DIY Advent Calendar Ideas: Homemade Calendars You Can Make in a Day

To make a DIY advent calendar, gather 24 small containers such as paper bags, envelopes or boxes, number them 1 to 24, fill each with a small gift or note, and display them in order on a string, a board or a tray. Most paper and box builds take one evening and use supplies you already have.

What you need for any homemade calendar

Every build below uses the same four things, so gather them first.

• 24 containers. Bags, envelopes, small boxes or folded paper. Make 25 if you want a gift on Christmas Day.
• Numbers. Stickers, a stamp set, a paint pen or printed tags.
• A way to show them. String and mini clothespins, a corkboard and pins, a tray, a basket or a shelf.
• The fillers. Notes, treats and small gifts. Our advent calendar filler ideas are sorted by who is opening the calendar.

Five homemade calendars to try

Paper bag garland

Brown paper lunch bags or small kraft gift bags are the classic choice. Fill each bag, fold the top over twice and punch a hole through the fold. Thread the bags onto twine or peg them to a string with mini clothespins. A sprig of pine or a paper star on each one makes the row look finished.

Envelope wall

Envelopes suit flat things. Write a number on each, slip in a note, a coupon for an activity or a sheet of stickers, and tape them to a wall or door in a grid. Kraft envelopes look good left plain, and children can decorate their own.

Box tower or tray

Small cardboard boxes, matchboxes or a ready-made set of folding boxes hold sturdier gifts. Stack them into a pyramid, line them up on a tray or set them along a mantel. If you would rather not cut and fold boxes yourself, flat-pack sets do the cutting for you. One example is the Bow & Hummingbird set listed by Manufactum: 24 folding cardboard boxes made from recycled paper in Germany, with number stickers and cotton yarn for hanging. Similar sets are widely sold, so compare the box size before you pick one. Our empty advent calendar boxes guide compares box and bag sets by size.

Jar of 24 notes

Fold 24 slips of paper, each with an activity, a joke or a shared memory, and put them in a jar with a numbered tag on each slip. It costs almost nothing, fits a small table and suits adults as much as kids. Activity ideas: bake cookies, drive past the lights, watch a holiday movie, write a card to a grandparent.

Paper chain countdown

Cut 24 strips of colored paper, write a number or a small task on each and loop them into a chain. Tear off one link each morning. It is the simplest countdown for a toddler: the CPSC bans small parts in toys for children under 3, and paper items such as books are exempt from that ban.

How to make it step by step

1. Pick your containers and count out 24, or 25 with Christmas Day.
2. Number them before filling, so nothing gets out of order.
3. Match fillers to containers: flat notes in envelopes, small toys in boxes, soft items in bags.
4. Save a bigger gift for the last day.
5. Fill and hang it on November 30, so the first door is ready on December 1.

For the smallest gifts, sort them by the size of each opening with our small gifts for advent calendars guide.

Prefer a craft you finish once a day?

If you would rather make something with your hands each morning than fill a calendar, a craft kit counts down instead. Our guides to cross stitch, crochet and sewing advent calendars and knitting advent calendars cover the kits.

Filling it with candy

A homemade calendar is a good way to pick only the sweets someone likes. Individually wrapped pieces keep their label on hand for allergy checks. Our candy advent calendar guide covers ready-made candy calendars and what to check on the label.

More ways to build your own

If a paper calendar works for your family, a sturdier frame lasts for years. Our reusable advent calendar guide compares refillable designs, and our reusable and DIY advent calendars section has everything for making, filling and reusing one.