When I saw this giant printed Christmas tree fabric at Ikea, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it – a giant advent calendar. Despite being a little large and unwieldy, it was pretty easy to make, especially once I found an Etsy shop that sells felt numbers pre-cut specifically for advent calendars (who knew?!). The same seller has a wide variety of 3″ felt circles so you could make a rainbow version, an all blue and green version, or an traditional red, green and white version if the spirit moved you.
Click through for instructions and photos.
Materials needed: 1.25-inch white wool felt numbers, 3-inch wool felt circles (I used the colors salmon, cardinal, rose, red, light orange, daffodil yellow and honey gold), 2 yards printed Christmas tree fabric from Ikea, thread, sewing needle, scissors and two 62-inch wooden dowels.
Step 1: Sew a 1-inch pocket along both the top and bottom edges of the fabric.
Step 2: Lay out and stitch the felt numbers 1 – 25 on the felt circles.
Step 3: Place numbers randomly around tree (searching out of order is great for kids just learning their numbers). Stitch the circles to the fabric. Start from a 2 o’clock position to a 10 o’clock position, leaving a 2-inch opening at the top of the felt circle.
Step 4: Insert the dowels into the top pocket and the bottom pocket and smooth out the fabric. Hang it on your wall (pushpins should hold it).
Step 5: Fill up circles with treats, sweets, or coupons for fun things to do (on our list this year is to visit the tree in Rockefeller Center).
Happy Holidays, everyone!
P.S. Keep in mind this takes up a lot of wall space! Overall the calendar is 64″ x 72.”
kristina
November 23, 2012
cool idea! love it!
http://kribamil.blogspot.de/
madeleine
November 23, 2012
this is awesome! i love your work!
Little Kitchie
November 23, 2012
This fabric is awesome!!! Love it!
Ana Cooks
November 23, 2012
brilliant idea! it’s lovely!
Connie
November 23, 2012
What a beautiful idea, you are so creative. I love that this would work in space spaces too!
Lili
November 23, 2012
That’s beautiful!
Lisa
November 23, 2012
I can’t even tell you how much I love this!
leah
November 23, 2012
this is awesome! i have been planning on doing an advent calendar with my little one, but just wasn’t sure how i wanted to go about it. i am heading to ikea this afternoon! thanks for this great diy!
Tiffanie
November 23, 2012
That fabric is AMAZING! Had to look three times to realize it wasn’t a real tree. What a great idea!
eva scott
November 23, 2012
WOW, this is just awesome! Love it!!
Theresa
November 23, 2012
I love this! It makes for great christmas decorations, too!
Theresa
http:/bomamma.blogspot.com
Deb Noll
November 23, 2012
Awesome! I didn’t see this until another customer told me about it.
I love to see what people make with the orders I cut for them!
Thanks for sharing my shop link 😀
Deb
aka SunshineAnnie
Hilary Freeman
November 23, 2012
Love this! Might force me to Ikea on black friday.
Tara
November 23, 2012
Love this! I definitely need to get some of this fabric!
Sarah
November 23, 2012
cute idea! If only I had an ikea by me. I swear, the next city I move to will have one within an hour’s driving time!
http://owleyevintage.blogspot.com/
http://www.etsy.com/shop/OwlEyeVintage
Sarah Kate
November 24, 2012
Amazing. Absolutely amazing. Thank you for the idea!
Holly brain
November 24, 2012
Where did you get the deer? I have been searching for some just like that. Darling advent. Thanks
Holly
Chrissi Holt
November 24, 2012
oooh cute ! I have started making mine and though it is nothing spectacular it really adds to the festive decor and I am loving how it is coming along … I will have to put up some pictures on my blog afterwards … oh Christmas is just so much fun isn’t it !
Love Chrissi xo
http://www.christianaholt.blogspot.com
Sasha
November 24, 2012
I love this–maybe for two kids you could give each a color of felt and have the numbers in different places?
It also seems like it would be great to have up during a Christmas party–you could use it as
a sort of photobooth.
My LittLe GonEs
November 25, 2012
On my Facebook’s Page ! Very Good idea !!!
https://www.facebook.com/MyLittLeGonEs?ref=hl
Thanks for Your Blog ♥
Renée
November 25, 2012
This is amazing!
claire
November 25, 2012
this must be the best advent i’ve seen – also a great idea if you don’t really have the floor space for an actual tree. thanks for sharing!
sofy
November 25, 2012
very good idea.
and cool that Ikea got that.. didn’t know.
Julia @ cuckoo4design
November 25, 2012
Coming over from Centsational Girl. Love the advent calendar idea too. I used the same fabric to make a large canvas a couple of weeks ago with ornaments on it.
cuckoo4design.blogspot.com/2012/11/ikea-margareta-christmas.html
Gina at willowday
November 25, 2012
Oh my gosh!
This is just too adorable: combining the “sugarplum christmases of yore ” with modern mod hip… you’ve done it again:
(… I wish I had thought of this… and I am LIVING in Sweden! 🙂 ! ) Too, too cute!
Leigh
November 25, 2012
This was on sale at my Ikea this week.
Heather
November 25, 2012
I love this idea! My family will be starting the tradition of advent this year, and I am excited to make something similar to this! Can I ask – where did you find the long dowels? I just checked Lowe’s (bog box hardware store) and they didn’t have anything near that long. Thanks!
anna
November 26, 2012
great idea!!!!!
it looks as if everything you ever imagined is available on etsy 🙂
This girl loves to talk
November 26, 2012
this is amazing! Im planning a trip to ikea soon.. I hope they have it here in australia!!
chiara
November 26, 2012
Hi Heather – I did get them at Lowe’s – I think they come in 80″ pieces and I cut them down in the store. They were in the molding and trim aisle. In a pinch you could just tack the fabric to your wall….
Holly – the deer are vintage – you could do a search for ‘vintage deer’ on etsy or ebay!
Thanks for all the lovely comments!
Chiara
charity
November 26, 2012
Hi, thanks so much for the lovely idea and tutorial! Any suggestions for hanging it on the wall? My dowels seem like they’d make it too heavy to be held by pushpins, and I’m wondering if I should attach a string or ribbon to hang the whole thing from a nail…your advice greatly appreciated!
Eva
November 27, 2012
I love your blog always, you always have the best best ideas!
This is a favourite!!!
Do I still have time to get to Ikea and make this happen!
Janelle
November 28, 2012
Just went to IKEA today to get the fabric 🙂 Love this idea and hopefully I can get it done before the 1st!! Thank you!!
eva
November 28, 2012
AWSOME!! wher di you find a stick/rode to attach it to in the upper half?
Sweet Harvest Moon
November 28, 2012
Love this! Sadly, it was out of stock at my ikea 🙁
Eco Chic Rachel
November 30, 2012
I love this idea! I’ve been pursuing new ideas for an Advent Calendar and this may be my favorite so far!