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Simple Tutorial: DIY Christmas Advent Calendar for Families

Holidays, Home

Looking to make Christmas extra special for your family this year and add extra Christmas magic? This easy DIY Christmas Advent Calendar for families is something my own family looks forward to every holiday season!  Keep reading to see how our family celebrates Advent in about 5 special minutes every morning in December and how you can make a simple and fun DIY Christmas Advent calendar for families for a beautiful holiday tradition too!

 

​How to Make a Simple DIY Advent Calendar for Families to Celebrate During the Christmas Season

How to make a family Advent calendar?

And why it matters….

Well, when I was a little girl, we had a felt Christmas countdown calendar with velcro pieces.  It hung on the freezer in the laundry room, right beside our back door.  I remember racing to try and beat my big brother to get to move the piece first each day.

Since then, I’ve come to love the season of Advent and the intentional meaning behind why we celebrate.  Because I wanted to pass this importance along to my own family and create a special holiday tradition with an Advent calendar for families., we started our easy DIY Advent calendar boxes several years ago.

My kids have already been talking about them again this year and everyone is excited for the first day of December to roll around!

I have about finished my shopping for little gifts for this special family tradition of our Advent calendar for families.

Pro Tip:  One time saving tip?  Creating boxes like these for an Advent calendar for families makes for reusable advent calendars so I don’t have to redo them every year!

I hope this post inspires you to start your own Advent calendar tradition with your family members.  It is a great way to bring everyone together to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.  At the same time, it is so much fun!  I hope the fun ideas in this post will spark creativity for your and your family as you get into the holiday spirit with unique advent calendars!

cardboard advent boxes in a metal cubby ready for Christmas time

How can we do Advent at home?

Do you celebrate Advent as a family?  Or perhaps it is a special thing you do on your own?  Whether you celebrate it with this Advent calendar for families or in another way, it can be a really meaningful time to keep your focus on true meaning of Christmas.

For our family, things that are too complicated tend to just not happen at all.  Or we start, with great intentions, but just can’t keep it going during the entirety of the busy season.

So, here are 5 tips to celebrate Advent as a family:

  • Keep it simple.
  • Set aside specific, intentional time to celebrate Advent as a family.
  • Create or purchase small Advent gifts throughout the month.
  • Consider a themed Advent calendar (if that makes the gifts easier for you and your family.)
  • Create a DIY Advent tradition that works for your family.  That could be your own Advent calendar tradition or some other type of meaningful celebration.  (In this post, I’ll show you our family’s favorite!)
  • Take a brief minute each day to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas as you celebrate Advent with the whole family.

You can read all the details about how we incorporate these easy tips into our busy December month with our Advent calendar for families.  I have it all written out to hopefully help you!  Find the details on THIS post!

beautiful Christmas space featuring a gold Advent tree, Christmas greenery, and brass candlesticks

How do we celebrate Advent meaningfully?

For our family, two specific things have made our Advent Christmas activities more meaningful as we celebrate together.  First of all, taking intentional time each day, even just 5 minutes, is something we really look forward to.  It isn’t always easy and requires some extra effort to make that happen each morning.  However, because everyone loves doing it, this Advent calendar for families is a tradition that we are all willing to make the effort for!

During that time, we read a special book.  THIS BOOK has become the second thing that has made our Advent so much more meaningful.  I highly recommend purchasing this for your family, no matter the ages.  It is absolutely perfect to use with Advent calendars for families.  At the same time, it also makes a great gift for grandchildren, nieces and nephews, neighbors, and friends.

Truly, I cannot recommend “The Wonder of the Greatest Gift” enough to you.  The interactive tree and ornaments are beautiful and add a fun element.  The readings are meaningful, easy to read, and brief to allow you to make it happen every day during the season!

wooden nativity spread out beneath cloches on a cabinet

Simple Tutorial: DIY Christmas Advent Calendar for Families

Our favorite DIY Advent idea was actually born out of my realization that my vintage French postal sorter had over 25 holes.  I was thinking how I could decorate it for Christmas and thought that it could make a really fun Advent calendar display and include sweet treats and tiny toys too.

I’ll be honest that I wasn’t trying to be overly spiritual or even had grand expectations that it could work.  I just wanted some way for us to try and be more intentional about celebrating Advent as a family with this Advent calendar for families.

It seemed like a statement display with fun little family gifts might be a way to help get everyone on board.  At the same time, it could be a way to make sure we actually stopped to spend these few minutes together each day to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas.

Our own DIY Advent calendar for families has ended up being a wonderful tradition for our family.  Our children look forward to it every year and down the road, I already plan to make DIY Christmas Advent boxes for our children to take with them when they leave home.  (Not that I’m anxious for that to happen. Thankfully, we have a few more years!)

How We Made Our DIY Advent Calendar for Families

There are a lot of different ways that you could create your own easy DIY Advent calendar for families to use with your own family.  I came up with this idea  for an Advent calendar for families based on the space I had to display it and fun treats I wanted to use.  However, you do not need a large cubby to enjoy a fun tradition!

You could line your boxes up on a shelf or console table.  Try incorporating this Advent calendar for families into Christmas decor on a bookshelf!  These boxes could even make a great display in a playroom space or on a mantel and hold perfect Advent calendar fillers!

Here’s how we made our boxes:

Materials Needed for Easy DIY Advent Christmas boxes:

  • Brown Kraft boxes, 6 X 6 inch (they come in a variety of sizes, so you can choose the size that works best for your display space.  I like the 6″ because they are a tad bigger and it makes it easier to put more of a variety of items that my kids enjoy.)
  • Wide chisel edge sharpie marker (I prefer this kind because I find them easier to write with!)
  • Optional: “The Wonder of the Greatest Gift: Interactive Family Book”; we love reading this as a family each morning before the kids take turns opening the box of the day.  This book alone makes a wonderful Advent calendar for families!
  • Fun little gifts to put in the boxes!
view of metal cubbies lines with small numbered cardboard boxes, ready for Advent

Ideas for Gifts to Use in the Easy DIY Christmas Advent Calendar for Families:

What to fill an advent calendar with for kids?

Non-gift Advent Calendar Filler Ideas and Activity Ideas:

  • Coupons for an easy family outing, like driving around to look at Christmas lights or attending a Christmas concert together (perfect for the Christmas spirit!)
  • Notes for acts of service: We try to have at least one day where we deliver Christmas donuts and Christmas cards to a few people in our community
  • Notes for Random Acts of Kindness within our family
  • Coupon for a Christmas pajama and movie night
  • Coupon for a sleepover at grandparents (this one is really great about mid-way through the month when you need a little break and some time to finish up your shopping!
  • Do a scavenger hunt if there are larger items, such as new Christmas pjs or a Christmas DVD that might not fit in the box

Small gift ideas to use with this DIY Advent Calendar for Families:

(The craft store and dollar store has lots of fun and creative options for Advent calendar gifts that are perfect for an Advent calendar with families, so just shop around! One year I found mini Uno games that were the perfect size for small presents!)

Christmas Advent boxes in a metal cubby with Christmas greenery on top

How to Make a Themed Advent Calendar for Families

What are some ideas for an advent calendar?

Another idea is to purchase a themed Advent calendar for families or children and put the pieces in your DIY boxes.  Example: I purchased LEGO calendar on sale and then spaced out the pieces throughout the month.  

Other themes: 

closeup of a box in the cubby with the cubby above decorated with vintage books and Christmas greenery

How to Decorate Advent Boxes for an Advent Calendar for Families

There are lots of ideas and many ways to style and decorate your easy DIY Christmas Advent calendar for families!  Since my postal sorter has more than 25 cubbies, I put some old books in a few for some extra texture and then leave others empty.

On the top of the postal sorter, I add a simple Christmas touch with this realistic winter cedar garland.  I love how it falls so naturally and looks so pretty in this space with our Advent calendar for families!  It really does look SO REAL!

If you are lining your DIY Advent boxes on a shelf, try giving some variety in the heights.  Vintage, thrifted books work great for that.  Also, you can add some touches of your Christmas colors with the books.  At the same time, you can also use neutral books or turn the spines around so that the neutral pages show.

Tuck in some bits of small Christmas greenery stems or even a few small bells, like these, for a festive touch!

Pro Tip: Visit your local Christmas tree stand and ask if you can pick up some of the cuttings off the ground.  They always give them to me for free and you can’t beat free decor!

How do families prepare for advent?

There are so many ways to celebrate Advent with your family besides just an Advent calendar for families.  To me, the most important part is setting aside intentional time to do so.

Otherwise, to be honest, the busy activities and rush of the season can leave us breathless and empty when it’s all said and done.  An Advent calendar for families is just one intentional way to help your family remember to stop and celebrate together!

The point of celebrating Advent is not a Pinterest-worthy performance.  Rather, it is a simple, intentional act of reflecting on the true meaning of Christmas time.

Here are 5 other ways that I think are both fun and meaningful to celebrate Advent as a family:

  • Attend a local Christmas event at a church, such as a concert, Christmas Eve service, or Living Nativity.  One year, we took our children to see “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”  It was so fun and special, yet incredibly meaningful.
  • Listen to Christmas hymns while your family drives around to see Christmas lights.  Sing along!
  • Read a Bible verse each day and have the children take turns moving the Nativity piece on this simple Advent calendar.
  • Make Christmas treats together and deliver care packages to special people in your community.
  • Host an Operation Christmas Child party with your friends and their children.  Samaritan’s Purse makes it easy to partner through HERE on their official Operation Christmas Child Shoebox site.

On Christmas morning, make a big deal about opening the final gift of your homemade Advent calendar for families together. The daily surprises can culminate with something extra special, like a family gift or even a trip!

view of the Christmas back room with the coffee table styled for christmas and cubbies filled with Advent boxes

How do you make a homemade Advent Wreath?

An Advent wreath is just another way you can celebrate besides a traditional Advent calendar for families.  This DIY wreath is so simple that you could easily combine it with any other Advent calendar for families and do both at the same time!

Materials for a DIY Advent wreath:

  • Large bowl or vessel
  • Winter greenery wreath or evergreen wreath
  • *Optional: You can use evergreen branches or fresh greenery, shaped in a circle around your vessel instead of a wreath
  • Candle holders
  • 4 or 5 taper candles (I prefer THESE flameless ones!)
  • Seasonal accents
  • *Optional: use a pillar candle instead of taper candles and candle holders

DIY Advent Wreath Step One:  Choose a vessel and wreath.

First, you need to choose a vessel.  I have a large, round wooden dough bowl that I bought many years ago at an antique store in Rome, Italy.  It happens to be the perfect size to fit my favorite, realistic pine wreath.  Since I already had these items on hand, I thought they would work out well.

Again, evergreen greenery is the traditional wreath choice.  However, I was trying to just use what I already had on hand.

You can really use any vessel and Christmas wreath, so shop your own Christmas decoration bins first!

You will want to make sure that your wreath either fits inside your vessel or will easily rest on the perimeter of your vessel.  Since these are real candles, you’ll want to make sure your DIY Advent wreath isn’t tipsy at all!

If you’re looking for a beautiful and realistic wreath to use, you can find my favorite one HERE!

DIY Advent Wreath Step Two: Add candlesticks.

Using what I had on hand, I put four short vintage brass candlesticks in my bowl.  Then, I added one taller one in the middle.

Depending on the size of your own wreath, your candlesticks may or may not show.  You could also use blocks of floral foam or something similar if the candle holders are not going to show.  At the same time, you could also use extra sprigs of evergreen to cover up the foam blocks too.

THIS SET of four short candlestick holders would work perfectly too, for a simple look.  I would purchase them myself if I didn’t already have something on hand to use!

For a little different look, you could also use a variety of sizes, keeping the tallest candlestick in the middle.  THIS collection of brass candlesticks has a lot of variety and you could use the rest of the collection on your mantel in the living room or even a dining room table centerpiece!

view of an advent wreath made with gold candlesticks and ribbon

DIY Advent Wreath Step Three: Add candles.

As I said before, I tried as much as possible to just use what I had on hand.  If you want to create a DIY Advent wreath that is more traditionally and historically based, you may want to use three purple candles and one pink candle.  Then, you can add a white one in the middle.  A more modern Advent wreath may not use the traditional colors.

However, to me, the main purpose is an opportunity to draw our hearts and minds to the meaning of Christmas.  Since that doesn’t require certain colors to do, I just went with the white candles I had on hand.

Truly, I think this is up to your personal preference.  The main purpose is to create an intentional opportunity for your family to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas, whatever that may look like for you and your own family!

You could even choose to use battery-operated taper candles.  I use these realistic wax taper candles that are set on timers.  They create such a cozy glow throughout our home!

DIY Advent Wreath Step Four: Add Embellishments.

Even though I wanted the overall concept of my DIY Advent wreath to be very simple, I also chose to add some small accessories that would tie in with my Christmas theme.

For a few years now, I have used my vintage brass collections of French horns, candlesticks, and bells as a theme for my Christmas decor.  While I love to use them in different ways, I also love using much of the same decor each Christmas.

To connect my DIY Advent wreath with the rest of our Christmas theme, I purchased an additional set of THESE VINTAGE-INSPIRED BELLS.

I spaced them out around the wreath, tucking them into the greenery.  The antiqued gold finish pairs beautifully with the vintage brass candlesticks.  At the same time, I am enjoying how it still has a simple look that isn’t overdone.

Here are some other embellishment/accent ideas:

You can easily re-create this DIY Advent wreath with the following 5 elements:

large Christmas advent wreath with candlesticks and ribbon

Why do we celebrate the Advent?

Traditionally, Advent has been celebrated in churches around the world.  In the Latin language, advent means “coming”.  Celebrating Advent literally means celebrating the coming of Jesus into the world as a Baby in the manger.

Advent is observed as the four Sundays and weeks leading up to Christmas Day.  At the same time, it is often observed as December 1st through Christmas Day.

Because the Christmas holiday is so meaningful to our faith, our family observes Advent with a daily devotional reading and opening of an Advent box.

This Advent calendar for families has become one of our family’s favorite things about Christmas.  Does it take some extra planning and effort on my part, as the mom?  Of course.  But everything good about parenting requires intentionality.  The meaning of the Christmas story and birth of Jesus is certainly worth my efforts!

Bonus: This reusable Advent calendar for families with easy DIY Advent boxes actually doesn’t require a ton of time or work.  The boxes are easy to assemble, easy to fill with small gifts, and oh-so-fun to open each day during the month of December!

Double Bonus: Our kids actually get excited every morning to sit down together as a family and do our Advent reading!  That makes the time and effort more than worth it!

What are the four Sundays of Advent?

In order, the four Sundays of Advent are observed as:

  • First Advent candle: Hope
  • Second Advent candle: Love
  • Third Advent candle: Joy
  • Fourth Advent candle: Peace

Aren’t these very words, in themselves, so beautiful?  Christmas is so much more meaningful when it is approached from a perspective and heart of hope, love, joy, and peace.  This Advent calendar for families is centered around the idea of celebrating together with intentionality.

wide view of the living room featuring a nativity spread out under various different cloches

What should YOU do during Advent?

The great news is that Advent is about reflection and relationship.  You can celebrate Advent as elaborately or as simply as you want to do with your family.  At the same time, you can celebrate in a fun way with little gifts and kids advent calendars or look for completely free ways to recognize the season with a personal touch.

Advent is all about reflecting on preparing our hearts and homes for Jesus.  That is truly the best part of all.

Traditional Advent calendar preparation won’t look the same for each family, nor should it, necessarily.  I hope that this post gives you some creative ideas with different things to try.  If you’ve never celebrated Advent, it’s not too late to start.  The best Advent calendars are the ones you do together as a family!  In fact, there are some simple and easy ideas here to help you get started with every family member, from little kids to older kids and even adults.

However, if your family does celebrate Advent together already, I hope this post simply inspires you to keep doing what you do!  Mix it up, add some fun, or keep it the same.  Traditions are a great idea as well as a beautiful gift.  I hope this inspires you to find one that you can stick to next year and every year after!

Most of all, I hope this post gives you a moment to pause and consider how you will prepare your own heart and home for Christmas during this amazing season!

If you enjoyed this Advent post, you may also be inspired by:

close-up of Christmas advent boxes displayed to show an idea for an Advent calendar for families

I’d love for you to follow me on social media!  You can find my home decor inspiration on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook!  

Blessings,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.  Posts on Robyn’s French Nest may contain affiliate links. You can see our full disclosure details here.)

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I’d love for you to follow me on social media! You can find my home decor inspiration on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook!

Blessings,

(As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Posts on Robyn’s French Nest may contain affiliate links. You can see our full disclosure details here.)