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DIY Envelope Advent Calendar: Countdown to Christmas with Creativity

Get ready for a crafty and joyous Christmas season with our step-by-step guide on creating a DIY envelope advent calendar.

The anticipation leading up to Christmas day fills me with joy; it’s just as exciting as the event itself. There’s nothing quite like an advent calendar to kickstart the festive countdown. Homemade versions are my favourite because they allow me to curate what goes inside.

I’ve included delightful chocolate treats and cheesy Christmas jokes for each day in my DIY paper envelope advent calendar.

Crafting this calendar is a breeze. I used Christmas-themed craft paper for mine, but you have endless possibilities: Upcycle Christmas wrapping paper, old book pages, or even maps to create your unique version.

The joy of personalization knows no bounds! Get ready to embrace the holiday spirit and create cherished memories with this simple yet delightful DIY project.

DIY Paper Envelope Advent Calendar

Paper advent Pillarboxblue

The Free DIY Paper Envelope Template

Paper envelope template for advent calendar

Other Materials

  • Wooden coat Hanger.

How to make an Envelope Advent Calendar

Step 1: Make the mini paper envelopes with whatever Christmas paper you have chosen. Use the template for this. You will need 25 envelopes or 24 if you are a 24-day advent calendar kind of person.

I have found that there is a big debate on whether advent calendars should be 25 or 24 days. I think you should just do how many days you like. I’ve even seen shop-bought advent calendars go up to New Year’s Eve!

Envelope advent calendar pillarboxblue tutorial

Step 2: Next, stencil, draw or paint a number on each envelope 1 – 25. Then fill them with treats and jokes.

Paper envelope advent calendar - Pillarboxblue.com
Paper Envelope Advent - Pillarboxblue.com

Step 3: When all the envelopes are made, decide how you want to hang them. I spray-painted an old wooden hanger red and then hung my envelopes from this using craft pegs and twine. Doing it this way enabled me to hang it easily on the back of the boys’ bedroom doors.

You can of course just hang them on the string like bunting.

Advent Calendar - Pillarboxblue.com
Envelope advent pillarboxblue.com
Envelope advent calendar Pillarboxblue

You may have noticed I have hung my numbered envelopes in random order; that’s just a personal preference. Part of the fun of an advent calendar is hunting for the right day. Also, in life, I generally err on the side of randomness rather than order and symmetry.

What do you put in your advent calendars?

As children, we used to have those paper calendars where you’d open the window each day to reveal a different picture; there wasn’t a bar of chocolate in sight. Now there would be a mutiny if my boys didn’t have a daily sweet treat in their calendars. But I think they like the cheesy jokes more, even though they won’t admit it.
 
One of the best advent calendars I had was from my husband, and every day there was a different alcoholic chocolate truffle.
 
If you’re a bit short of Christmas jokes, the Telegraph compiled a list of the best 50.

Other Christmas Craft Ideas

With three boys in our home, we have more than one advent calendar, each one different. If you are looking for more ideas for DIY advent calendars, you should check out my tin can upcycled advent calendar or my jeans pocket handmade advent calendar.

You can use any leftover wrapping paper to make some gift bags for Christmas.
 
 You might like some of my other Christmas crafts:
25 Handmade Christmas Advent Calendars
Giant Christmas Felt Letters
Upcycled Felt Garland
Christmas Elf on the Shelf
 

Free template to make a paper envelope advent calendar. Upcycle Christmas wrapping paper or use craft paper to make the envelopes and fill them with your own choice of treats and a daily Christmas joke for extra smiles.

DIY Compte à rebours de Noël Calendrier de l'Avent Idées et tutoriels - Budget-friendly

Thursday 14th of November 2019

[…] Chacune de ces enveloppes en papier est remplie de friandises au chocolat et de plaisanteries de Noël au fromage pour chaque jour. C'est très facile à faire. Vous avez juste besoin de papier d'artisanat de Noël ou de n'importe quel papier provenant de papier d'emballage de Noël recyclé, de vieilles pages de livres et même de cartes pour créer le vôtre. Apprenez à les fabriquer Boîte pilier bleu. […]

DIY Christmas Countdown Advent Calendar Ideas & Tutorials - For Creative Juice

Tuesday 12th of November 2019

[…] Each of these paper envelope is fulled with chocolate treat and cheesy Christmas joke for each day. It is very easy to make. You just need some Christmas craft paper or any paper from upcycled Christmas wrapping paper, old book pages and even maps to make yours. Learn how to make them from Pillar Box Blue. […]

Julie

Sunday 12th of November 2017

That's clever. I made a very basic similar advent calendar for my husband years ago (he felt he was missing out when the kids were opening their's each morning!) and just cut old manilla envelopes in half thinking it would be a one off funny thing for us to do. We used that same tatty old thing for YEARS! I think an upgrade might be in order, he would love one like this. This will be one the the features at Handmade Monday later on today :-)

Claire Armstrong

Sunday 12th of November 2017

Thank you, Julie that's a lovely story. Look forward to seeing the feature.

Mary

Tuesday 7th of November 2017

Claire this is so simple to make and yet so adorable. That is what Christmas should be all about. Making crafts with the family and then enjoying the holidays. Not running around spending money ton tons of things others may or may not want. You obviously have many fond memories from your advent calender's.

Claire Armstrong

Wednesday 8th of November 2017

Thank you Mary. That is my favourite part of Christmas is the making. I would love it if everyone made their gifts. I always have loads of things I want to make at Christmas, I'm working on about 6 different crafts at the moment.

Leanna

Tuesday 7th of November 2017

I really enjoy all the variations of diy advent calendars. They are so much nicer than their commercial counterparts. Love this one with the various colours.

Claire Armstrong

Wednesday 8th of November 2017

Thank you Leanna, I always love a bit of colour.