- Cardboard Christmas Choir. This adorable trio adorns a mantel or windowsill and is simply made with recycled toilet paper and paper towel tubes and kids’ socks. (Finally! A use for those singles that mysteriously lose their other half in the dryer.)
- Recycled Fishy Ornament. This ornament requires a few more items from the craft store, but it repurposes old tuna or sardine cans as well as those landfill-clogging Styrofoam packing peanuts.
- Milk Carton Dreidel. All you need for this cute Hanukkah craft is a small milk carton and a pencil. Kids decorate the dreidel and then play the game. The site even has downloadable activities.
- Yule Potpourri. With spices and fruits from your kitchen, simmer a batch of homemade potpourri to warm the house in this time of darkness. Make an extra big batch, and you can fill mason jars with potpourri for simple holiday gifts.
- Gift Box Advent Calendar. I made this three years ago for Sofie, and we’ve used it every holiday since. Ours starts on December 12 and ends on the Winter Solstice. I repurposed an old gift box that measures about 9 x 15 inches, however, you can use any size.
Eco Mom’s Advent Calendar made from a gift box.
- Cut the sides off both the top and bottom of the box.
- Use a ruler to measure out 10 rectangle “windows” (or however many you prefer) in the box top. I drew this out on the backside of the box top.
- Use an Exacto knife to cut out three sides of each window (top, right and bottom). Fold them back to make a crease in the window.
- Layer as follows: (1) box bottom, (2) paper taped to the box bottom (one large sheet or several strips – whatever works best for your size box), and (3) box top. If you do this right, you will see the paper through the windows of the box top.
- Tape the calendar along the top and bottom edges. (You can tape it along the sides too, if you don’t want the kids peeking, but I keep it open for easier access to switching out the paper each year.)
- Now you can open the windows and write each day’s message. We usually include things like “Pick your favorite dinner,” “Family movie night,” “Open a gift” or “Call someone to wish them happy holidays.”
- When you’re done, close the windows. Use a marker to write numbers on the outside, and hang the Advent Calendar on a door.
PAID ENDORSEMENT DISCLOSURE: In order for me to support my blogging activities, I may receive monetary compensation or other types of remuneration for my endorsement, recommendation, testimonial and/or link to any products or services from this blog.
