It’s still much too warm in Germany, but Christmas time is approaching quickly. This year, I want to give selfmade advent calendars filled with stories, recipes, and poems to some very special people. The basis for each calendar is a simple 12×12 sheet of scrapbooking paper glued to a 12×12 piece of sturdy cardboard.

Step 1: The numbers
You can either stamp the numbers like I did into the circles of this beautiful paper…

…or you can glue them on. I used a 3/4 inch circle punch to create numbers in matching colors. If you like, you can download my numbers-in-circles design, just print and punch (3 color schemes on one sheet). Click here to download

Step 2: The holes
Beneath the numbers, I used my crop-a-dile to punch small holes through the calendar. If you don’t have a crop-a-dile, you can use an eyelet tool or a hole punch out of daddy’s toolbox. Punch two extra holes in the upper left and right corner, so the calendar can be hung to the wall.

Step 3: The gifts
That was a load of work… I chose 24 short stories, poems, recipes etc. and printed them on high quality paper. I folded and/or rolled the sheets, tied them to a pretty ribbon and threaded the ribbons through the calendars’ holes. A square knot on the back – that’s it. I used a small IKEA Allen wrench to push the ribbons through the holes. If you give the calendar to a couple, you can use two different ribbon colors for them to take turns in opening the gifts.

Step 4: Embellishments
You can embellish your calendar(s) as you wish. The only embellishments I used was a little snowflake mirror which I tinted with Adirondack inks to match the paper’s colors:

Step: Be happy and present someone with your beautiful creation!