Simple and Inexpensive Advent Calendar Ideas

Add some joy and excitement to your holiday season with these wonderfully simple and inexpensive advent calendar ideas.

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I remember as a kid, one of the most exciting things for me during the month of December was the count down to Christmas. What better way to keep up the holiday spirit, and to create excitement with your kids, then to have a beautiful advent calendar on display with a little goodie for each day. This memory is why I wanted to provide these simple and inexpensive advent calendar ideas.

I see so many posts with these small gifts and wonderful ideas for advent calendars, but these small items can add up so quickly! I wanted to share some ideas on nice advent calendars available, as well as ideas to make your own, and some goodies to include that won’t break the bank.

Some links in this article may be affiliate links. This does not affect the cost to you, but may provide commission for items purchased.

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What is an advent calendar?

An advent calendar is a calendar that tracks the anticipation and preparation for the celebration of the day Christ was born. Many know an advent calendar as a countdown to Christmas. Reusable advent calendars usually begin on the first day of December, and go through Christmas Eve, so December 1 – December 24.

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Types of Advent Calendars

Advent calendars come in many different types, and have become quite popular. You can purchase single use pre-made advent calendars that come filled with candy, or you can purchase re-usable advent calendars. I want to discuss the re-usable advent calendars that have pockets, or ways to store small goodies for your kids to have each day as you countdown the Christmas. Please be sure to read on to the section about what to fill these calendars with, as I provide two very inexpensive ideas.

You can access pre-made calendars and supplies needed to make your own at my Amazon Store: click here.

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Pre-Made Advent Calendars

You can purchase re-usable pre-made advent calendars in many different places. I prefer wall hanging advent calendars with pockets, but there are also drawer calendars, pouch calendars, and many other creative ideas. You can find some different beautiful calendars below:

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DIY Advent Calendar

You can choose to make your own advent calendar. There are some absolutely beautiful ideas out there! Take a look at the inspiration below, and I have linked the supplies you would need to make these.

Kraft Paper Envelope Advent Calendar

Paper Bag Advent Calendar

Drawstring Pouch Advent Calendar

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What to Fill Your Advent Calendar With

This is the part that can make advent calendars very expensive. You could always fill your advent calendars with small gifts, but these add up quickly. My favorite suggestions for cheap/free solutions to filling your advent calendar:

1. Leftover Halloween candy
2. Daily family activities
3. A mixture of both

Leftover Halloween Candy

What better way to get rid of the rest of that Halloween candy that tends to hang around your house. Even if it’s the candy that your kids don’t really like, it becomes new and exciting when you incorporate it into something like this. They never need to know! Well… until they are adults I suppose. Let’s just say… this idea came from my mom.

Daily Family Activities

Now, this part can get expensive depending on the activities you choose. You can make this completely free activities, or you can spend money on the activity. That is your choosing. Free activities could include, snowball fights, building a snowman, baking cookies (that you already have ingredients for), going sledding, having a Christmas music dance party, or watching a Christmas movie.

For a list of over 40 Christmas Activity Ideas, see my post here: 40+ of the Best Fun Christmas Activities for Families.

40+ of the Best Fun Christmas Activities for Families

You can write these on the backs of Christmas or craft paper tags to go into the advent calendar pockets, or you can write them on the back of wrapping paper and fold them into notes for a colorful pop! Take a look at my instructions below for origami wrapping paper notes.

Origami Wrapping Paper Notes

Cut a long skinny strip of wrapping paper, and cut it into thirds so it takes a rectangular shape, similar to a piece of 8 x 11 paper (but smaller).

Write your desired activity on the inside of the wrapping paper (I wrote very large on mine).

With the patterned side down, fold the top right corner down to meet the left edge. You should have 2″ – 3″ of paper left under the bottom edge of the fold. If you don’t, it will be difficult to get the paper to hold itself shut.

Take the right edge and fold it to meet the left edge.

Flip the paper over, and fold the bottom upwards about 1/3 of the way.

Fold it again the same way.

Fold the very top corner down and then wrap it into the crease that was created in the last step.

Place these notes into the pockets of your advent calendar. Be sure to schedule longer activities on days that you have more time available!

Mixture of Candy and Activities

This is my favorite solution because it can be so much fun. With my husband and I both working full-time, we don’t have a lot of time on the week nights to do much more than dinner, baths, and bedtime. With mixing the candy and activities, we can get rid of the left over Halloween candy and sprinkle in activities as time allows. We can use the shorter or less time consuming activities for quick weeknight adventures, and the longer activities for endless weekend fun!

When you mix the two, it never hurts to still put some candy in the pockets with the activities. You can see my example below. I will likely add some more activities into the calendar, but this image is how far I have gotten as of today.

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You may also enjoy

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40+ of the Best Fun Christmas Activities for Families

Please let me know if you have any questions or suggestions in the comments below!

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