Create a unique alternative advent calendar to make December morning extra special. Although there are many amazing Advent calendars available for purchase, sometimes it can be fun to spend a family day to make an alternative Advent calendar that the whole family can share.
From wall hooks filled with seasonal delicacies to "Noel notes", every day starts with a feel-good message, and homemade alternative advent calendar ideas can make the countdown even more exciting.
Making a homemade Advent is a lovely Christmas idea that can involve the whole family-start the holiday celebration in a stylish way.
Image Credit: Future/Dan Duchars
For a dramatic display that makes full use of free wall space, hang beautiful ribbon boxes from old-fashioned ladders and watch daily expectations rise.
To create your own Christmas Advent, fill the mini boxes with snacks, tie them with ribbons and add a number to each box. When you are ready, just hang each box on a rustic ladder. If you don't have a ladder, you can use your railing.
Style tip: You can hang baubles and a set of the best Christmas lights on the ladder as an alternative to the Christmas tree.
Image Credit: Future/Dan Duchars
This idea is very important when mindfulness and affirmation are a popular lifestyle choice. Make another Advent calendar filled with envelopes filled with daily affirmations to make it seasonal. The sure arrival will definitely spread the positive side before Christmas.
To make your own version, just start by decorating the mini envelope and adding numbers. Print or write positive messages and well-intentioned behaviors on the small cards inside each envelope. Put it in an attractive box or basket.
Buy now: Envelope, £50 £2.50, HobbyCraft
Image Credit: Future/Dan Duchars
Create a holiday magic by placing small gifts and toys under the paper cup. Decorate each paper cup with numbers, paper shapes, pine cones, and bottle brush trees to set a scene for the countdown to Christmas.
Choose paper cups of different sizes to increase display depth. Use a hot glue gun to decorate the top of each cup with pine cones, bottle brush trees or numbers to add holiday charm. Make sure that each cup has a number between 1-24 as the countdown for each day. Put the cup on the sideboard or mantle, or as the center piece of the table. Change the height by supporting some on the logs and finish it with evergreen leaves and pine cones.
Buy now: Gold foil dot paper cups, 8 pcs of £1.50, Hobbycraft
Image Credit: Future/Dan Duchars
Through another paper scroll full of daily good deeds, make every day more thoughtful and give something back at Christmas. Write the charity on a small piece of paper (we cut the A4 paper into quarters). Cut out 24 patterned paper about 6 cm x 4 cm, and fix both ends with double-sided tape to make a small paper tube to fix each reel.
Then use self-adhesive stickers to number each paper tube from 1 to 24. Roll up each strip of paper and fix it with a paper tube. Put the reels in the tray (we give our tray a festive feel by lining our trays with Christmas packaging) and add baubles to increase the festive brilliance.
Image Credit: Future/Dan Duchars
Use rustic panelling and simple printed cloth bags to create the Advent focal point, and embellish some festive leaves and baubles.
Use rubber stamps and ink to print numbers on each bag, let every day come. Place the bags on the board in 5 rows, equally spaced. After separating them evenly, use a ruler and spirit level to draw 5 horizontal lines for each row, and then use a tape measure to mark the screw eyes at each position (ours are 15 cm apart).
Fix the screw eyes and hang a numbered bag every day before Christmas. Fill the bag with snacks-these can be as imaginative as you like. Maybe it's the seeds of the garden, the ingredients for making decorations, or some family holiday baking recipes.
Style tip: Use hanging vases full of holiday leaves instead of bags for seasonal displays.
Image Credit: Future/Dan Duchars
Simple trees placed in the log base make a Nordic-style Advent calendar, which is very suitable for small spaces. On the back of the tree, write down simple ideas for activities that families can do together before the important day.
Cut three triangular tree templates from a card (ours are 4cm wide x 6cm high; 6cm wide x 7cm high and 6.5cm wide x 9cm high). Take some patterned paper and use a template to cut out 24 pairs of trees (48 pairs in total).
Insert 24 wooden cocktail sticks (or trimmed wooden skewers into an old box or some plasticine. Follow the instructions on the jar and spray golden paint. Once the sticks are dry, tape them to the back of the 24 trees. Then use Double-sided tape, cover the reverse side with a pair of matching trees. The cocktail bar should be neatly sandwiched between two patterned papers.
Put digital stickers on the front of each tree, and write your daily holiday activities on the back with a metal pen. Take a drill slightly smaller than the diameter of the cocktail stick and drill 24 evenly spaced holes in the trunk slices. Put your tree in the hole.
Buy now: Digital stickers, 10 sheets 1-50 sheets for £7.99, Amazon
Image source: George Home; all products offered by George Home
The ingenious styling team of George Home inspired us with this weird DIY wall-mounted Advent solution. To remake this colorful Advent calendar, please attach four rows of six wall hooks (you can use it as a backboard on an MDF to hold the walls). Hang the luggage tag labeled 1-24 on each luggage tag. Add a distinctive decoration to the tree every day.
To end the fun countdown on the last day, hang a Christmas stocking and get ready to fill Santa with gifts.
Think of this idea as opening a mini stocking every day! Take 24 socks as an example. We used baby socks to add cuteness-but you can use any style, and then hang them along a line to form a variety of socks garlands. Just pin them to the length of the ribbon and attach the numbers so that each sock represents the countdown day. Fix the existing picture hook on the wall or hang it on the mantelpiece.
Image Credit: Future/Polly Eltes
Use this homemade design to create a perfect replacement for your advent calendar with pictures. Take a deep picture frame, or even an empty wooden drawer, any object that can create a solid wooden frame around your emergent ideas. Pass the ribbon strips through to fill the frame evenly-measure the size of the frame to determine how much length you need.
Use mini wooden pegs to attach a lightweight gift box to each row of ribbons, and stick a blackboard label on the front of each box to number each box.
Image Credit: Future/Dominic Blackmore
Pick a holiday gift bag full of snacks of your choice to lay the foundation for a fun Christmas countdown. This alternative Advent calendar is perfect for hanging above the holiday fireplace, featuring a bag decorated with stars in the circle above the Christmas mantel idea.
Original features designed and written by Marie Nichols.