Christmas Craft Patterns: Advent Calendar

By Sirena Van Schaik

Every year, as the days quickly wind down to December, I am at the local grocery store, browsing through the two or three advent calendars that they have.  My children have become so accustomed to those advent calendars that they start bugging me about the second or third weekend of November.  My oldest, who always has a plan, decided that I should buy it a few days before December so we can start the on the very first day of Advent. 

Once I buy the Advent calendar, I am always disappointed that I chose such a cheap calendar to celebrate the season of Advent.  I mean, what is nicer, a hand crafted Advent calendar or a store bought one.  Obviously, the former is the better choice and it can be a great craft to do as a family that brings more meaning to the Advent season and you can reuse it every single year.

What you need:

A piece of plywood:  The measurement on this should be about 18 inches in length and 12.5 inches in width.

Paint:  Green, gold or red works well but you can use any type of paint color you would like and glossy looks the best but again it is about what you are looking for.

Brass Hooks:  These are the small hooks, about a ¼ inch in length, that can be screwed into wood.  You can play around with different hooks or you could use finishing nails instead.

White Cardstock:  For the printing out the numbers for the advent calendar

Black Pen

Advent print outs:  Some people prefer to only have 24 days for the advent calendar while others prefer 25 so we have provided you with 25.

Directions:

Cut the board and sand the edges of it.

Paint it and allow it to dry.

If you would like to add any embellishments, either paint a picture or add a Christmas decal that can be found at many craft stores.

While you are waiting for the base to dry, print out the date cards that we have provided on white cardstock.

Cut them out with a straight edged cutter and place to the side.

Gather the family around and think of little messages, prayers and requests that you would like to share over the coming Advent season.  You can make a few messages that are a secret or you can have everyone add a special message to a few cards so there are days where no one knows the message that will be shared until it is uncovered.

You can write them on the back of the calendar cards or type them up, print them out and glue the message to the back of the cards.  Set to the side while you complete the last step in making our advent calendar.

After your plywood is dry, add the hooks to the front of it.  Do this by placing the first hook at .5 inches down and 1.25 inches across.  The next hook would still remain at the .5 inches but it would go in 2.5 inches across from it.  Repeat, placing a hook every 2.5 inches until you have 5 hooks in the board across the top width.  The last hook should be 1.25 inches from the other side of the board.  Move down the length of the board by 3.5 inches and repeat, following the same pattern as the first set.  Move down again by 3.5 inches and repeat the process.  By the time you are finished you should have 25 hooks with them spaced 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches apart except the top and bottom, which would be .5 inches from the edge of the board, and the side pegs, which would be 1.25 inches from the sides of the board.

Hang the cards onto the hooks with the numbers facing outwards.  

When you use your advent calendar, you can place turn the cards over and reveal the special message for the remainder of the Advent.