Let the Countdown Begin | Match Box Advent Calendar

It’s that time again…time for the Advent Calendar! This week and next, we’ll have a look back at a couple of fabulous DIY Advent Calendar ideas by Liesbeth. And the countdown begins!

Countdowns are awesome. Kids love it and get it. Its the ideal “moommmmyyyyy, how many more days to Christmas” whine prevention tool.  How fun it is for kids to have a visual reference and make the wait an exciting time.

This advent calendar was simple. But most importantly, it was something we made together. The more I can make Christmas about “moments together,” versus just “stuff”, the more I think I am succeeding as a cool mom.

By: Liesbeth

I got a bunch of match boxes in the dollar store (the actual matches are crappy but I was not interested in those anyway). I stuck them on cardboard wrapped in tinfoil, in the shape of a tree.

NOTE: a friend asked me how to open the boxes when they are so tightly stacked on top of each other and I replied to her:

You open from the bottom to the top and when you have opened one, you remove it from the board. That’s what I did.  I agree things will look prettier when the boxes stay, but my glue was not superstrong so I could remove boxes easy and did not rip the tin foil at all. Another better solution could be to use the sticky-backed velcro so you can take the boxes off and put them back on. Walmart sells the stick-on velcro, its great stuff.

Each box was filled with tiny toys (think the small plastic farm animals and dinos you buy by the bagful for nothing) and small chocolates. I covered the boxes with craft paper and we decorated them together with various stickers and small things I have collected over the years. I was not going for the award-winning Martha Stewart-like gorgeous craft but more for something colourful and fun we could make together and enjoy.

You can do this yourself in any way and any color you want but I recco you check what’s in your basement and drawers and use this project to do something useful with all those tiny things you have lying around and you knew one day would come in handy. This is that day!