December is soon approaching and that means ADVENT CALENDAR TIME! As you many know, we absolutely LOVE counting down to Christmas. In the past, we’ve made our own activity advent calendar. Our last calendar didn’t survive our basement flood, so this time around I thought I’d make something that would last. I loved how this DIY advent calendar turned out! The best part was that this was totally done on a budget! (Hello, Dollar Tree!)
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Supplies
I got the majority of the supplies at Dollar Tree. The rest were things I had on hand. If you can’t find these at Dollar Tree, I’ve included a link to an alternative.
Frame (thrift store)
Believe sign (optional, Dollar Tree)
Red and black plaid poster board (or any scrapbook paper)
Numbered Stickers (Dollar Tree, 2 or 3 packs depending on how many numbers it has. Remember, you’ll need to number from 1 to 25)
Mod Podge (Dollar Tree)
Gift tags (Dollar Tree) or small gift card holders
Red and white baker’s twine (Dollar Tree) This one even has the gift tags included.
Small screw eye hooks
Small clothespins (Dollar Tree)
Glue gun + glue gun sticks (Dollar Tree carries the glue sticks)
Paint (optional, Dollar Tree also carries some)
Holiday picks (optional, Dollar Tree)
How to make the DIY Advent Calendar
- Get a frame (or canvas or foam board). I was excited to finally use this square frame I found awhile back at Goodwill. I believe I grabbed it for $2.
- Paint. This is totally optional. I painted mine black to match my poster board. This little helper was too excited to paint it.
- Get scrapbook paper (or poster board or wrapping paper) to use as the background for your frame. I got mine at Hobby Lobby.I used Modge Podge to attach it and also applied another layer on top to seal it.
- Attach screw eye hooks. I dug through my picture hanging kit and found some there. If I were to do this again I would just staple the twine to the back or even glue it with hot glue. I wanted 5 rows with 5 tags on each row, so I tried to space the hooks evenly.
- Wrap jute twine through the eye clips and secure.
- String jute twine through clothespins. Honestly, this may have taken the longest since the holes through the clothespin were so small. Had I used larger clothespins this wouldn’t have been a problem.
- Attach gift tags to each clip. I totally fell in love with these cute square gift tags from Dollar Tree. They were the perfect size! Plus, I loved the camper and red truck.
- Time to add the numbers! Attach the stickers to each gift tag (or write the number).
- Add a specific activity to each day. You can write it or print them out on a label and stick them on. You can also print the activities on a sheet, cut them out, and glue it on each tag. Need activities to add? Don’t worry I have you covered. Stay tuned for my post with more than 50 activities to choose from. In the mean time, you can also check out what I’ve done for past activity advent calendars.
- Make it pretty! Or you can totally leave it alone. I wanted to use this metallic “Believe” sign I grabbed from Dollar Tree. I glued some burlap ribbon first then hot glued the sign. In the end I just added some holiday picks I found and thought it was perfect.
Pretty easy, right? You can totally make this as easy or hard as you want to be. Stay tuned for more holiday fun!!
Oh, that is just adorable! I love shopping at Dollar Tree for craft supplies, although none of the ones in my area seem to be as well stocked as yours.
Such agreat calendar and project for the holidays and you need to keep track of events. I love the dollar store they have so much for good prices.
I love how this turned out! You did a great job. I might have to make one. I love the Dollar Tree.
This is sooo cute! My daughter has always been obsessed with advent calendars and even though she is 22 years old, I still buy her one. A DIY calendar is so much more special. I’ve got to try this and adapt it to an older child.
Dollar Tree is a great place to get some excellent craft supplies that won’t break the bank. That’s where I’d go for my holiday craft items.
What an absolutely amazing idea, I love the fact it is all from Dollar Tree as well! You definitely don’t need to spend a fortune!
That’s such a cute advent calendar! I’ll have to stop by my local Dollar Tree and see if they have any of those!
I love the way this project turned out. I would love to do something like this for my home.
What an adorable idea. I should do this because out advent calendar is on its last legs
I love making my own advent calendars. I made one last year and the kids loved it. I really love the way you made yours. It’s great that it’s all from Dollar Tree too.
I love this so much! I am sharing it on my Christmas Facebook page, Christmas Tree Lane. I love that it is done on a budget.
We always loved opening up the advent calendar! I love what you created, and especially that it wasn’t expensive to put together.
That is a cool calendar idea. My kids love opening theirs every year.
Super cute! We love creating advent calendars every year!
What a great project, easy to make, cheap materials and something that the kids can make with me, love it
This is very nice and so creative. I like that I can get most of the supplies at dollar Tree which is very nice for my budget!