Guys. Perhaps a little known fact about me is that I am completely obsessed with paper crafts. Completely. I’m even more obsessed with Advent calendars.
Growing up, we had an Advent calendar that was a sewn wall hanging made by my mom. You moved this sweet little bear around the rooms of his house looking for the spirit of Christmas until he ended up in the living room on Christmas morning. We fought like crazy over who got to move that bear.
Incidentally, my mother combed Ebay to find the material in hopes of making one for each of her children. She was able to find it, but in the true spirit of Christmas, each set runs like $300, so…no Advent bear for us. I mean she loves us very much, but not three hundred bucks for a sewing project much.
I am not a seamstress. I had the option of taking home ec or child development as a high school elective. I chose child development, which has served me well and allowed me to freak out the old ladies at church with one of those robot babies, which was amusing. However robot babies don’t teach you to sew. Neither do real babies, as it turns out, so I stick to paper crafts.
Anyway, my devotion to paper crafts and Advent calendars is such that, when I saw this adorable, free printable from Mr. Printable I knew I had to make it!
It’s the cutest little paper Christmas town I’ve ever seen! Plus, this was super easy, much less work than it seems. All you need is a printer, card stock, scissors and some tape and you’re in business.
I split the project up over a few days whenever I had the time. The houses are tiny, which is what makes this so magical, I think, but it does get a bit tedious doing all that cutting and folding in one sitting. The buildings are the perfect size for M&Ms or other small candies if you want to include a little treat, too. (And who doesn’t?)
If you’re anything like me, you never get an Advent calendar started in time anyway, so why not make this little town to gussy up your mantle or windowsill? I think it would actually be a lot of fun to do the calendar in reverse, making a new little building every day until Christmas. This would be a good opportunity to pray with/ for something. I wouldn’t recommend this for the preschool or early grade set because of all the tiny cutting, but older kids would love this project!
Again, you can get the free printable here.
Do you have a favorite Advent calendar or activity? I’m always looking to broaden my horizons!
Here are a couple more pictures cause I think it’s so cute!
PS. Since my computer is on the dead side, I’m posting everything from my smartphone. 1.) Holy cow, technology is amazing and 2.) Please forgive any weirdness or typos as I have fat thumbs. Okaythanksbye.
ohblessyourheart 