Pages

Monday 30 November 2015

handmade advent calendar

I was prompted to start writing  this post as I finished off all my Christmas shopping last week, a bit early perhaps but I am going away for 2 weeks in December so instead of leaving it late and joining the Christmas shopping rush as I would normally do, I have done most of my shopping online, I found a great website notonthehighstreet.com that has a lot of handmade items similar to what you would find at a craft fair or Christmas market with something for everyone and I am cheating a little by getting all the gifts shipped directly to the recipients.

Anyway back on topic....
Last year at work we decided to do something different instead of secret santa so after a looking for some inspiration on google we decided to make our own advent calendar.

You will need:
24 loo rolls
24 pieces of A5 paper in colours of your choice
Stapler and staples
Double sided sticky tape
Scissors
Decorations such as stickers, glitter etc
Glue
Pen or number stickers
Shredded tissue paper


Heres how:
1. The first step is to staple one end of the loo roll shut to create a pocket. I used two staples spaced evenly apart, and partly covered them with double sided sticky tape.
2. Line the paper up with the bottom giving a gap of about a millimetre
3. Fold the paper over from one side covering about 2/3 of the roll (Ensure the paper can fold over as shown) and press down to secure against the tape

4. Now fold the other side of the paper over, this will need to be cut to size in a slight diagonal line and secured near the bottom with tape again.


5. The top will also need to be cut down. This can be as much as you want depending what you plan to put inside the pockets. I cut them down to a few millimetres.

The pockets will then be ready to decorate as you wish, this is the perfect time to get the kids involved.

The pockets will also need numbered, again it is up to you how you do this. I chose to write a number discretely in the bottom corner though the numbers could also be part of the decoration.

There are a few options to display/hang the calendar.
The first is to use cork/display boards
At work we have the advantage of having wall mounted display boards to pin the pockets to. A cork board can be brought to pin the pockets to and this could also be decorated using wrapping paper, tinsel etc.
Option two uses string or ribbon.
Small decorative pegs or staples can be used attach the string or ribbon along the back of the pockets to create strings which can be tied or pinned to shelves or a another suitable location.

The last step is to fill them. Last year at work we all had a budget of £5 to buy 5 gifts to fill the pockets (Examples from our calendar last year included a small keyring torch, Christmas earrings and luxury sample sizes of cosmetics such as nail varnish). This year we are filling them with our favourite chocolates. The pound shops are great places to look for small inexpensive gifts to fill the calendar, sample sizes of cosmetics, skincare and toiletries are also excellent. If your gift doesn't fit don't worry, simply use some of the left over paper to create tags detailing what the gift is and pop that into the pocket instead. We stuffed shredded tissue paper at the bottom of the pockets to ensure the tags did not fall out the bottom, the shredded paper also helped the gifts sit nicely in the pockets.

example from threadedbasil

http://serenityyou.com/2011/11/toilet-roll-advent-calendar.html
example from Serenity You
 

Our Advent Calendar from 2014


Our Advent Calendar 2015

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

No comments:

Post a Comment