Take a trip down Candy Cane Lane with me and make an easy DIY advent calendar from toilet paper rolls (or cardboard paper towel rolls) and tissue paper. 🎄
Making a handmade advent calendar is a fun Christmas craft idea to DIY with kids. Liam wanted a TeenyMates Advent Calendar but we couldn’t find one in stock so we decided to make it ourselves. I cut the toilet paper tubes in half and showed him how to cover them with tissue paper and cardstock paper, which he did by himself and I was impressed. Then he left the room while I opened the TeenyMates packages and glued them inside to keep each day a surprise for him. And yes, I do save a stash of empty toilet paper rolls and cardboard paper towel rolls. Doesn’t everyone?? 😁
Easy DIY advent calendar from toilet paper rolls
No need to use fancy craft supplies for this handmade advent calendar idea. I mean, I do love handmade felt and wooden Christmas countdown calendars but we decided to go low-fi by using toilet paper rolls to get this done quickly. Toilet paper rolls can fit a surprising amount of things from TeenyMates to candy treats to lip balms and etc.
We raided our recycling bin for cardboard to make the wrapped base, then grabbed some red and white cardstock paper and tissue paper that we already had in our craft closet. I love Christmas crafts that you can make without buying any special supplies!
See also: ‘Paper Gingerbread Pals Wearing Ugly Sweaters’ »
Cute candy cane handmade advent calendar
Pinterest has tons of cute toilet paper roll advent calendars like this cozy house, this Christmas tree, this present box, and this cute toilet paper and trees advent calendar. Liam wanted to make something creative and unique so we brainstormed the idea make an upcycled candy cane instead! Liam laid out the template and what do you know? Candy canes look pretty good with 24 spots.
Easy do-it-yourself advent calendar idea
This was our first year making our own handmade advent calendar and we had so much fun DIY-ing it together. Tweens and teens can do most of the steps by themselves which is a real time saver. Thanks so much to Liam’s grandma for buying the TeenyMates for him. It was a fun DIY advent calendar idea to make together and he’s excited to start opening it on December 1st!
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Supplies for making a candy cane handmade advent calendar
- Kathy’s free printable template for advent calendar numbers (PDF) or my SVG for paper cutting machines
- Empty toilet paper rolls or paper towel rolls (you’ll need 12 tubes if cutting tubes in half and 24 tubes if using whole)
- Candy or small toys – I used TeenyMates
- Piece of recycled cardboard for the base (we cut up an Amazon box) and Christmas wrapping paper
- Scissors and optional craft knife, metal ruler, and self-healing mat
- Tissue paper
- Red paper and white paper
- Glue gun, glue stick, and double-stick tape or clear tape
How to make a Christmas Countdown calendar from toilet paper tubes
Step 1: Make the advent calendar base
Upcycle a piece of cardboard into an advent calendar base. We cut our cardboard base to be 15″ x 20″ and wrapped it with some Christmas wrapping paper and clear tape.
Step 2: Cut tissue paper squares
Cut squares of tissue paper big enough to cover one end of each toilet paper roll or cardboard paper towel roll. You’ll cut 12 white tissue paper squares and 12 red tissue paper squares.
Step 3: Wrap tissue paper onto toilet paper roll ends
Cover one end of a toilet paper roll with a tissue paper square and secure with double-stick tape or clear tape. Cover only one end of each tube. You can either use whole toilet paper rolls or cut them into halves or even thirds depending on what treats you’re putting inside your handmade advent calendar. I cut 12 toilet paper tubes in half using a craft knife to make 24 tubes.
Step 4: Cover toilet paper rolls with red and white paper
Cut paper rectangles that will fully cover your toilet paper rolls. Our paper rectangles were 2″ x 6″ because we had cut our cardboard tubes in half. Use double-stick tape or clear tape to wrap the paper around the tubes to cover the brown cardboard. Repeat for all 24 tubes.
Step 5: Arrange cardboard tubes into a candy cane shape
Arrange tubes into white and red striped candy cane. Liam did this step by himself and I think it looks pretty good! So just follow his template below.
Step 6: Fill your handmade advent calendar with treats
Lift up a toilet paper roll and place a treat onto the base. Then use your glue gun to attach the toilet paper roll on top of the treat to cover it up. Repeat for all 24 tubes.
Step 7: Add numbers to your Christmas countdown calendar
Glue numbers 1-24 using a glue stick to create a countdown calendar. I used my paper cutting machine to cut out numbers individually, but you could instead simply print out my template and cut circles around each number – here’s an example of what cut circles look like.
Step 8: Countdown to Christmas!
Kids can punch into each day to discover their daily treat. We keep our advent calendar on our entryway bench and find that it’s the first thing the kids want to do when they wake up in the morning for school. Happy Christmas countdown-ing!
Be sure to pin my DIY Advent Calendar project to count down to Christmas
And see more of my DIY Christmas ideas for decorations, gifts, and wrapping!
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