When I saw the Littlest Pet Shop Advent Calendar for kids on lilsugar, I was instantly motivated! Being a fairly crafty gal, I decided to make an advent calendar for my lil' guy, North. I stopped off at a hardware store after work for some creative inspiration and was actually able to conceptualize and make this calendar from items I purchased or had lying around my house. It was so easy to make that when I sat down to work at the beginning of last night's Gossip Girl episode, by the end, I was done! To see how to make an Advent Tree-at for your pooch, kitty, or kiddie, read more

To make this advent calendar you will need the following items:

• One sheet of posterboard
• Green wrapping paper or cellophane (note: if you've got green posterboard, you can eliminate this step!)
• Writing utensils: a pen or pencil and marker
• Scissors
• Tape
• Glue gun or stapler
• 26 foil cupcake liners
• 25 yummy treats

To assemble it:

1. Fold a piece of posterboard in half lengthwise and draw a tree with the middle of it on the seam (so it opens to a mirror image).
2. Attach wrapping paper to the blank side with glue or tape, flip over, and cut out the tree shape.



3. Fold and flatten 25 silver cupcake liners in half and number from 1–25.
4. Seal the cupcake pockets with two drops of hot glue (or a stapler) leaving enough space to slide the treat inside later. If you're using small snacks, you can stick one in now and staple . . . but let glue dry completely before adding snacks if you are using the glue gun.
5. Attach the cupcake pockets to the tree shape with glue or staples.



6. Slide in one treat inside each little pocket.
7. Cut out a star shape from the remaining cupcake liner and tape to the top.
8. Cut out a trunk from the posterboard scraps and tape to the bottom.

Now you're ready to hang it up! Be quick about it — if you make this project on the floor as I did, your pets may try to sneak a sample!