An Easy DIY Magnetic Advent Calendar

Awhile ago I was checking out what new Christmas products Oriental Trading has as well as doing some research for birthday party themes. I came across this Advent calendar and it inspired today's craft. I used one of those small white boards but make sure it is magnetic. I bought one at Staples because there were not any magnetic ones in stock at the time at Five Below. The Dollar Tree didn't have any magnetic ones that I could find. This one came with a white magnet so I knew it was magnetic. I also used washi tape, permanent markers, ribbon, a small magnet, and miniature ornaments (that I bought ages ago). I
wanted to put a grid on it so I used a ruler and the marker that came with the board to draw it on the board. I then used a thin purple washi tape to put the grid on the board. I then numbered the squares. Next I used a wider washi tape along the edge of the board to make it more decorative. I also had decided to use all the ornaments to have the nativity on the board. I glued the Joseph, Mary and shepherd figures onto the board and glued a ribbon and a magnet onto Baby Jesus. After the glue dried I tied the ribbon onto the edge of the board and attached the end to the magnets that go on the back of the board to hang it on the refrigerator.

After some thought I decided to put the themes of each week of Advent on the first days of those weeks as well as Christmas. I also added a gold star above the nativity.  Now we can move Baby Jesus until he is with his earthly parents on Christmas day.

I love having the themes of each week to help focus us for the week. I love being able to think about the hope Jesus brings the world, etc. Hazel and I were talking about how it could be changed and used as a countdown for other things. One idea was for our trip to Disney. We talked about finding a different magnet and of course using a different board without all the Advent themes on it. What kind of countdown would you want?