Reusable and DIY Advent Calendars, Plus Filler Ideas

A reusable or homemade advent calendar costs more effort once, then gets filled every year with whatever suits the person opening it. Pick the format first: wooden drawers, fabric pockets, cardboard boxes or paper bags. Then measure one door and choose fillers that fit it, skipping small parts for children under 3.

Reusable calendarsWooden drawers, fabric pockets and other calendars you fill each year.

Small giftsTiny fillers sorted by drawer, pocket and box size.

DIY calendar ideasFive homemade calendars you can make in an evening.

Empty boxes to fillBox, bag and envelope sets in 12, 24 and 25 days.

Filler ideasSmall gifts that fit a drawer, sorted by age and budget.

Knitting and yarnMini skein and yarn calendars for knitters and crocheters.

Cross stitch and sewingStitch-a-day kits that finish as one piece.

Ornament calendarsOne decoration a day for the tree.

Which fill-it-yourself format should you buy?

The size of one opening decides most of the choice, so start there. These figures come from makers’ and retailers’ listings for one example of each format:

The second question is where it will go. A wooden house stands on a shelf or table; Brubaker’s measures 12.2 by 13.1 inches and is 2.4 inches deep. A fabric hanger needs a wall or a door instead. The Pockets of Learning calendar is 28 inches long and 14.5 inches wide, and it hangs from a 16-inch wooden dowel.

Then decide how much work you want to do. A wooden or fabric calendar suits someone who wants to refill the same frame every December. An empty box set gives more room per day without a craft project. A homemade calendar from bags, envelopes or a jar of notes takes an evening and costs very little, but paper tends to tear, so plan to remake it.

A storage cabinet or a bag set instead of a calendar

Two everyday products can stand in for a calendar with no craft project. A 24-drawer hardware cabinet gives each day its own drawer, then goes back to holding screws, beads or craft supplies in January, so it earns its shelf space all year. Its drawers are shallow, which suits rings, folded notes and flat treats better than a mug. A paper bag set in mixed sizes takes taller, softer gifts such as socks or a scarf. Paper tears, so expect to replace the bags after a season or two. Our empty advent calendar boxes guide has the drawer and bag sizes.

Calendars you fill yourself

You choose every item, which also settles allergy and age worries. Our reusable advent calendar guide compares wooden drawer boxes, fabric pocket hangers and other empty formats, with real drawer and pocket sizes from makers’ listings and the wall versus tabletop choice. For cardboard boxes, gift bags and envelope sets, see empty advent calendar boxes, and to make one from scratch, try our DIY advent calendar ideas.

For a December that starts with a craft project, there are kits too: cross stitch, crochet and sewing calendars, knitting and yarn calendars, and ornament calendars that leave a full set of decorations on the tree by Christmas Eve.

What to put inside

Advent calendar filler ideas sorts small gifts by age and budget, lists non-candy fillers that cost little or nothing, and flags what never belongs in a calendar for young children, such as button batteries and small magnets. Small gifts for advent calendars matches tiny fillers to the size of each door.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission bans small parts in toys meant for children under 3, so a toddler’s calendar needs fillers bigger than its choking-test size, or no toys at all. Paper items such as books are exempt from the ban, which makes notes and picture cards an easy filler for the youngest children.

Not every countdown has to be filled by hand. For a child who collects stickers, a ready-made sticker advent calendar puts a new sheet behind each door with no shopping for 24 separate gifts.

Before you fill it

Measure one drawer or pocket before you shop, so every gift fits its door. Brubaker lists the drawer size on its 24-drawer wooden house, and Pockets of Learning lists the pocket size on its canvas countdown hanger; most makers give a figure somewhere on the listing. Write it down and take it shopping.

Count the doors as well. Most calendars have 24 that end on Christmas Eve, and a 25th adds a gift on Christmas Day. For a homemade calendar, make one or two spare containers, since a torn bag in mid-December is easier to swap than to mend.

Number every door before you fill any of them, and keep a list of what goes where. When two people share the filling, the list stops a double gift on one day and an empty door on another.