Tinker Tinker Craft: Advent calendar fun for the family.

Hello Friends,

Christmas time is a time for family. I have very fond memories of my childhood around Christmas times. We never had store bought Christmas decorations or trees. Everything was made from scratch, using all types of materials found around the house. For the little ones, and not so little ones, an Advent calender is a way to count the days, and build up to Christmas. What a delight to wake up in the mornings, thinking of the count down to Christmas, and off course enjoying the tiny presents.

I was looking around the Net for some fresh ideas. There are many, many web pages with wonderful ideas. I post a few that I think is special. An advent calender can be simple and easy to make, or more complex, depending on how much effort you want to put in.

Santa advent calendar by Kathy's Cottage.

These adorable printed boxes can be filled with small gifts or candy. The free print file can be downloaded from this site.

Gingerbread advent calendar by Butcher, baker.

One special bake before Christmas! I guess with more than one kid in the family, Mom will just have to bake a set for each child, and why not let each child decorate his own? In some of our local supermarkets you can buy the ready made icing numbers and embellishments, but I am thinking home made. It does not matter if it comes out a little crooked, bent and buckled, it is all about the fun and family working together. This post comes with a recipe for the gingerbread biscuits.

Adorable rag doll Advent calendar by impressionen.de.

Wonderful idea to spoil a little princess. No instructions, but somebody with a little sewing experience can easily make it.

Heart by Duni's Studio.

Step by step instructions on the page.

Advents pin board idea by Emma's Welt.

See free printables that you can use further down the page.

Up-cycled baby food jars by Bunte Knete von Frl.

You can use food tins too, and I was thinking along the lines of crochet cosies for the jars and tins. I mentioned the cosies in a previous post Jar-gift-ideas-recycle-project.

Reindeer Advent calendar by Balancing Home.

Great project for the little ones. You can up-cycle yogurt containers, or literally use anything hollow found around the house for the buckets. Paint, and paste the hinges, reindeer nose eyes and antlers. No need for store bought, simply use materials that you have in the house.

Matchbox Advent calendar idea by Storage and Glee.

Another project that can be done with the kids.

Paper bag Advent calendars by swaesche.de.

Swaesche used felt for the decorations, but any other medium will work. I was thinking paper or scrap fabric. Download the images from here.

Kids craft idea found on Pinterest.

Great recycle project if you use food boxes as basis for the cones, and add scraps of fabric, gift paper off-cuts, magazine pages, and decorate with old Christmas cards, buttons, ribbons and lace.