Festive advent calendars

Celebrate the excitement of Christmas with extra special advent calendars you can make yourself. Filled with treats and gifts, they’re sure to be loved by the whole family and can be used year after year.

Advent gift box calendar

You’ll need
■ 2 x sheets 250gsm white cardboard, $2.99 each, Riot Art & Craft
■ 1 x bone folder, $14.99, Riot
■ 1 x roll double-sided tape, $5.99, Riot
■ Ruler
■ Scissors
■ Pencil
■ Templates: Download Advent Calendar Pattern
■ Scrapbooking paper, from $1.45 per sheet, Catchy Crafts
■ Versacolor Cube Ink Pad in Bark, $3.50, Catchy Crafts
■ Adhesive numbers, $8.95 per pack, Catchy Crafts

To make the boxes
1 Print out the template (see below for download) and draw it on cardboard. Mark the fold lines then cut out your first box. Use this as a firm template to mark out the remaining 23 boxes.
2 Score the lines on each using the bone folder, this gives crisp, neat folds. Use tape to stick the lower flap then fold to form the boxes.
3 Use the square template to mark up your Christmas paper and cut six pieces for each box. To create an antique effect, rub the ink pad along each side of the box and also along the paper edges. Tape the paper squares to each side of the boxes before numbering and filling with gifts.

Advent Pocket Calendar
This is an ‘easy sew’ project and is made using two tea towels!

You’ll need
■ 2 x plain tea towels, $6 each, Target
■ Jo Sonja’s Artists Colours’ paint in French Blue, $4.99, Spotlight
■ Celco 10/20mm lettering stencil, $7.45, Officeworks
■ 2 x metal rings, Spotlight

To make the calendar
1 Lay one tea towel down flat then cut the other one into squares and rectangles (allow for a small seam allowance).
2 Arrange them across the first tea towel and trim where necessary so they all fit.
3 Sew each piece around all sides before stencilling on the numbers.
4 Allow the paint to dry then pin and sew in place to form pockets. Hand sew the rings to the top corners and hang.

Enquiries: Catchy Crafts catchycrafts.com.au Officeworks www.officeworks.com.au Riot Art & Craft riotstores.com.au Spotlight spotlight.com.au Target target.com.au