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

The Free DIY Paper Envelope Template

• Envelope template: You can download this one here (Envelope template) and cut your own out of cardboard.

Other Materials

• Christmas paper can be craft paper, old wrapping paper or even Christmas paper from magazines. I use a combination of all these.
• Glue stick, scissors, & Christmas twine
• Mini craft pegs.
• Number stencils

• Wooden coat Hanger.

• Red spray paint

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 person.

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

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

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.

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