Advent calendars are a holiday tradition for many of us, and Angela’s here today sharing how to make your own DIY advent calendar using two Essentials by Ellen box die sets.
Hi friends! I hope you enjoyed a lovely Thanksgiving, and that your holiday festivities are in full swing. With December just a couple of days away, I’m reminded of a tradition from my childhood – opening a door of my Advent calendar every morning in the lead-up to Christmas. Perhaps this is a memory of yours, too?
The calendars my sister and I had were always the chocolate-filled kind from the grocery store, but there are so many other ways to make and fill them. When it comes to DIY versions, the Essentials by Ellen Wide House Box and Christmas Add-On Die Sets, as well as the Pyramid Box and Candy Corn Add-On Die Set, are perfect for creating a little Christmas village of houses and trees. These boxes can store little gifts – think gift cards, sweets, lip balm, nail polish, those small sample size items from Sephora… the possibilities are endless!
In today’s video, I’ll show you how I used these die sets, as well as a few other items from the Essentials by Ellen line, to create a DIY Christmas Village Advent calendar. I’ll also share a few handy tips I discovered along the way.
Tips:
- First things first: queue up your favorite holiday movies on Netflix – while there’s nothing difficult about this project, I’d be lying if I told you that it’s a quick one. Make yourself comfy!
- I highly recommend starting by doing all of your die cutting first. Getting this part out of the way makes putting the boxes together go much, much faster. I made 4 houses and 21 trees for a total of 25 boxes, and once I had all of the matching die cut pieces in their own little dishes, it was very easy to do an assembly line-like construction process.
- White glitter cardstock gives the look of glistening snow, which is a fun way to add some extra sparkle to the roofs and treetops. If you don’t have any, you can make your own by going direct to paper with a Versamark ink pad until it’s covered, then apply clear or white sparkling embossing powder. Heat set it completely, and voila – you’ve got lots to die cut from!
- While I preferred to use liquid glue for most of this project, I recommend using double-sided tape to stick the edges of the boxes together. It’s nice and strong, and you’ll want that if the treats you put inside have any weight to them.
- When assembling the house boxes with double-sided adhesive, a bone folder is a really handy tool for applying pressure in areas that are hard to reach with your fingers.
- If you decide to display your gift boxes on a tiered stand like I have, be sure to get one that has at least 4″ clearance between the tiers.
Thinking about making your own DIY Advent calendar? I’d love to see! Be sure to tag me (@mycraftyperspective) and @ellenhutsonllc on Instagram so we can see your gorgeous creations. As always, thank you so much for stopping by today, and until next time, happy crafting!
– Angela
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