Make an advent calendar

An advent calendar is a classic Christmas project. Typically, they contain 24 numbered doors and beginning on December 1st, you open door #24 and get a small treat or gift. When you get to #1, it will be Christmas Eve, one day before the holiday.
There are many different ways to make an advent calendar. For an absolutely stunning version, check out the one our friend Marc (The Wood Whisperer) made last year. Even Marc struggled with a system to make 24 doors, something I dont think Id have the patience for. Plus, well, my woodworking skills just arent that good!

So after thinking about it for a long time, I came up with a very simple advent calendar that you should be able to make in a day. No doors! It does include all the interactive elements an advent calendar needs: a numbered system to count down days, and a place for a treat each day. I used Hersheys Kisses in mine because they fit nicely into the holes. Quarters might be another good idea: in 24 days, youd have six dollars!
This is also a good project to get the family involved. My wife and son had a lot of fun painting all the ornaments.
If youd like to give this a try, heres a cutting template you can download and print out. Just hold the pages up to a window, line them up and tape them together.

One more advent calendar and other gifts

Now this is a cool advent calendar. Every day, you pull out a peg and Santa works his way down the chimney. Dale Thompson built this for his granddaughters Sarah and Emily. Theyre going to have fun with it!

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Heres an easy stocking stuffer to consider. Don Trust made these maple and jatoba tongs using some scrap lumber. Over on Facebook, he mentioned that they are great for removing toast stuck in the toaster!

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One of the best gifts you can make for someone special is a keepsake or jewelry box. Our friend Laney over at A Simple Design of Ocala sent over this one with walnut splines and a scrollwork top. Nice!

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Also over on Facebook, we have been watching Jack Reads progress on his jewelry boxes for quite some time. The one in front is actually the prototype he worked on a couple months ago before going into "mass production". Theres a neat trick to these boxes too: they each have a hidden compartment. Nice work Jack...they turned out beautiful.

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Advent calendar and other gift ideas

Terry Dahlquist has been cranking out advent calendars this year!

If you didnt see my video last year, here it is again. If you would like to make one, you have just two weekends left before December! And heres a cutting template.

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