Who’s already counting down the days until Christmas? I know I am. For some reason, this year it feels like the world is in need of a little Christmas cheer earlier than normal. I definitely feel it! I don’t know if it’s COVID dragging on or what, but I’m just aching for the cozy, festive decorations that make the holiday season feel so joyful.
That’s why I’m so excited about this year’s paper advent village calendar–it’s cheery, beautiful, and just the thing to help lift up everyone’s spirits and get them feeling those little flurries of Christmas cheer.
Materials:
These adorable little boxes are the perfect Christmas advent craft! The good news is, you don’t even have to think about meticulously cutting out each window with an x-acto knife–you can use a Cricut maker. Trust me, it’s so much easier that it’s worth every penny of the investment to buy your own Cricut maker. So, let’s get to it! Here’s how you make your own quaint little advent calendar village.
Prepping the Cricut maker
- First, plug in and turn on your Cricut maker.
- Insert the scoring tool into its designated slot.
- Using the Cricut design space, upload your template (found here).
- Next, add score lines (this pdf shows you where to add the score lines).
- Apply your choice of card stock paper to the sticky mat.
- Now you’re ready to let the Cricut maker do it’s magic! Press start and let it cut. Note: we recommend setting your machine to a heavy weight card stock or glitter card stock to make sure it cuts all the way through.
Prepping for assembly
- Once the Cricut maker has finished, gently pull the paper off, being careful not to rip it as you go. You can take a scraping tool to remove the excess paper scraps from the sticky mat.
- Now, fold along the score lines made by the Cricut maker to make your advent house three-dimensional. Don’t forget to fold the little side tabs! This makes glueing your house much easier.
You are now ready to assemble your paper advent house!
Assembling the advent calendar house
- Plug in the hot glue gun and let it heat up. You can do this ahead of time if you’d like–that way it will be ready to go when you get to this step!
- Glue as indicated in the step photos. Press down to secure. Note: it helps to work quickly here so the glue doesn’t dry before you attach it.
- Once the house is all glued together, use your hole punch to punch a hole in the center top of your house.
- Now, cut a length of ribbon and feed it through the hole. Tie a bow and you’re done!
This bite-sized paper advent village calendar is such a fun decoration that looks festive and beautiful while saving you some space at the same time. Stuff them with a few seasonal goodies, if you want, and gift them after the advent is complete.
More inspiration
If you loved this tutorial, check out our other advent calendar and Christmas village variations: printable advent village calendar, DIY Christmas bulb advent calendar, DIY accordion Christmas village.