-motion landslide.
2. Paper Cones on a Branch
Paper cones hanging from a branch look magical, and they’re the quickest container on this list. Find a twiggy branch on a walk, hang it across a wall or a mirror on two lengths of ribbon, and hang the cones from it.
- Print the cone template from the free set (two cones per sheet) on 120 to 160gsm paper.
- Cut round the outside, score the straight dashed line and roll it into a cone.
- Glue the tab on the inside and hold it for a minute while it grabs.
- Stick a number seal on the front and punch the two little circles for a ribbon hanger.
- Fill with something light, like a wrapped sweet, a folded note or a sprig of greenery.
Time: about five minutes each. Twenty-four cones is one cosy evening.
Tip: cones tip forward when they’re full, so hang heavier treats in the middle of the branch where it’s strongest, and keep the cones near the ends light.
3. Kraft Paper Bags on a String
Kraft paper bags pegged along a string are the most forgiving DIY advent calendar there is. They hold bigger things, they’re cheap, and they look lovely with almost nothing added.
- Buy small brown paper bags (sweet-shop size is perfect) or fold your own from wrapping paper.
- Number them with a stamp set, a marker or the round seals from the free printables.
- Fill, fold the top over twice and close it with a wooden peg, a strip of washi tape or a mini clothes peg.
- Peg them along a length of twine across a mantelpiece, a window or the stairs.
Time: an hour for all 24, most of it filling.
Tip: tuck a sprig of rosemary or a little piece of fir under each peg. It costs nothing, it smells like Christmas, and it makes plain brown bags look intentional.
4. Junk Journal Envelope Bunting
If you have a junk journal habit, this one is for you. Make 24 small envelopes from old book pages, sheet music and scrapbook papers, number them with torn paper labels and hang them as bunting. It’s the most beautiful way to use up a box of printed ephemera.
- Fold envelopes from your favorite printable papers, or use the envelopes you already have from a junk journal kit.
- Add a label to each with a number, then layer on a bit of lace, a pressed leaf or a scrap of ribbon.
- Peg them along jute string, or punch a hole in the corner and thread them on.
Envelopes are perfect for flat things: a note, a sticker, a tea bag, a photo, a little voucher or a slip with the day’s activity on it. If you want ready-made pockets and numbered tags for this, my free printable advent calendar has 24 tags, activity slips and a fold-up pocket template, and it pairs beautifully with this idea. For more envelope and pocket ideas, have a look at junk journal tags, pockets and envelopes.
Time: an evening or two, depending on how much you decorate.
5. A Book Advent Calendar
A book advent calendar is wonderfully simple. Wrap 24 books in brown paper or old maps, tie them with string, number each one and stack them in a basket by the tree. One book a day, read together or saved for bedtime.
It doesn’t need to be 24 new books. Mix library books, charity-shop finds and favorites from your own shelves wrapped up again. Children love unwrapping an old friend just as much as a new one. For grown-ups, try a stack of poetry, short stories or recipe books, or wrap your own journal in a different paper for each week.
Tip: write the number on a round seal or a gift tag rather than straight onto the paper, so you can rewrap the books next year without redoing the numbers. My free printable Christmas gift tags work well for this too.
6. A Jar of Rolled Scrolls
This is the quickest calendar on the list and the one that costs nothing. Write 24 little notes, roll each one into a scroll, tie it with baker’s twine and fill a jar. Number them with tiny tags so you open them in order.
The notes can be anything: a memory, a joke, a promise (one hot chocolate, made by me), a compliment, a small job, a Christmas film to watch, or a question to answer at dinner. If you want some writing ideas, my Christmas journal prompts give you twenty to start with.
Time: about an hour, most of it deciding what to write.
7. Cardboard Tube Crackers
Save your cardboard tubes from now until the end of November and you’ll have a free advent calendar. Fill each tube with something small, wrap it in a rectangle of patterned paper, twist the ends like a Christmas cracker and tie them with ribbon or twine.
- Cut each paper rectangle about 6cm longer than the tube on both sides so the ends can twist.
- Glue or tape the paper along the tube, then pinch and twist each end.
- Tie the ends, add a number tag and pile the crackers in a basket or a wooden crate.
Tip: only twist one end before filling, so you can drop the treat in and close the second end afterwards. It saves a lot of unwrapping.
What to Put Inside: 24 Small Ideas
The container gets the gasps, but the fillers keep people coming back every morning. Mix small treats with little moments, so it’s not 24 days of sugar:
- A wrapped sweet, a chocolate coin or a single truffle
- A tea bag, a hot chocolate sachet or a tiny bag of marshmallows
- Stickers, a mini washi tape or a sheet of printable ephemera
- A button, a charm or a little piece of lace for a journal
- A note with a memory, a joke or a compliment
- A voucher: one bedtime story, one walk to see the lights, one film night
- A Christmas activity: bake biscuits, make a paper snowflake, write a card to someone far away
- A small ornament to hang on the tree, so the tree fills up through December
For crafty friends, small supplies are perfect. A tiny pencil, a stamp, a few brads or a card of thread all fit in a matchbox drawer.
When to Make It (and How Long It Takes)
Quick answer: start making it in the first half of November, fill it in the last week of November, and have it hung by the evening of 30 November.
Making the containers is the bit that takes the time, and it’s the nice part, so don’t squash it into one panicked weekend. An evening a week through November is plenty for any idea on this list. Fill it at the end, once you know what you’ve got, and keep a list of what’s in each number so you can swap things if a day turns out to be busy.
Most of these calendars can be reused. Drawers, cones, bags and envelopes all pack flat into a box with the decorations, and next year you only have to fill them.
Want Papers to Wrap Them In?
If you want papers to wrap your drawers and cones in, my Victorian Christmas junk journal kit is full of red and gold patterned papers, envelopes, tags and festive ephemera, and they suit these templates perfectly.
And if you love having fresh papers to play with all year, have a look at the Artsydee Creation Club. It’s my printables membership, and new junk journal kits and printable papers land there every month, ready to print and use.
You can also browse everything in my Payhip shop.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you make a simple DIY advent calendar?
Choose one container you can make 24 of, such as paper bags, cones or envelopes, number them 1 to 24, fill each with something small and hang or stack them somewhere you’ll see every day. Kraft bags pegged on a string take about an hour.
What can I use instead of an advent calendar box?
Paper matchbox drawers, paper cones, small kraft bags, envelopes, cardboard tubes wrapped like crackers, wrapped books or a jar of rolled notes all work. The free printables here include a drawer template and a cone template to get you started.
How long does it take to make a DIY advent calendar?
Anything from an hour for bags or a jar of notes to two or three evenings for a chest of 24 matchbox drawers. Start in early November and you won’t need to rush.
Can I print the templates for a class or a craft group?
Yes, please do. Print as many copies as you need for yourself, your family or your group. Just don’t share or sell the file itself, and send people here to grab their own copy.
Final Thoughts
Pick the idea that fits your space and your patience. The bags if you want it done tonight, the drawers if you want something you’ll still be getting out of the decoration box in ten years. Either way, it’s twenty-four tiny reasons to slow down in December, and that’s the real point of it.
I share more paper crafts and printables over on my YouTube channel, so subscribe on YouTube if you’d like to make along, and you’ll find all my Christmas ideas saved on Pinterest.
Pin this for later so you can find the free matchbox and cone printables when you sit down to make yours.
Happy making!
Dee x
You Might Also Like
- Free Printable Advent Calendar: 24 numbered tags, activity slips and a pocket template
- Victorian Christmas Junk Journal Ideas: red and gold pages with free printables
- 25 Christmas Junk Journal Ideas: festive pages to make this December
- Christmas Junk Journal Spreads: vintage starter pages to print
- 36 Free Printable Christmas Gift Tags: four sheets to print and cut