Paper Cup Advent Calendar

I didn't make this just because it can hold more sweets and treats.  I promise.

I had so many plans for making an advent this year.  So many.  Thank goodness for IKEA and simple solutions that jump out at you in the bits and bobs department.

What I Used:

IKEA Red spots and stripes - 50p for 10 [I used three packs, you can see them here]

Organza Bags [optional - provides an obstacle to the treats, which might help stop me eating them all before the 1st December - buy similar here]

Clay Advent Stars [see how I made these here]
Decorations, Ribbon/Wool, Paperclips etc.

If you are still holding out to make, in some way, your own advent this year - can I suggest the paper cup advent?  It can be made as simply or as difficult as you like - perfect for kids to get involved with, or creating your own.  I went for IKEA paper cups - they are cheap and red, which equals Christmas advent to me, so I picked up 3 packs - treating with a 25th December cup, with 5 cups left for some egg nog and baileys hot chocolate!

[They had run out of red with white polka - Boooo!]

I used Red wool to hang my cups and simply attached them with a paperclip - but if you have some pretty pegs or bulldog clips, they would be fab.  Anything that doesn't pierce or tear the cups in anyway means you can reuse them.

If you want to jazz the cups up a little, either with handmade decorations, number tags, embellishments, trimmings, add these before you hang as the weight will change the position of the cups slightly - and there's nothing to wind you up worse than spending your time perfectly aligning cups which is then ruined with the weight of a glitter star [I may be speaking from experience].

Hang them in an order that fits your space and liking and don't forget to keep the hanging ribbon as taught as possible if you want to prevent the advent cups from dragging down too much:

I then added my threaded advent stars:

....before finally filling the cups with treats:

As each cup is emptied, you could remove them and use the star as a decoration, continuing the advent and using them as a calendar for December on the tree.

P.S - Don't forget, that if you have run out of time in spectacular fashion, as I have, to create your felt and fabric stocking garland - Stocking Advent Download here!

see you next time x