As the magical holiday season quickly approaches, things are sure to look a little different this year, with more time spent cozied up indoors and less time at malls, Christmas markets, and light festivals. Every year, my husband and I create an advent calendar for our 2 kids using recycled materials. It’s a lot of fun to do it ourselves and it’s become a family tradition. Kids love to see what we come up with every year!

This fun and creative D.I.Y. craft is a wonderful way to begin a new family tradition and celebrate the magic of the season with tiny surprises each day leading up to Christmas! Big or small, you can fill up these fun calendars with lots of goodies and treats for your children to enjoy, helping them stay occupied and excited. I usually buy second hand little presents to fill ours (playmobils, lego, little cars, mini puzzles…) or craft supplies, stickers, little erasers… And of course chocolates and candies! That way you can avoid having useless plastic things that just end up in the trash.

There are plenty of fun and creative ways that you can make your very own advent calendar, and they’re a great way to add some holiday decor into your home. I’ve listed some festive options below that anyone can make!

Remember “refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, repurpose” !

Here at Petit Architect I will also be hosting a FREE workshop to help you create your very own D.I.Y. advent calendar! The workshop will be held on Wednesday November 25th at 8pm and your welcome donations will go to the local charity La Boussole in Vancouver .

Pour a nice warm cup of hot chocolate ( or wine! ) and sign up today to secure a spot for this fun and festive activity that I am offering for parents ( for once )! Of course you can do it as a family, but I know my kids will be in bed so I can enjoy some social time with you all! :)

I don’t know about you, but I miss seeing friends a lot!

I hope to “see” you there:)

Here are some of my favourite DIY Advent calendar! I hope you have fun making them!

Send me a photo!