How to make your own advent calendar

Step 1: Cut the wooden beam or stick

To create your own advent calendar, start by carefully cutting the wooden beam or stick to about 60cm. You can choose to upcycle an old plank of wood or pick a fallen stick when out on your winter walks.

Once cut, gently sand the ends using sandpaper to remove any sharp edges and create a smooth finish.

Step 2: Attach the white cotton string

Using a marker pen and ruler, measure 15cm on your white cotton string. Then, apply a blob of Fix & Flash glue to the end of your wooden stick and press the white cotton string into the glue where you added your mark. Take care so that you don't get any glue on your fingers and if you do, wash with water.

Turn the Fix & Flash device on and shine the light onto the applied glue for 15 seconds to secure it in place. Continue to wrap the white cotton string around the length of your piece of wood and regularly apply dots of Fix & Flash glue across the beam, shining the light onto the glue to set it in place. Continue until the entire beam is covered with the white cotton string.

Then, measure and mark 20cm along the other end of your cotton string and cut it at this point.

Step 3: Make two loops

Using the excess string on both sides of your beam, tie knots to create loops which will be used to suspend your calendar once finished.

To ensure your loops are extra secure, apply Fix & Flash glue to the join of your loops and set in place with the light. .

Step 4: Glue the pegs to the beam

Now that the base of your DIY Christmas calendar is complete, glue the small clothes pegs to your creation using Fix & Flash.

You'll need to space the pegs evenly across the beam so that you can fit 24 pegs in total. We recommend using a ruler to mark out where the pegs should go. The first peg should sit at the one end of the beam and each peg thereafter should be 2.5cm apart.

Step 5: Cut the cloth

Cut 24 squares out of the cloth at around 13cm x 13cm. However, each piece of cloth simply needs to cover your chosen treat that'll sit inside, so make this as big or small as you require.

Remember, you can choose whichever colour or pattern cloth you'd like - we chose a white cloth to stick with a 'boho advent calendar' theme.

Once your cloth is cut, place sweets or other surprises of your choice in the centre of each square.

Step 6: Make the number tags

Next up, prepare 24 number tags by cutting small rectangles out of card or paper. We chose brown paper for a neutral effect, but you can go bright and bold or choose subtle pastels depending on your taste.

Once cut, punch a hole on one side of the tag and write numbers 1-24 using a marker.

Step 7: Create the 24 pouches

Wrap the cloth up around the sweets to form pouches. Using around 20cm of twine or coloured string, make a knot around the pouch to secure your goods in place. Then, tie the two ends of string together to create a loop.

If required, cut any excess fabric from each pouch, carefully avoiding the twine, to neaten the pouches.

Repeat this step for all 24 pouches.

Step 8: Hang up the calendar

Once your pouches are ready, clip each of their string loops to the pegs on your wooden beam.

We suggest mixing up the numbers so that they do not sit in chronological order. This will make it more enjoyable when trying to find the right sweet each day, especially if you've created this DIY Christmas calendar for little ones!

Finally, hang your homemade advent calendar on the wall using the loops created in step 2. Ta-da! You've now learnt how to make your own advent calendar, just in time for the Christmas countdown.