One of my favorite Christmas memories is of our Advent chains. My mom made my sister and I long felt chains with 24 yarn ties on it. On December 1st, she would hang our chains in the kitchen doorway. Each tie contained a piece of candy, a small gift, or a note about an activity that we would get to do. It was so exciting to see what that days treat was.

I knew I wanted to do something similar for my son, but since I don’t sew I needed to come up with a different idea. I headed to Pinterest for some inspiration and, of course, found a ton of great ideas. I decided to incorporate a couple different ideas for our Christmas Countdown Calendar.

For this project you will need:

A Cookie Sheet (I got mine at the $1 Store)
Small Tins (I got the Wilton Favor Tins at Joann’s with a 50% off coupon for $9.98)
Christmas paper
Peel and Stick magnets
Picture hook

I used my Cricut to cut 2″ circles and the numbers (1-24) out of the Christmas paper.

Next, I glued the numbers onto the circles using a glue pen.

I put the circles into the lids of each tin. I used a couple pieces of Scotch tape to secure them.

Then I attached Peel & Stick Magnets to the back of each tin.

Attach the picture hook to the back of the cookie sheet (if you plan on hanging your calendar on the wall). I used Super Glue to do this.

Lastly, I used the Cricut to create a header for the top of the cookie sheet. I used Peel & Stick magnets to attach the header, so that I could remove it for easier storage.

I filled each container with a piece of candy or a note. The notes contained special activities that we will do that day or directed my son to pick a gift from a “grab bag” I have of small things (matchbox cars, crayons, etc).

I hope that my son will be as excited about his new Advent Calendar as I was a kid. Do you have an Advent Calendar or other Christmas Countdown tradition?