How To Make A Toilet Roll DIY Advent Calendar

Advent calendars can be such a wasteful part of the run up to Christmas. Most of the ones you can buy involve breaking into the doors each day and you end up needing to throw the whole thing away after it has all been opened. But as part of my ideas for a more Zero Waste Christmas I wanted to make a reusable advent calendar. One that could be refilled each year with whatever treats I wanted. And so I decided to make a toilet roll DIY advent calendar.

*This post has been linked to the Sustainable Pinterest Challenge for September – kindly organised by Julie of Sum Of Their Stories. See the bottom of the post for even more sustainable craft ideas!

How To Make A Reusable Toilet Roll Tube Advent Calendar

this Idea!

This advent calendar was inspired by a pin of another toilet paper roll advent calendar. You may have seen it. It is the one where all the toilet paper rolls are stuck together in the form of a Christmas tree shape with tissue paper stuck over the ends of the rolls. Each day you can break the paper at the end of each roll. The only problem with these is that it is either not reusable, or you need to attach new paper each year to use it once again. It is also bulky for storage. 

I wanted to make a Christmas advent calendar that could be used year after year, but was also easier to store. 

For Your Toilet Roll Advent Calendar You Will Need

• 24 toilet roll tubes or other cardboard tubes (maybe cut paper towel tubes in half?)
• String or twine
• A foraged branch of about 90cm length.
• Scissors
• Fabric, glue gun, coloured pens or stickers for the numbers.

To make each toilet paper tube parcel you simply press each tube flat, score around a round object at each end to make the end flaps of your tube, then press in the tube flaps to make a small toilet roll tube parcel.

I used this same technique when I made my pillow box from an old upcycled greeting card.

The next step is to flatten the box and use a hole punch to carefully punch out a hanging hole from one of the box edges before adding the number to each box.

Making Your Advent Calendar Numbers

There are many ways to make your advent calendar numbers. I actually did a mixture of cutting out fabric scrap letters using my Sizzix Big Shot and number dies, and cutting out sticker numbers using my Cricut. But you could simply draw the numbers or cut them out from card or paper and then use glue or a glue gun to stick them to your paper tube parcels.

Then, all you need to do is cut sections of twine or string and tie each loo roll package to the branch. I used different lengths of twine to arrange the parcels so that each number could be seen.

You could also buy a range of stick on felt or fabric numbers from somewhere like these on Etsy.

Your Toilet Roll DIY Advent Calendar Is Finished!

It actually turns out to be quite a sizeable piece of Christmas decor, and looks amazing on any wall in your home in the run up to the big day!

Customise Your Design

The brilliant thing about this is you can really personalise it to suit your decor and needs. It is a great craft idea to do with the kids in the run up to advent, and let them design their own advent calendar! Little children love toilet roll crafts!

I kept mine quite rustic and left the branch and paper rolls a bare brown colour. But you could paint each paper roll a different colour for younger children, or paint the branch. You could decorate the tubes more than I did, or decorate the branch with greenery, holly, berries and baubles to make it even more of a statement piece.

What To Put Inside Your Loo Roll Advent Calendar Parcels

There are just so many ideas for things that you could use to fill your advent calendar. Some ideas are

• Candy
• Chocolates
• Mini figures
• Wax melts
• Dolls clothes
• Mini toys
• Handmade presents
• Mini beauty products

Really the only limit is your imagination and the small size of the parcels!

Storing Your Toilet Paper Roll Advent Calendar

Storage is a cinch too. All you need to do is untie the paper rolls from the branch and flatten them. Store them together in a box or envelope until next year. And you can use this advent calendar again and again.

Love This Guide To Making Your Own Toilet Roll DIY Advent Calendar? Why Not Read Some Of My Other Slow Living, Zero Waste and Eco Friendly Posts And Reviews?

I love to show you really easy ways that you can make the small changes that add up to make a big impact on your life. And I have lots of other Christmas craft, upcycling cardboard crafts and even a couple of other advent calendar ideas on my site.  So why not read these other posts I have written?

• Ideas How To Reuse / Upcycle All Your Old Greeting Cards
• 100 Eco Friendly Gift Wrapping Ideas
• How To Make A Fabric Advent Calendar
• 15 Natural Stain Removers That Work

 I love to see what you are doing, so please leave your comments below, or tag me on social media.

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The Sustainable Pinterest Challenge Link Up

This post has been linked to the Sustainable Pinterest Challenge for November. This is kindly organised by Julie of Sum Of Their Stories. I have linked with several great bloggers who have also written posts about sustainable Christmas craft projects. Do go take a look at all their creations

Julie | Sum of their Stories

  Gail | Purple Hues and Me

Julie | Treasures Made From Yarn

T’onna | Sew Crafty Crochet

Niki | Life as a LEO Wife

Mel | Decor Craft Design

Christine | Christine’s Crafts

Vicky | Vicky Myers Creations

Donna | Modern on Monticello

Allyson | Southern Sunflowers

Ann | The Apple Street Cottage