diy advent calender

I don't know about you but the advent calender was one of my favorite things that got pulled out every year in preparation for Christmas. My sister and I used to argue everyday about who got to move the star one day closer to Christmas.

I thought it only necessary to bring that fun tradition into our home this year. Advent is a beautiful time of preparation and waiting for the coming of Christ at Christmas and the Advent calender makes for a fun way (especially for kids) to count down the days!

So, in the spirit of being frugal for Christmas this year, I decided to make my own Advent Calendar. After scouring the internet for ideas and diy projects I really could find what I wanted or should I say anything in my price range.

So...I winged it.

I gathered up all my old religious Christmas cards, holy cards or sacred images (I even cut some out of old calendars) and I used these as my inspiration. I tried to focus on images of The Christ Child, The Holy Family or Mary and Jesus. Then, I simply added numbers to the different cards (25 in all) and then punched holes and used a thick piece of yarn to thread them all together. I even sent my husband on a hunt for a nice large branch that I could use to hang them all together.

And tada! It came together very nicely. It may not stand the test of time, but it's a great way to reuse old Christmas cards and makes for a pretty child-friendly advent project.

Each day you can say a different prayer or even read a part of the Gospel leading up to Christ's birth as a way to prepare our hearts for Christmas.


Happy Advent!