Did you realise, it’s only 36 more days until Christmas!? Well, 37 if you celebrate on the 25th. But nevertheless, Christmas is right around the corner, and the 1st of December is actually really close!
Now I don’t know about you, but Advent calendars are a must have in our household. I always had one (or more), even as an adult. And when my husband and I started dating, it became a tradition that we would give a handmade calendar to each other every year.
What I Used
Last year Scrapbook.com* sent me a beautiful Spellbinders die set to play with, the More than Milk Carton etched dies by Marisa Job*. The second I saw it, I knew that I wanted to use it to create an advent calendar with it! The little milk carton boxes have the perfect size to put in candy or other small surprises and they are super easy to make and quick to assemble!
* Unfortunately, for whatever reason, I didn’t get around to posting this project last year, so now that die set isn’t available anymore. But the Milk Carton die by Lawn Fawn or this one by Sizzix will give you a very similar look.
I mainly used the gorgeous December Days collection by Pinkfresh Studio for all of the milk cartons. The only thing I added in from my stash were various Thickers, since I needed to add the numbers from 1-25 and there aren’t enough numbers in one alpha set to do that. Again, since this was made last year, most of that collection is sold out. However, this year’s Christmas collection, Holiday Vibes, by Pinkfresh Studio is equally as gorgeous!
Embellishing
Of course you could use any Christmas collection that you already have or one that you like best! Another favourite for me this year is the Crate Paper “Merry Days” collection. I had to get almost everything of it and I cannot wait to use it!
Once you have all of the cartons cut and assembled, it’s time for embellishing. I made sure to have the numbers 1-25 on each box and then used a variety of embellishments to spice them up. You can use die cuts, puffy stickers, enamel dots, wood veneer buttons, and so on. There really is no limit!
Adding Fun Details
Another fun detail to add to some of the boxes are see-through elements! What I did to create mine was, I cut a rectangular window in one side of the box, then cut a slightly larger piece than the window from some an acetate sheet and adhered it to the inside of the box. That way you can see the candy inside and it just adds a little something to the whole calendar!
You can see what that looks like below, on the box for Day 20. I used an acetate sheet that has a white polka dot pattern, but there are many cute ones available! Just have a look at what you have in your stash and what fits the color scheme of your calendar!
Other Ways to Use It
If you didn’t want to make a whole advent calendar, or you already have one, you could also use these cute little milk cartons individually as treat boxes. You could add one to each gift you give away, or maybe make one for each colleague, use it to hold a gift card, etc. There are so many possibilities with a die like this!
And they are not only great for Christmas! You can use them all year around. For Easter or Halloween favors, for birthdays, and much more. I already used mine numerous times and it’s become one of my favorite die sets in my stash!
Where to Put It
What I really like about those milk cartons, as opposed to regular boxes, is that you can punch a whole in the top to string some twine through to hang them all on a line, or a coat hanger, or something similar. Or you could useclothes pins to hang them.
Or, if you have enough space, you could do it like I did here, and arrange a little “winter village” of milk cartons 😉
I hope you enjoyed seeing this idea for an Advent Calendar and are inspired to make your own! Or, as I said, just make a few and give them to your friends or colleagues. After all, the Holiday season is the time of giving, right? 🙂
Thanks a lot for stopping by! Hope you have a great Sunday!
Kathleen
*This blogpost contains affiliate links for products I use and love. Compensated affiliate links present no additional cost to you. If you buy sth. through my affiliate link, I’ll earn some coffee money which will help keep me going and create more projects for you 🙂 Thank you for your support!