free advent calendar {refrigerator advent}

This is one of our very favorite little DIY printables, and we thought it appropriate to visit it again… just in time for the holidays. Enjoy!

__________

We love the idea of advent calendars, but with limited wall space, we’re never quite sure where to put them.

This year, we have one flanking our refrigerator, and it’s the perfect fit for a new little tradition around here that we thought would be fun. Without much of the fuss.

It’s a free advent calendar, y’all!

We’re a little slow with decking the halls this year, and won’t have anything up ’til well after Thanksgiving… partially because we’re dorks and like sticking to that, and partially because of a few things we’ve had going on. But we wanted to get this little advent out to you guys, in case you wanted to use it, too.

Each day comes with a different watercolor art selection {designed by us} and a family activity.

We tried to keep the activities simple, and not-so-overwhelming. We believe in less is more for the holidays. But the beauty of it, is that each day, you can pick your own, and even repeat a few if you wish. We tried to strike a nice balance with fun things, and things that were thoughtful with others in mind. You can edit and reuse as you wish…

The choice is up to you!

And if those don’t float your boat, we provided blank activities as well, so you can customize them for your family.

Even if you don’t necessarily celebrate Christmas but like doing things together this winter, this could still be altered to fit your preferences.

Just a fun little springboard for you guys to use as you wish!

Here’s what we did with them: We simply took a different art piece every day, along with a number, and an activity.

And we slipped them into a baggie {we alternated between polkadot and striped for each day.} And topped them with a watercolor number. {see below for downloads}

Held up by twine and magnets and a small clip on your fridge {I made some with a little sculpey clay, a small star cutter and some gold leaf paint– (and added a magnet to the back with some hot glue) Just check out this tutorial here and adjust accordingly} it sits oh so nicely on our fridge!

When the day comes, we remove the printables inside – it’s an activity for the family to celebrate {according to whatever you pick} and a little ‘ornament’ to hang on some branches, or wherever you wish.

To make the ‘ornaments’ from the art, you can use a hole punch for the top, or a simple cut with an X-Acto, and just thread it through with more twine.

We added it to a big jar with branches we always have sitting out around the holidays.

Just fun little pieces to get everyone into the spirit for the holidays!

If you’d like, get them here:

Numbers: #1-15 #16-25

Activities: activities 1, activities 2, activities 3, activities 4

And ornaments: adventornaments 1, adventornaments 2, adventornaments 3, adventornaments4

Oh! And for more DIY advent calendar fun, be sure to check out last year’s, too. It’s still their favorite to use in the homeschool room, so we’ll probably do both this year. It’s a great way to hedge off the whole how-many-more-days-til-mommy-and-daddy-go-absolutely-bat-crap-crazy-if-they-ask-one-more-time game. ;}

I know you can relate, right???

As always let us know if you use it! We wanna see your freebies! Just tag it #thehandmadehomefreebies on instagram!

And tis the season…

Don’t miss out on our free planner for 2017!

Have an inspired day!