Since the little guy is almost 5 and all about counting these days I thought this was the perfect year to introduce an Advent Calendar. We just put up our tree and he’s asked at least 6 times how many days until Christmas so this is perfect for him to count down.
I had a really hard time finding one I liked so I decided to make one instead. I made this using a few different ideas from Pinterest and they used toilet paper rolls, but I made this last minute so no tp rolls. Instead I used three wrapping paper rolls that were all the same diameter (not the skinny ones). I cut each roll using a serrated steak knife into 8 pieces that were about 3-3/4” long.
Using a ribbon spool, I made circles on silver tissue paper that were about twice the diameter of the rolls. I cut them out and then glued them onto one side with Elmer’s glue. I found it easiest to first put down four sides then wrap your hand around it and smooth it down.
Next I wrapped each roll with more silver tissue paper. I didn’t have quite enough to wrap them completely so I had to leave a little bit unwrapped but I figured it wouldn’t show by the time I was done.
Next up, you can either glue them into a pyramid “tree” shape with three coming down for a tree trunk or glue them together into a 4 x 6 grid using a hot glue gun. Then write the numbers 1 – 24 on each one (or if you are like me and accidently skipped number 21, then print out numbers and glue them on).
Oops!
I found a 24 pack of small ornaments while shopping on Friday but only half of them actually fit inside so I filled them up with an ornament or Hershey kiss or both.
To hang it I cut a slit midway along the top of the outer rolls and slid in wide curling ribbon and tied the ends. The little guy should be able to break the tissue paper really easily and get the prize inside! I’m super excited to start this new tradition with him.
*My rolls started falling apart, so I made a quick modification and wrapped ribbon around the entire outside to hold it all together.
