You know when you are typing the same word over and over, and it starts to lose all meaning and you begin questioning if “five” is really spelled that way, and your husband looks at you like he’s wondering if it’s safe to suggest you take a break?

Well you will not have to deal with that absurdity to make this graphic and modern DIY printable Advent calendar because I did the annoying designing part for you.

You’re welcome.

That’s right, all YOU have to do to is grab some envelopes and print on ’em. And yes, you can print on any kind of envelope with your regular old home printer. I will show you how and you will want to print on all the things and you will hate me for getting you to spend more money on ink. You’re welcome for that too.

But come on—worth it, right?

DIY Printable Advent Calendar

Skill level: total newb.

Time: 1-2 hours, depending on how much of a perfectionist you are about hanging the envelopes at exact heights.

What You Need:

+ printer

+ Printable Advent Calendar template – download at the bottom of the post!

+ small envelopes* (exact size doesn’t matter; I designed the templates to print on an area of 4.5″ x 5.5″ so anything smaller than that will work)

+ hole punch*

+ waxed cotton cord* or other string of your choice

+ copper wire* for hanging

+ wire cutters*

+ greenery to decorate (optional, but highly recommended!)

*Affiliate links. This means if you purchase, I will earn a small commission at no extra charge to you, which is pretty sweet because it helps me pay blogging bills, so thank you! I will only link to products I have used or would use myself, pinky promise!

What You Do:

Step One – Print out one of the pdf pages on regular paper to use as a template. You can print a few so that you can prep multiple envelope runs at once.

TIP: mark the direction of your printer feed on one of the templates! My super pro arrow below indicates which direction I have to put the paper in my particular printer. So helpful if you have an uncanny ability to forget these things 2 seconds after you’ve done them.

Step Two – Tape two envelopes onto each template. I’ve shown one tape-side up so you can see where I positioned the tape. Press the envelopes down REALLY REALLY well and make sure that the side of the envelope that will get pulled into the printer feed is as flat as possible!

Step Three – Run the paper with the envelopes through the printer again. Now you have printed envelopes. Magic! Repeat for 1-24.

 

Step Four – Punch a hole in the corner of each envelope.

Step Five – Fill with treats and messages! You can also tape down the flaps if they are sticking up weird.

Step Six – Loop cord/twine/string through each envelope. I varied the cord lengths to be able to create the final v-ish shape.

Note: natural light was not on my side when I was assembling the calendar so I didn’t get good shots of how I hung up the envelopes. You can blame poor planning, I blame daylight savings. That’s still recent enough to blame, right? Either way, I recreated a mini version so I hope that will help!

Step Seven – Cut a length of copper wire (for reference mine is 45″ long). Tie the envelopes to the wire in whatever pattern or order your crafting heart desires.

Step Eight – Optional but so recommended – top the whole thing with some greenery! Attach it to the wire with more wire – you can coil the wire around the branches and main wire with little twisty-ties. That’s a technical term.

Here’s a close-up of the twisty-tie method:

Step Ten – Make a loop at each end of the main wire and hang onto nails or strong command hooks. Done!

Can I just say that my favorite thing about blogging is using it as an excuse to buy all the pretty greens? Look at these beauties I picked up at Ricky’s Flower Market in Somerville:

I don’t usually go for “faux” stuff like the berries and pomegranate, but they were 79¢ each (!!!) and I thought they added just a dash of Dickensian charm to all the modern, graphic envelopes. Yes, I just said “Dickensian.” I pushed my glasses up higher on my nose while saying it, too.

As you can tell I have fully embraced being a holiday blogger this year. Here’s hoping you’re not tired of handmade Christmas decorations, because I’ve got more on the way. Most of them involve shiny metallics—be warned.

Are you counting down to Christmas/Hannukah/Solstice/Yule?