Advent Calendar in a Jar – Ingenious Quick and Easy DIY | Tutorial

An Advent calendar in a jar is ingeniously simple and quick to make! In this tutorial we give you some inspiration how to do it.

Advent calendars come in all shapes and sizes: from large houses with 24 windows, like the town hall in the Bavarian town of Forchheim, to little bags on a string, small paper bags, a Christmas village with 24 little houses, to simple chocolate Advent calendars.

We think: homemade advent calendars are the most beautiful and a unique gift for someone you love: be it your family, your partner, your best friend or whoever.

In Part 1 of our DIY Advent Calendar series, you’ll learn how to make a 24-drawer miniature Santa’s house Advent calendar.

Our 2nd DIY advent calendar consists of 24 pretty hexagonal paper boxes to fold.

Here in Part 3, we introduce you to an even simpler but equally beautiful variation: an Advent calendar in a jar!

How to Make an Advent Calendar in a Jar

This variant is especially recommended if you want to make a homemade and self-decorated Advent calendar but don’t have unlimited time. The Advent calendar in a jar is quick to make.

Material List

• 24 preserving jars*
• Gold spray paint
• Old newspaper
• Clay paper or wrapping paper in desired colours
• Scissors
• Advent calendar numbers to stick on
• Gold stars to stick on
• Washi-Tape with different Christmas motifs
• Baker’s Twine
• Fir green
• Possibly double-sided tape

*If you buy something through one of these affiliate links on Amazon, we get a small commission and you support us without it being more expensive for you.

1. Clean Jars and Spray Lids

You buy 24 preserving jars (see craft materials) or simply use empty used preserving jars. We just collected jam and honey jars for a while until we had 24. Maybe you have some at home and can ask friends and neighbours for more?

It is important to rinse used jars well (preferably in the dishwasher) and to remove all label residue.

To give the jars a nice Christmas look, we first spray the lids uniformly with gold lacquer. If you don’t roughen the lids with sandpaper beforehand and prime them with white emulsion paint, you will have to spray all the lids about 3-4 times until the paint covers nicely. Alternatively, you can use silver lacquer, depending on the colours you want to decorate the jars in and what you or the recipient of the Advent calendar likes best.

Find a place to spray – it’s best to do it outside because of the fumes, line the bottom with newspaper or cardboard and place the 24 lids on top. Now spray them golden with the spray paint and let them dry. In the meantime, you can start decorating the jars.

2. Cut the Paper Strips and Make the Jars Opaque

To make your Advent calendar in a jar opaque and so that the recipient doesn’t immediately see what’s in store for him on so-and-so December, you now cut white or coloured clay paper into 24 strips, each about as wide as the jars are high. The length of the strips should be at least long enough for you to roll up a strip of paper and put it inside a jar so that it covers the view on all sides. We chose white and light blue for the paper, but that’s entirely up to your taste and creativity.

3. Add Numbers to the Advent Calendar in a Jar and Decorate The Jars

Now it’s time to design the jars. The most important element is the numbers from 1 to 24. For our Advent calendar in a jar, we bought small round wooden plates with the Advent calendar numbers, which also have an adhesive dot. You can also buy ready-made Advent calendar numbers in the form of stickers or labels. And if you want, you can of course make them yourself and attach them to the jars with double-sided adhesive tape.

Depending on whether you prefer to keep the Advent calendar in a jar simple or decorate it in detail, you can now stick gold stars and/or other Christmas stickers on the jars as you wish. A special tip from us is Washii tape: this decorative tape from Japan is also available in various Christmas patterns and is perfect for sticking all over the jars. We also used it on the rims of the lids and found the effect really beautiful.

Très Chic Mailanda Washi Tape Masking Tape 12er Set Schwarz Gold für Scrapbooking DIY (je Rolle 15mm x 10m)

12 Rollen Schwarz -Gold Dekoband in edler Gold Optik,; Klebeband aus Reispapier, selbstklebend, leicht entfernbar

10,58 EUR

Hobby Design Sticker * Sterne Eiskristalle Winter * Aufkleber

Sticker; Bogen ca. 17 x 15,5cm groß; Kartengestaltung; Scrapbooking; Sterne - Eiskristalle - Winter

2,00 EUR

Sticker Puristic Christmas, Nikolaus

5,95 EUR

You can now add the finishing touches to your Advent calendar in a jar by tying a piece of fine baker’s twine around the top of each jar and attaching a sprig of fir greenery to it.

Now you can fill the jars with your Advent calendar gifts and seal them. Congratulations, you’re done! 😀

There are many more crafting ideas to make at Greatime! Have fun! 🙂

You should check out these Christmas ideas! Our Leisure Ideas portal has inspiration for personal gifts and activities with friends, kids and your partner at any time of year. Check it out!

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