Advent calendar with photos

Idea for a DIY advent calendar for grandparents, aunts or other loved ones

It is a tradition in our family that all the children receive homemade Advent calendars. As a child, I thought it was unfair that my mother was left empty-handed and started making an Advent calendar for her too when I was about 7 years old and secretly hanging it up for her on November 30 so that she too could feel the magic of finding an Advent calendar - just for her - on December 1 and have a little treat every December day. I have kept this custom and every year there is an Advent calendar for her. Over the years - now many, many years - there have been some more or less creative, more or less beautiful, more or less elaborate ideas.

My mother is now a grandmother, so last year we made an Advent calendar for grandma and grandpa with photos of the youngest family members. This Advent calendar is also great if you don't have much time to prepare or are perhaps running a little late...

For the photo advent calendar you need:

• 24 retro photo prints with photo box

• Stickers with numbers 1-24 or white sharpie

• Stickers for labeling, stamps and label printer if necessary

• Parcel string

• 24 small wooden clothes pegs

You can find the beautiful, stylish retro photo prints together with the decorative photo box at www.kartenmacherei.de, for example. You can upload your favorite photos directly from your cell phone, select filters for your photos if required (e.g. sepia or black and white) and receive them directly in the beautiful and sturdy photo box.

The only thing missing from the photos are the numbers 1-24 for each pre-Christmas December day, which you can either write on the black back with a chalk pen or white sharpie or, like me, on a small washitape sticker on the front. Once you have sorted the photos back into the photo box, you can design the box according to your wishes and ideas. I decorated it with wrapping paper stickers, felt-tip pens and stamps, in combination with my beloved label printer. The year before I used letter stickers and gold foil. To hang up the photos every day, all you need now is a parcel string that can be stretched in the recipient's home and 24 small wooden clothespins to attach the photos.

Of course, it doesn't have to be photos of children. Perhaps you would like to put together a collection of beautiful, special moments from the past year, portraits of all the family members or selfies with your best friend over the decades... Maybe it's the pets that want to be in the photos or ....

Have fun giving the gift! If you like the idea, please share it and leave me a comment! Have a wonderful and magical Advent season!

A hug and see you soon!