DIY Gingerbread House Christmas Advent Calendar

When it comes to creating handmade Christmas Advent calendars, one really is limited only by their imagination.  A quick search will bring up countless ideas if you want to create your own.  I've had a knick knack shelf in my craft stash for quite some time now and so decided to turn it into a gingerbread house Advent calendar.  Because the openings are only 2 inches by 2 inches, I was a little bit limited when it came to choosing what to fill it with, but sometimes the challenge is part of the fun.  Here's a picture of the finished product. 

For the main part of the house I used Folk Art paint in the color Coffee Bean, for the roof of the house I used Folk Art paint in the color Real Brown, and for the roof trim I used Folk Art paint in the color Linen.

This is the knick knack shelf I had in my craft stash.  It has twenty-four openings, so it would be perfect for this project. 

Here's a picture of the Advent calendar with the doors open.

As I mentioned above, I was a bit limited by the size of the openings when it came time to filling the calendar, but I was happy with what I came up with.  There are fourteen wrapped gifts in the calendar and are mostly beauty related.  They range from EOS lip balms to high end skin care samples from Benefit and Kate Sommerville to hair care samples such as macadamia oil to single eye shadows.  I also included three coffees in the flavors Donut Shop Blend, Pumpkin Spice, and Breakfast Blend as well as five teas in the flavors Chamomile herbal tea, Peppermint herbal tea, Chai Spice black tea, Lemon Ginger herbal tea, and Orange Spice black tea.  Finally, I inluded some Lindor chocolate, Hershey Kisses, and those yummy Peppermint Nougats by Brachs that come out around Christmas every year.

 

I put a different Christmas saying on the inside of every door.

I debated whether to include this picture because I don't think the photo does the colors justice as they look much nicer than they are actually appearing, but I decided to anyway so that I could better explain how I made the doors to the openings.  I checked a few craft stores because I had wanted to use 2 inch by 2 inch wood pieces to create the doors and I didn't have any in my stash.  I don't have the time these days to run all over town looking for them and I didn't want to cut twenty-four pieces out of a large piece of wood so, after checking a few stores I decided to consider another way of making them.  What I ended up doing was taking a smaller size wood piece, painting it (using Folk Art in the color Linen), and then attaching it to a piece of card stock.  It turned out to be a blessing in disguise because I really look the way they turned out.  I then printed out a gingerbread man template from the internet, numbered it, and pasted it onto the wood piece.  I found the small hinges at Home Depot.  Again, the colors really do look much nicer in person.

 

This is a closeup of the roof portion of the calendar and I just love the way it turned out.  I had the candy cane and snowflake ornaments in my stash and I included them just for fun and to add a little color.  I also had the snowflakes in my stash and they were included as a nod to my upbringing in North Dakota/Minnesota.

 

More snowflakes on the roof. 

So there you have it.  This is my first attempt at an Advent calendar.  It was a lot of fun to make and I'll likely try another one next year.  Below are some ideas for items to use when filling your own calendar.  The things I've included are for smaller advent calendars but, depending on the size of the openings (the bigger your openings the more flexibility you will have), the possibilities are endless.

 

For the coffee and/or tea drinker:

• Sample sizes and single use coffees and teas in assorted flavors.  I used both of these for the Advent calendar I just created.
• For a person who owns a Keurig machine, you could provide a different flavor K-cup for each day.
• Coffee beans in assorted flavors. 
• Candied sugar and crystal sugar sticks.
• I don't use flavored powdered creamers but they are probably available.  It might be fun to pair them up with different flavored coffees.  

For the crafter:

• Rubber stamps
• Ribbon
• Embossing powder
• Beads and crystal gems for jewelry making
• Small bunches of flowers and greenery
• Embellishments for mini scrapbooks
• Paint in small containers

Beauty items: 

• Deluxe samples from Sephora and high end samples from places like Benefit and Kate Sommerville
• EOS lip balms
• Small specialty soaps
• Mini bottles of nail polish
• Small pots of lip gloss
• Hair accessories
• Single eye shadows

 Food Items: 

• Different types of nuts such as cashews, pistachios, and walnuts wrapped in air tight packaging and tied with a ribbon
• Small packages of spices for someone who likes to cook a lot
• Raisins and dried fruits
• Different types of chocolates such as truffles, assorted chocolates, chocolate covered raisins, homemade fudge, Lindor chocolates
• Peanut brittle
• Almond bark
• Hot chocolate in assorted flavors

Candles and Home Fragrance

• Tealights in a variety of scents
• Small vials of scented oil
• Wax tarts in assorted scents.  For someone who typically uses wax tarts on a daily basis, you could include a different scent for each day of the calendar.  

Miscellaneous Items

• Poems and sayings
• Bible verses
• Scratch off lottery tickets
• New recipes to try
• Seeds for flowers and herbs
• Quotes from the Bible
• Jewelry

For Men:  (This is a little tougher, especially when you are limited to smaller items, so if you are making an Advent calendar for a man, I recommend making one with larger openings.  That said, here are some ideas for a smaller Advent calendar.)

• Fishing lures
• Single use coffees
• Mini candy bars and other sweets
• BBQ spice blends - you could include a number of different blends for different days
• Smoke chips for the BBQ - you could include just a few from a large bag to put in the calendar
• Gift certificates 
• Hair care, cologne, and aftershave samples

So there are some ideas for your own Advent calendar.  Use your imagination and have fun!!