Advent Calendar DIY #PrelovedAdvent

In celebration of the #PrelovedAdvent Campaign, we’ve made our very own homemade Preloved advent calendar using recycled materials! The great thing about this advent calendar is that you can easily add your own creative spin by decorating the main body of the calendar with anything from a Santa hat to a nativity scene.

To make this versatile and beautifully simple craft, you’ll need:

• 24 toilet roll tubes the same size
• 1 toilet roll tube that is larger than the rest
• Recycled brown paper
• Felt tip pens (in black and red)
• Pritt stick
• Tacky glue
• Scissors
• A stapler

For the Santa hat:

• Cotton wool
• A red pom pom
• Cardboard

Method:

1. To make the numbers for each calendar door, start by drawing around a toilet tube on brown paper. Repeat this so that you have 25 circles, ensuring that number 25 is bigger than the rest.

2. Cut each circle out

3. Using a black marker pen, write the numbers 1-25 on each circle. You may find it useful to sketch out the number first using a pencil, and then go over the outline with the marker pen to avoid mistakes. Alternatively, if you have access to a printer, you can select a font you like and print out the numbers if you desire more of a professional finish.

5. Glue around the edge of each toilet roll tube and attach a circle to each one. If your brown paper is particularly thin, it is better to use Pritt stick here rather than tacky glue. You can of course, use whichever glue you prefer.

6. Now for attaching the tubes together. You can glue each tube together, however we found that using a stapler at the back of each tube to attach them together was much more effective, and made the calendar sturdier.

7. If you wish to add a number 25 to the top of the calendar, it’s a good idea to use a bigger tube to make it really stand out!

The Santa hat:

1. Draw the outline of your hat on a piece of cardboard and proceed to cut this out.

2. Colour in the top of the hat with a red felt tip, and use tacky glue to stick cotton wool to the hat’s rim.

3. Attach this to the top of the calendar for an extra Christmassy feel!

All that is left to do now is to fill your calendar with tasty treats that can be enjoyed on the run up to Christmas! Here at Preloved HQ we used loads of different types of sweets and chcoclates.

Get more inspiration for alternative advent calendars and tweet them to 

Also, make sure you sign up to this year's brand new Preloved Advent Calendar to know the score behind every door and win some amazing prizes!