It is fun to countdown to Christmas with an Advent Calendar. The calendar not only builds some excitement, it is a particularly festive decoration. Every year we try to create a new idea for our family Advent Calendar. This year we saved cans and spray painted them! I love how it turned out and my kids do too!
We painted the cans, drilled holes in the sides and added wire handles. The numbers were cut on the Silhouette out of white vinyl.
We will fill the cans with a tiny sweet or trinket for each child and then a slip of paper with an idea for a family activity.
50 Family Activities
- Go Ice Skating
- Make Christmas cards
- Go Christmas caroling or sing Christmas songs at home
- Give everyone manicure & pedicures
- Let each child choose a favorite dinner
- Push the furniture back and dance
- Watch It’s a Wonderful Life or the How the Grinch Stole Christmas
- Play a game
- Decorate Christmas cookies and share with neighbors
- Have a special friend for dinner
- Make Christmas ornaments
- Make hot chocolate and read Christmas stories
- Make a Gingerbread house
- Make a simple pine cone bird feeder
- Have a special breakfast
- String popcorn and cranberries
- Play cards
- Make a paper ring garland
- Have a fireside meal (we use this
and make grilled cheese and apple pies in the fireplace)
- Cut snowflakes for the windows
- Make and hang beautiful wrapping paper stars
- Drive around to see neighborhood Christmas lights (put hot cocoa in to go cups and put on pjs)
- Go to a holiday movie
- Roast marshmallows in the fireplace
- Offer to help an elderly neighbor with their Christmas decorations
- Work together as a family to make some handmade gifts
- Make decorative sugar cookies
- Purchase gifts for a needy child or family
- Invite friends over in their pajamas to read Christmas stories
- Play in the snow, build a snowman
- Go for a walk at night and look at the stars
- Try out these printable crafts
- Make paper candy canes
- Make some yummy peppermint candy covered popcorn
- Make gift tags and wrapping paper
- Make super simple sugar cookies
- Make snow paint
- Make homemade stickers
- Make homemade playdough
- Make a pie and take it to a friend
- Have ice cream sundaes with this special ice cream topping
- Make a candy wreath to give to a friend or decorate your own home
- Make shrinky dinks
- Have breakfast for dinner (serve smiley pancakes)
- Make glittery snowflakes
- Make Candy Cane Mice
- Make Candy Cane Reindeer
- Invite Santa for breakfast and serve snowman doughnuts
- Hand write letters to friends that live away.
- Write something nice about each family member on a slip of paper and place it under their pillow
I LOVE this project!! I need to get organized like this! I’m asking bloggers to share their tin can projects at the Create With Me party today! I’d love for you to stop by too 🙂 Lindi @ Love Create Celebrate
Hey love the idea and I have mentioned your advent calendar on my website!
Very cool idea! I especially love your list of things to do in the advent calendar. Helps you to remember to do all of the most special Christmas traditions and also helps you to make new ones.
I love this! I am so behind on reading the blogs I love to follow and this post was just delightful to open today!
I love your idea! This is great!
This is so inspirational! I can’t wait to do this for next year. So cool a way to promote reusing/repurposing while getting family into the spirit of the season. Thank you so much for sharing.
So adorable! I love it. And a great list of things to do! I am stealing some of your ideas for my family!! Thanks Cindy!
Thank you!! I SO needed this listing!
OMG! i like this one “many times”…let see if i have time before Xmas…OOOOps, today i Nov. 29… if not, for next year!
What a cool idea! I”m so stealing this for next year. Thanks for the inspiration!
For all a’ those cans I done did recycled…Bah Humbug! That’s so cute I wanna go back through the recyclin’ bins… cept there gone and I’m left with 2 plastic bottles and a Reese’s Puffs box…sniff, sniff…
This is so cute! I started collecting cans a few weeks ago, but I only had about 8…not enough for an advent calendar:)
I love your project and especially your list!