DIY Advent Calendar Garland: Burlap and Buckets

It’s finally time to give in to the anticipation of Christmas! I allowed myself to cue the Christmas music on Pandora yesterday, and I’m pretty excited about this year’s DIY Advent Calendar garland!

Each year since our oldest son was one, I’ve created a special advent calendar activity for him. Last year, we wrapped and read a book a day Advent Calendar.

The year before, I use library card pockets to create a DIY Christmas activities Advent Calendar.  This year, I created a DIY Advent Calendar garland, thanks to a tutorial I found online.

[APOLOGIES – I have lost thousands of images due to a Hard Drive Failure and been unable to replace some of my blog post images that used to be here!]

I modified this garland somewhat, using smaller buckets and smaller tags. I also simplified by stamping the number and motif directly on the tag and eliminating the clothespin attachment (which I think would be cute with the larger buckets!). After stamping the tags with the countdown numbers, and a few decorative stamps, I simply tied the tags onto the bucket handle. The burlap wired ribbon from Oriental Trading turned out to be too wide for the rather scrawny pine garland I got at a local store, so I cut the ribbon in half, and that worked perfectly!

Initially, I was going to tie each bucket on with its own ribbon, but it was just easier to bend a pine branch up into a hook. I arranged the garland around the door frame in our dining area, so we’ll remember to do each day’s activity.

And what will go in each Advent calendar garland bucket?

I think a little mini piece of chocolate for each member of the family. Plus, we’ll be doing the ornament crafts from Truth in the Tinsel, and I’m hoping the craft supplies for each day will also fit in the buckets.

All in all, this DIY Advent Calendar garland took me about 2-3 hours to complete (spread over a couple days), and was very easy. Plus it’s not just an Advent calendar, it’s also great holiday decor!

What you need for a DIY Advent Calendar Garland:

• Medium Galvanized buckets
• Burlap Ribbon
• Wooden Buttons
• Adhesive squares
• Medium gift tags

One tip I’d give is to pay attention to the measurements for each craft item when purchasing online. I didn’t notice the medium tags were the same size as the medium buckets, so they were not a good match and I had to go out and buy more tags. That’s my own mistake!! But I’ll be stamping on those larger tags for my Christmas wrapping, so they will not go to waste.

Do you do an Advent Calendar? Tell me your ideas!