Countdown to Christmas: DIY Advent Calendars for the Modern Home

Jessica Isaac

published Nov 7, 2016

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In December, every day leading up to Christmas is like a lil’ mini Christmas with the help of an advent calendar. Whether you fancy the minimalist look, or you’re waiting for inspiration to strike from the Target seasonal section, these 10 simple, no-frills DIY advent calendars are likely to fit in to any holiday decorating scheme.

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(Image credit: Weekday Carnival)

1. Triangular String Art Calendar

The triangular string art calendar pictured above is by Weekday Carnival and involves rubber string, 12 small nails, plywood, and printed rectangles of paper. Write a holiday activity or good deed on the other side, like watching Elf with a loved one, or buying a stranger in line a cup of coffee (see #3 for a great list of “good deeds”).

(Image credit: Chai Days)

2. Wood-Mounted Packages Calendar

This wood-mounted calendar from Chai Days involves little velcro circles attached to tiny packages (you can use a wrapping paper of your choice or construction paper). Fill them with whatever your heart desires, like small trinkets, chocolate-flavored santas, or santa-flavored chocolates. Note: we don’t recommend the latter.

(Image credit: Sara Albers)

3. Good Deeds Calendar

Sara from Alice and Lois traded in her store-bought, chocolate-filled advent calendar for a homemade alternative that treats your soul instead of your tastebuds. This DIY involves printables and white paper envelopes hung by clothespins filled with a new good deed to do each day.

(Image credit: A Merry Mishap)

4. Hanging Geo Calendar

This whimsical geo advent calendar DIY includes a 3-d geometric printable. Simply number the shapes, fill them with goodies, and hang them from a branch of your choosing.

(Image credit: The Merrythought)

5. Wooden Forest Calendar

An adorably minimal cardboard or wooden forest doubles as an advent calendar with a little chalkboard paint. Each tree is numbered and inscribed with a holiday task.

(Image credit: Homey Oh My)

6. White Paper Totes Calendar

A quick trip to Micheals is all you need to make this mini modern clothespin-hung advent calendar. Customize yours by swapping out trees for any wooden holiday cutout of your choosing. Head over to Homey Oh My for all the details.

(Image credit: My Dubio)

7. Black-and-White Bunting Calendar

You don’t need much beyond the advent envelope printables at My Dubio to make this ultra simple two-in-one bunting and calendar.

(Image credit: Sally J. Shim)

8. Floating Kraft Boxes Calendar

If you’re stressing about how you can make these tiny kraft boxes float effortlessly on your wall without destroying it, relax. It’s just tacks. Maybe just don’t fill them with bars of gold, and they should stay put.

(Image credit: Elisabeth Heier)

9. White Moulding Christmas Tree Calendar

Elisabeth heier is of the extremist variety when it comes to minimalism. She traded a fluffy Christmas tree, for an advent calendar made out of odds-and-ends of white moulding. Once mounted imperfectly, she adorned the white wood with white goodie bags.

(Image credit: My Dubio)

10. Wire Grid Calendar

Another chic black-and-white gem from My Dubio, involves their aforementioned advent envelope printables hung from a DIY grid magazine rack (link included in the tutorial).

There you go, you adventurous, advantages advent-ers. Now you have all the info you need maximize your minimal Christmas.