21 Awesome Advent Calendars You Can DIY

Only 9 days left until you breakout your Advent Calendar and start the big count-down!

I am sorry... I have to do this. Whenever says the word 9 I think of the scene in Ferris Bueller's Day Off where the principal calls Ferris's mom and tells her that Ferris has been absent 9 times. Feel free to skip the conversation quote below.

Principal Rooney: So far this semester he has been absent nine times.
Ferris's mom: Nine times?
Principal Rooney: Nine times.
Ferris's mom: I don't remember him being sick nine times.
Principal Rooney: That's probably because he wasn't sick. He was skipping school. Wake up and smell the coffee, Mrs. Bueller. It's a fool's paradise. He is just leading you down the primrose path.
Ferris's mom: I can't believe it.
Principal Rooney: I've got it right here in front of me. He has missed nine days...
[Principal Rooney's computer screen begins counting down from nine to two. Ferris is at home looking at the same screen]
Ferris: I asked for a car, I got a computer. How's that for being born under a bad sign?

Awesome Ferris Bueller poster image found in my old room.

Now that I have thrown one completely unrelated reference to the 80s in, let's get back to the topic at hand: Advent Calendars.

I used to love Advent Calendars when I was little... getting a special treat every day leading up to the best treat day of the year! If you don't love Advent Calendars you must be pretty high on the crazy spectrum!

I like an Advent Calendar that you can do something with... like ornaments that you can put on a tree or chocolate you can eat! But I couldn't resist showing you some of the more impractical yet adorable calendars out there.

This is what I am talking about. On each day that you check off you get to hang an ornament on the tree!

By now, you all must have an idea for how much I like the idea of hanging things off branches.

Oh how I love pretty paper. It will get me every time. Throw in teeny tiny clothespins and I am hooked! Garland too! I cannot contain my excitement! 

Love it! It is garland and it is Advent! I don't know what happened to the numbers but make sure they make it on your DIY Advent Calendar.

I am always looking for ways to reuse our extra take-out containers from the candy buffet at our wedding.

You can use little magnet spice containers for you calendar. Just throw them up on the fridge! 

A paper chain Advent Calendar. Very unique! I don't know where you hide the chocolate though! I might be a little disappointed if my calendar was just ladies holding hands with aprons on and no chocolate. 

Hey, Hey! The garland is back and in the form of Christmas trees! You could also hang each tree on your own Christmas tree!

Sooo pretty! I love everything about the photo below. Ornaments hanging on a regular tree, cans all painted white with pretty numbers and lots of colors. This is my cup of Advent Calendar.

I love the look of the variety of boxes and the raised numbers! You could even put magnets on the back of the boxes and put them up on the fridge or a framed magnet/chalkboard instead of having to store a huge awkward frame.

Cute! This would be another tricky one to store but I love the pretty paper, the Christmas tree shape, and the cute numbers!

OK, you got me! I am a sucker for these cute boxes hanging on the wall. This is the last one like this, I promise!

  We had a felt and velcro Advent Calendar like this growing up. Getting to take each ornament off the tree and put it on a numbered square was one of my favorite Christmas traditions. I have the calendar now so I will be sure to show it to you when I get my decorations up. 

One of the nice things about felt is that the edges look clean even though it isn't sewn.

Another Christmas-tree-shaped calendar. Couple it with clothespins. And the combo is irresistible!

There are a lot of tutorials for making cute jewelry display frames like the one below. So, I am calling this a multi-purposed Advent Calendar!

This one is definitely hard to consider multi-purpose. Other than me, there aren't a lot of people who use ladders as decoration. Why not give it a try though? It sure is neat. Think of all the year-round things you could hang on your new decorative ladder!

Ehhh you could say this is like the other cute boxes but this one is definitely not hanging on the wall. It is just hanging out on a table top. What if you made this your centerpiece? Then it would be totally different and useful! You could stack the boxes on top of each other and alternate which way the numbers showed so all of your guests got a glimpse of the pastel goodies! 

I think this one is my favorite! It is a cute window display, a garland, and an ornament hanger!

Simple and adorable DIY bags hung from, my favorite, clothespins!

I love the graphics on these cards. Funky number graphics are my favorite!

Now, I'm not saying that I would go out and spend a bunch of money on holiday socks that Cora wasn't going to wear but if you just happen upon a bag of mismatched holiday socks or your baby grows out of them and you happen to have 25 then I am into this idea! Either way, pretty stinkin' cute!

And now, The Would You Rather Question of the day:

WYR... be the strongest person in the world

or

the fastest person in the world?

sources: cute numbered box, branches in a can, clothespin bags, boxes in tree shape, little sacks, paper envelope, ornament calendar, houses on branches, christmas bulb, christmas tree chain, paper doll chain, framed boxes, felt tree red balls, colorful framed, cans, Chinese food take-out, magnets, baby sock, funky graphic, clothespin Christmas tree, ornament tag, window decoration, blue ladder