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:
- 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).
- Attach wrapping paper to the blank side with glue or tape, flip over, and cut out the tree shape.
- Fold and flatten 25 silver cupcake liners in half and number from 1–25.
- 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.
- Attach the cupcake pockets to the tree shape with glue or staples.
- Slide in one treat inside each little pocket.
- Cut out a star shape from the remaining cupcake liner and tape to the top.
- 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!
