How to Make a Christmas Advent Calendar

A Christmas advent calendar is a great way to keep track of the days until Christmas. Children really love advent calendars. While you can buy a pre-made calendar, you could make advent calendar and have a lot of fun. You may be wondering how to make an advent calendar. This guide will tell you how to make Christmas advent calendar that’s fun and easy. There are books that tell you how to make an advent calendar but you don’t have to buy them; just follow these easy instructions on how to make an advent calendar.

To make advent calendar, you need several things. Here is a list of what you need to make a Christmas advent calendar.

- 9” x 12” colored construction paper
- holiday cards or pictures. Old cards are fine.
- pencil
- scissors
- red tissue paper or cellophane
- ruler
- craft knife
- glue sticks
- (optional) black marker

If you have kids, you probably already have what you need to make advent calendar. You can pick up glue sticks, scissors, pencils, construction paper, and markers just about anywhere. Dollar stores are nice and cheap. You can find a craft knife at department stores such as Wal-mart or at craft stores. For your pictures, old cards are fine. Cut out pictures from magazines if you want. Use whatever pictures you like for the holiday season.

Now, on to how to make a Christmas advent calendar.

1. Take your construction paper and draw a line down the center. It should be lengthwise and on the wrong side (opposite side from what you’re planning to use for your “house.”) This will be your guide.

2. Draw a line from the top of the line in a diagonal 4” down each side. This makes your house’s roof. Halfway down one side of the roof, draw a 1 and 1/4” chimney. Cut out around the roof and chimney and you’ll be left with a house that is 9” wide and 12” tall (at the top of the roof.)

3. Now turn the paper over to the side without the line. Draw your windows. They should start 3” down from the rooftop. Every window should be 3/4” wide and 3/4” tall. The exception is the 3 windows in the third row. These should be 1” tall and 3/4” wide, just for some variation in your calendar. 1/2” should be left between the windows and 1/4” between the rows. Leave an equal amount of space on each side.

4. Your front door should be centered in the front and is 1 and 1/2” tall and 1 and 1/2” wide.

5. Now it’s time to make the shutter effect. Use your ruler’s edge and your craft knife to cut along the top, bottom, and center of the windows. Bend back the paper to make shutters. Make sure you don’t cut the paper off! You just want it to bend. Cut across the top, bottom, and one side of your door so it opens.

6. Now, decorate your house! Use the foil from your old holiday cards, colored paper, markers, glitter, or whatever else you want to use. Make sure you decorate the door, chimney, and anything else you want to. The glue sticks are perfect for this since they will dry clear.

7. Once you’re done with your decorating and everything is dry, glue the red tissue paper or cellophane to the back of your calendar.

8. Cut out pictures from your holiday cards or magazine pictures. In each window, past some kind of holiday picture. Put a toy in one, a candle in another, and so on until you get to the door. Put a Christmas tree behind the door. Make sure to glue your pictures on the red tissue paper or cellophane backing! Close all the windows and the door.

9. Open one window every day starting on December 1st and on the 24th open the door for the Christmas tree.

Now you know how to make Christmas advent calendar. This is a great craft project for kids and you can vary it as much as you want. Wrap your calendar in tissue paper and store safely to use it next year. You could also turn this into a yearly project with your kids so they each have a new one every year and they can look back to see their old calendar’s; it makes a great keepsake. Another neat thing you can do is to place your opened calendar in front of a lamp, because the light will shine through the tissue paper (or cellophane) and make it glow. A Christmas advent calendar is a fun project that is sure to be a great project for the whole family.

A fun alternative would be to use matchboxes like the one show below.