Watch This TikToker Transform an Old Cassette Holder Into a Charming Advent Calendar

If you’re on a budget this holiday season and can’t splurge on an advent calendar, that’s fine. Because with only an old cassette holder and a bit of creativity, you can make your own.

That’s what home decor expert @lonefoxhome did when he stumbled across a wooden cassette holder in a thrift store and came up with the idea. In a TikTok video, he turns the vintage item into an advent calendar by first removing the back panel before the vertical inserts. Then, he removed some of the horizontal inserts and re-installed the vertical ones, reducing the original 48 slots to 24.

After that, he bought muslin bags from a craft store and hand-lettered each one. For the gifts, he put in some cash, but as with any advent calendar, it can be any small item, from candies to cheeses and to even LEGO blocks. Finally, he tied the knots and hung the bags on the empty slots where the horizontal inserts used to be.

And by decorating it with lights and garlands, he made the calendar look and feel like something out of a feel-good Christmas story. Even better, the cassette holder only cost him $2.

“How perfect is this DIY advent calendar I created from a cassette holder,” he said. “So excited to fill each bag with treats and start the count down.”

His followers agreed wholeheartedly. “My jaw dropped at the reveal, so cute!!” reads one comment, while another said: “This. This right here sums up EVERYTHING I love about thrifting & DIY-ing.”