Making an Advent calendar that lasts until Christmas
A homemade Advent calendar needs four things: 24 pockets, numbering, a way to close them and a way to hang them. With paper bags, number stamps, washi tape and mini wooden pegs on a string, it is done in an afternoon. For it to be hanging on 1 December, have the materials at home by mid-November – the filling goes in last.
What do you need for a homemade Advent calendar?
24 pockets, something to number them with, a way to close them and a way to hang them. Paper bags are the simplest pocket: they stand up, can be stamped and close with a strip of tape.
The pocket decides everything else. Paper bags have a flat front for the number, open at the top and can take fillings that are not flat. Envelopes only work for flat things, and small boxes need a ribbon to hang them.
Plan the filling before you buy: anything that does not fit in a bag gets its own box under the calendar, and on its day a bag with a note pointing to it. That keeps the row uniform, even when one present does not fit the pattern.
When does the Advent calendar need to be ready?
It always starts on 1 December. If you want to hang it up for the first Sunday of Advent, you need to be ready earlier: the first Sunday of Advent falls between 27 November and 3 December every year.
The calendar counts from 1 to 24 December, regardless of when the first Sunday of Advent is. The first Sunday of Advent is the fourth Sunday before Christmas and therefore falls on a day between 27 November and 3 December. In most years it comes before 1 December – if you want to hang the calendar for that Sunday, check the date and plan with the weekend before.
Working backwards: the filling goes in at the end, so that sweets and small items are fresh. The empty bags are stamped and decorated beforehand – that is much easier flat on the table than with full bags. If you are posting the calendar, add two to three working days for delivery.
How do you number the 24 doors?
With number stamps from 0 to 9: the numbers 1 to 24 take 39 prints, because the numbers from 10 upwards have two digits. You need the 1 thirteen times.
Number stamps have one advantage stickers lack: every digit is available as often as you like. The numbers 1 to 24 are made up of 9 single-digit and 15 two-digit numbers – 39 digits in all. The 1 appears 13 times, the 2 eight times.
That is exactly where number stickers often fall short: a sheet contains each digit only a few times, and by 11 at the latest you are missing a one. If you want to use stickers, count before you start whether there are enough digits.
When stamping, place the two digits of a number close together and start with the left one. Lay the bag flat on a firm surface – a filled bag gives way and the print turns out patchy.
How do you close the bags so they stay shut until opened?
Fold the top over twice and close it with a strip of washi tape across the fold. The tape holds on paper and tears by hand, no scissors needed.
Folded once, the bag springs open again; folded twice, it stays flat. The strip of washi tape goes across the fold and reaches a little way over the bag on both sides – that way it holds even when the contents push against it.
To open, tear off the strip or tear the bag open at the top. If you want to reuse the bags next year, stick each strip to the back of your hand once first: that takes out some of the stickiness, and the top layer of the paper does not come away with the tape.
How do you hang 24 bags?
On a string with mini wooden pegs. With bags 10 cm wide and 5 cm apart, you need about 4 metres of string – or two rows of 2.20 metres each.
Work it out like this: bag width plus gap, times 24, plus 40 cm for tying off. With bags 10 cm wide and 5 cm apart, that is 3.60 m plus 40 cm. Where there is no wall that long, hang two rows of 12 bags one above the other, each about 2.20 m long.
A set of mini wooden pegs contains 12 – so for 24 bags you need two packs. The peg sits centrally on the fold at the top, so the bag hangs straight. Heavy items such as jars or books do not belong on the string but in the box underneath.
How do you decorate the bags without it looking busy?
One design per bag, always in the same place. The number is the most important part of the bag; the sticker accompanies it.
24 bags with three stickers each make a wall on which the numbers get lost – and the numbers are what it is about every morning. One sticker per bag, for example always at the bottom right under the number, looks calm and tidy, even if every design is different.
If you like, pick a series and let it run through: all the fir trees on the Sundays, animals on the weekdays. Number 24 is the only one to get a second design – it is the day the whole calendar leads up to.
Frequently asked questions
What can you put in an Advent calendar instead of sweets?
Small things that come in handy during Advent: stickers, a roll of washi tape, a tea bag, a note with a plan or a task for the day. Vouchers for time spent together fill a bag without taking up space.
Can the Advent calendar hang above a radiator?
Not with chocolate inside. Cocoa butter melts from about 34 °C, and chocolate goes soft even below that – easily reached above a warm radiator. A spot on an inside wall is better for the filling.
Are mini wooden pegs suitable for small children?
Not within reach of children under three: the pegs are small parts that can be swallowed. In that case, hang the calendar high enough that only adults can undo the pegs.
Can a homemade Advent calendar be reused?
Yes, if the bags stay intact. Closed with washi tape that has been made less sticky beforehand, they open without tearing, and stamped numbers last several years. The string and pegs are reusable anyway.
How do you post a homemade Advent calendar?
Not hung up: put the filled, numbered bags in a box together with the string and pegs. It is hung up at the other end. A list of the order on top saves searching for day 1.
