REVIEW - I Do Handmade Make Your Own Advent Calendar

AD – Item gifted for review

At the time of writing we are just heading into another National Lockdown and Christmas is shaping out to be not quite what we are used to! Whilst Christmas will inevitably be somewhat different this year, I am determined to try and maintain as much normality as possible for my girls.

Advent Calendars have changed a LOT since I was a kid, and with the already huge expense of Christmas, it may not always possible to keep up with the bigger budget toy and collectible advents that have now become the norm. What if you could combine an advent calendar with a craft activity to entertain the family in November and be enjoyed all the way through December, whilst focus more on random acts of kindness and precence instead of presents?

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Introducing the I Do Handmade Acts of Kindness Advent Calendar

We were kindly gifted (see what I did there) a Acts of Kindness Advent Calendar from I Do Handmade to make and review with the girls. I LOVE all things craft and being creative, so things like this are right up my street. I couldnt wait to have an afternoon of glue, cutting and creating as we bought our advent calendar to life.

The Acts of Kindness Advent Calendar kit from I Do Handmade comes with everything you need to create 24 mini paper envelopes made from festive stationery, filled with daily acts of kindness. Included in the kit are 48 kindness ideas to choose from, all focused around helping you spread some festive cheer to your community and loved ones of all ages this season. Not forgetting self care this Christmas, there are also 24 suggestions for you too, in case you want to treat yourself to a daily act of kindness too!

Once you’ve created your envelopes you can then use the mini wooden pegs and string provided to hang your envelopes up in your home.

Whats inside the Kit:

This Christmas craft bundle comes delivered in eco-friendly packaging with easy to follow instructions and is great to do for all ages. Inside you will find:

24 sheets patterned paper in an assortment of sizes
4 sheets of numbers, each from 1-24 in different styles ready to cut
72 daily ideas to choose from, ready to cut
24 mini wooden pegs
Brown string
1 roll of decorative tape
A variety of crafty decor for your envelopes, including burlap fabric, red gingham fabric, ribbon, brown paper.

The Kit comes with super simple instructions that are easy to follow, so the only thing you need to bring your creations to life is a pair of scissors and a glue stick!

The I Do Handmade Acts of Kindness advent calendar kit retails at £16 and is available to purchase at I Do Handmade. Sign up for their monthly newsletter and you can even get 10% off!

Our Acts of Kindness Advent Calendar Experience

The Acts of Kindness Advent Calendar comes in Eco Friendly packaging – a cardboard box and tissue wrapped in string with a personalised name tag.

Inside everything you need to create your advent calendar is presented in little paper bags and packets.

There are 25 sheets of high quality thick festive paper in two different sizes that will be used to make the advent calendar envelopes. They come in a variety of festive themed designs from cheeky elves to reindeers, snowflakes and a range of colourful patterns.

Inside is an easy to follow How to Make your Advent Calendar instructions sheet, which is numbered and has visuals to help you as you go along.

First up, you need to make up your 25 envelopes and rather than leaving you to your own devices which would inevitably result in a bit of a Pinterest fail, the kit comes with a handy envelope template guide for both size envelopes, allowing you to place the piece of paper over the top and fold up the corners to exactly the right size.

The kit comes with sheets of thick paper with all the numbers on in a variety of different fonts so you can choose the effect you like the best.

You then need to cut out the numbers to create the 25 labels for your envelopes.

When it comes to designing the envelopes themselves, you can use some of the inspiration on the instructions, or simply create your own using the included brown resin and gingham print fabric. We decided to stick on a small small square of the fabrics to the front of our envelopes before adding on the number. The cutting wasn’t straight, but I think it acts to the overall rustic effect!

Something that is particularly lovely for 2020, the I Do Handmade Acts of Kindness advent calendar comes with lots of daily ideas for acts of kindness of self care, something which you can do with the family to be kind to others – which lets face it is more important at the moment than ever before!

When you have selected your task for each day, you can pop it inside your envelope before sealing it using the glue and washi tape (I love the festive tree design on the roll thats included with the pack!)

The girls really enjoyed helping me cut out and pop our treats into the envelope (although i made sure they didn’t sneak a look!)

Once all 25 envelopes are filled, you can then use the wooden pegs to clip them onto the string. Be careful with these as they are very small and delicate! I would recommend that the parent does this bit to prevent any breakages!

You can then hang your finished calendar as bunting around your home, or on to the wall in a design if you prefer.

Overall I think this set is really lovely, not only does it look great hanging around the home, but a really refreshing change from some of the more commercialised options on the market. We had loads of fun making it, and I love the finished effect. It can even be reused next year as long as the kids open them gently!

Want to win a Acts of Kindness Advent Kit for yourself? Head over to my instagram for your chance to win!