If you are looking for kids advent calendar ideas, try making your own DIY kids advent calendar that is easy, classic, and will make Christmas memories for years to come!
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Welcome to the 5th annual 12 Days of Holiday Ideas event, hosted by Shirley of Intelligent Domestications and Erlene of My Pinterventures. Between Nov. 11th and December 6th there will be hundreds of new ideas shared by over 55 Co-host bloggers! This post is one of the many posts in the 12 Days of Christmas Blog Hop! Make sure that you head over to see all of the other ideas and get your own copy of the printable calendar HERE!
DIY Kids Advent Calendar Stocking
When you were growing up, did you guys have any special Christmas traditions? I love hearing how people celebrate the season and it gives me all the warm fuzzies!
I knew someone who ate breakfast in front of the Christmas tree every morning.
I’ve heard of people reading a different Christmas book every night.
Looking at Christmas lights is a common tradition.
One of MY favorites was opening my advent calendar each morning!
My mom got me one every year, and when I got old enough, I picked it out myself! It wasn’t anything fancy, and it didn’t come with huge gifts. There was one piece of chocolate in each day leading up to Christmas. It meant I was allowed to have candy every morning before school, and that was a big deal to me!
Related: Easy Holiday Printable Place Cards – Four Ways
Nowadays, things can get a little out of hand when it comes to gift giving and what we give our children. I’m trying to teach my kids that they can’t get everything that they want, and that they have to be patient. Let’s be honest though, the look on their faces and the giant hugs and I love yous, when you bring home a Lego surprise pack or a bag of candy is priceless!
That being said, I want them to know that giving is more important than receiving and to know THAT feeling you get when you have given something to someone that makes them so happy! There are so many adorable advent calendars out there, but none of them did exactly what I wanted them to do. I wanted a calendar that taught them how to give, how to create, how to love, and gave them a little something special!
Is that too much to ask!? Ha!
So…I decided to make my own! You can too! It’s super easy and you can make yours any way you like! The most important part is what’s inside! I’ve made a list of printable ideas that you can add to the stocking for your kids to pull out each day! Scroll down for the list!
*BurlapFabric.com was kind enough to send me two of THESE burlap stockings for me to use to make my DIY kids advent calendar.
How to Make the DIY Kids Advent Calendar Stocking:
Materials Needed:
- Stocking (I used THIS burlap stocking.)
- White craft paint
- Black craft paint
- Large and small paintbrush
- Painter’s tape
- Sticky numbers (three dimensional stickers.)
- Super glue
- Pom poms (or make your own with yarn)
- Greenery (try THIS or THIS)
- Black velvet ribbon
- Letter to personalize (try THIS ornament or THIS one)
- Small wreath (or greenery to make your own)
- FREE printable daily ideas
Step 1:
Using painters tape, tape off the heel and toe of your stocking. Make sure that the tape is adhere well, so no paint seeps under the tape. Dip the larger paintbrush into the white craft paint and paint over the burlap fabric inside the taped off area. Let the paint dry (or be impatient like me and move onto step 2.)
Step 2:
If you can find sticker numbers in the color of your choosing, you will not need to paint them! I couldn’t find any in black in my JoAnns store, so I had to paint them. You can order wooden numbers online or “thickers” as they are called (thick stickers).
If you paint your stickers, let them dry before using them. This time you can’t be impatient, because you don’t want the paint getting on your stocking!
Once the paint is dry or if you didn’t have to paint your numbers, lay them out on your stocking to find the right location for numbers 1-25. I just eyeballed them, but you can certainly use a tape measure to be more precise.
Step 3:
Even if your numbers are sticky, you will probably want to use super glue to adhere your numbers to the stocking. Since this DIY kids advent calendar will be used for several years, the glue will make them stick longer. Place glue on the back of your numbers and press them down on the stocking for several seconds. Repeat until you have done all 25 numbers.
Step 4:
Make your tiny wreath to place around the numbers. I used some garland from the Target dollar spot to make my wreath. You could also find a small wreath already made up at a local craft store!
In order hang your wreath onto the DIY kids advent calendar stocking, you can use a small Christmas tree hook or a piece of floral wire made into the shape of a hook. The hook will fit into the holes in the burlap stocking!
Step 5:
Add any embellishments that you would like to have on the top of your stocking! I added pom poms that I made myself! It was the first time that I made them. They are so easy!
I also added THIS sprig of greenery to mix in some color. Here are some other sprigs you could add!
Related: Painted Dollar Store Nutcracker Decorations
You can personalize the DIY kids advent calendar stocking by using a wooden letter and tie it to the top! I found the “F” at the Target dollar spot, but many of the crafts stores will have letters.
Finally, I tied a piece of black velvet ribbon to bring out the black in the numbers!
DIY Kids Advent Calendar Stocking
Printable Filler Ideas for Each Day
Click on the image to print and cut out each idea to fill your advent calendar!
The holidays were such an awesome time filled with happiness and cheer! I remember my mom making them feel extra special with little things like the advent calendar. It didn’t cost a lot of money, but clearly it had a big impact on me since I remember the holidays with such a warm and fuzzy feeling!
I want to give my kids the same feeling during the holiday season!
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This is a really unique idea–and makes beautiful decor, too!