It is increasingly common to find in supermarkets Advent calendars that hide chocolates or candies (or even beauty products or other foods). The tradition is that, starting December 1, a small window is opened every day and a sweet is accessed. That is until December 24, Christmas Eve.
But we must not forget that These commercial advent calendars, in addition to containing often unhealthy sweets, They are usually made of cardboard and non-reusable plastic, which makes them options not very ecological.
We propose you 14 ideas to make your own advent calendar with objects that you can recycle or reuse and that you can fill with healthier options.
What is an advent calendar
The advent calendar is a tradition of German origin that has been practiced since the 19th centurywhen the evangelists painted 24 lines with chalk on the door of the house and the children could erase one line each day until December 24. In 1902 the Hamburg Protestant Bookstore printed the first paper advent calendar.
In the following years, another German editor, Gehard Lang, introduced the idea of adding windows that opened and contained a cake and images of Christmas landscapes. Later they began to put chocolate inside each little window. In Spain this tradition arrived a few years ago, but now it is widespread.
What to put in an advent calendar?
As we have already mentioned, originally the advent calendar did not include any objects inside and its only objective was to serve as a countdown to Christmas Day. However, including a sweet or a surprise adds excitement to this tradition, especially for the little ones. If you don’t want to resort to industrial sweets to fill your advent calendar, you have other options. Here we propose a few, although you can imagine many other details to include in the calendar. Get into creative mode!
- Homemade sweets. If you dare with them, they will delight children and adults. Here we tell you how to prepare homemade vegan chocolates, how to make marron glacé, a recipe to prepare homemade jelly beans and even an idea to make your own chocolate truffles or homemade marzipan.
- Candles with fragrances. One of the ideas that we propose in this article is to make an original advent calendar of candles with fragrances to discover a smell every day. Here we explain how to make candles at home.
- Homemade relaxing soaps and oils. What if every day when you opened a calendar a beautiful little soap appeared, ideal for relaxing in the bathtub or a relaxing oil for a massage? At Bodymente we are very much in favor of taking advantage of the advent calendar to «gift» ourselves little cares. Here we tell you how to prepare original homemade soaps with fragrance and how to prepare relaxing oils for homemade massages.
- Nice messages. A good way to start each day is to discover a hopeful phrase. Your advent calendar can be an occasion to inspire. Here is a selection of positive phrases that you can include in your advent calendar.
- Preserves and jams. You can prepare homemade jams of many flavors and also original preserves. What if every day you discover a small jar of these edible delights in your advent calendar?
How to make a homemade advent calendar? 14 original and ecological ideas!
Take note of these ideas to prepare your own advent calendar. They are just suggestions that you can adapt to your tastes or needs. Get to work and fill your home with Christmas magic!