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The countdown to Christmas Day has begun!
I can’t think of a better way to enjoy the anticipation of the day than with an Advent Calendar. Each day a new “present” is opened to reveal a special “Christmas” task or a treat to enjoy until the b day arrives!
Here is what you need to get started in making your very own Advent Calendar:
- Christmas wrapping paper
- Sharpie Marker
- Tape
- Scissors
- Velcro
- Twenty-four small boxes (I found some favor boxes in the wedding section of the craft store, but you can also find many tutorials to make your own)
- A Board made of wood, cardboard, or foam to display your calendar
Don’t forget to make this a family craft!!!
Enlist the help of your whole family in writing out special Christmas tasks on paper to put in the boxes. Some ideas include: enjoy a cup of hot cocoa, drive around to see the Christmas lights, watch a Christmas movie, read Luke chapter 2. You can also include little treats in the box such as chocolates or candies or even small toys. 
Insert the pieces of paper or treats into the boxes and again with the help of your family, wrap up the boxes with the Christmas paper. I let my kids help me wrap up the boxes which means they are not perfect, but perfection is not our goal here, it’s having fun getting into the Christmas spirit. So let them wrap away!
Arrange the presents into a Christmas tree pattern on your board. 
I used velcro to affix my boxes to the board, it makes it easy to take off when the day arrives.
Kids will especially love unwrapping a present each day, preparing them for the day they will open their big presents. The activities inside are a sure way to bring the family closer during the most wonderful time of the year! 
What is your favorite Christmas activity?
That is a really cute idea. I just do an advent calendar with chocolates and now I feel kind of lame.
Watching various Christmas movies is a tradition for us. We’ll probably do an Advent calendar next year.
That’s a great advent calender. I love how you made it personal. Christmas movies are a must in this house.
Using the Velcro was such a smart idea! This is cute!
What a neat idea.. i am sure my kids would like to pick from that kind of tree!
Omg what a super cute idea this is!!! I will.keep this in mind for next Christmas when my princess is a tad older 😉
This is such a cute idea. It is a fun spin on Advent calendars!
This is a great idea. I usually make a list of Christmas activities but this would be more fun for the kids to open each day. Thanks for sharing!
What a fun idea, who doesn’t love opening little Christmas presents! I love what you wrote on the cards too, so fun!
This is such a great idea. I am going to make an advent calendar for my son next year.
This is a great idea! I love it and it’s different and creative I bet my kids would love doing something like that!
That’s actually a cute idea. Sounds like a lot of work wrapping those small boxes though.
Love your twist on the traditional “advent” calendar! My son would LOVE opening up a gift every night – great idea!
Leave it to a blog article to make me feel totally self conscious about our Christmas festivities. =D Just kidding! This is really cool.
What a great alternative to having chocolates or other treats in the boxes — and you’ll be making so many great memories too!
What a cute advent calendar. We’re doing The Story of Christmas in 24 days this year. I had such grand plans for our advent calendar, but got sick before Thanksgiving and all my plans went out the window. Even still, the kids are loving it.
This sounds like a wonderful and fun idea! Sounds like great memories as well.
This has to be one of the best advent calendars I have seen. I love that you put little cards of things to do like watching a Christmas movie.
That’s a fun idea, do you have to re-wrap them every year?
What a great idea, love this! We love to watch movies, we have all our Christmas faves ready!
I would love to make something like this for my family! This is an adorable idea!
This is so cute! I love this idea! We do books as out advent calendar!
This is a really cool idea. Very festive and creative.
That is such a cute idea! My kids would just die to see that many presents to open every day. 🙂 Love it.
So fun!! I’m sure the kids would love that!!!
It’s only about 2 weeks now before Christmas. Not only kids love unwrapping presents but adults also do! We open our gifts on Christmas Eve altogether and this is a great family bonding at home.
What a cute way to count down the days till Christmas. I love all the ideas, too. I am giving the kids books each night 🙂
This is a fabulous idea! I love how you can get the whole family involved in the crafting and opening of each box!
This is such a cute idea! We always used an advent calendar I had been given a long time ago, but I love the idea of making your own.
What a great idea. I love that you’re sharing experiences and not things.
Love this idea, making your own is by far the best way!
I’ve done a countdown calendar activity, but not anything like this. You really thought of a great way to go about it!
This is such a great way to celebrate Advent. I like the idea of little presents to be unwrapped every day!
I have been working on ours all day. I ended up purchasing a kit – wish I had seen this before so I could have saved money.
This is a super cute advent activity! I love how you velcroed them in the shape of a tree.
I love that idea! What a great tradition to do with your family. Thanks for the inspiration.
This looks wonderful 🙂 I love advent calendars!
What a cool gift idea, I’d love to get one of my own!
What a darling idea. My mom did something similar one year but she didn’t do it in a shape. It really was lots of fun though and it made waiting for Christmas just a little more fun.
What a cute idea. Maybe I can start a tradition with it next year.
Such a lovely idea for an advent calendar. I can just imagine a gorgeous engagement ring in the 24th box – a girl can dream, right?! 😉
This is a really cute idea. Thanks for sharing.
Wow, what an awesome idea! I’m definitely doing this next Christmas.
This is a neat idea! I love so many Christmas activities, but I think our favorite is going to look at Christmas lights. My son is just amazed by the colorful designs.
This is such a cute idea. My kids would love it. We get the chocolate advent calendars.
Well that’s such a good idea! I like that you can make it with things already in the house.
What a great idea! My kiddos would definitely love something like this 🙂
We don’t do an advent calendar. We figure our son is getting plenty on Christmas day. =D
I don’t have kids, but I have three dogs that I’m sure would love 24 consecutive days of little gifts. Cool!
This is an awesome idea indeed. I will have to do this and share it will my sisters. Thanks for sharing.