Today is my final day of all things Christmas on the blog. Yesterday I shared a round up of lovely festive quilt blocks, today its time for advent calendars. I vividly remember the year my mum presented my sister and me with an advent calendar she had lovingly made – we were thrilled! I plan to do the same for my daughter one day, but she is still pretty small for appreciating the sentiment behind something handmade. So I’m biding my time on that one, but there are some great ideas below from other lovely bloggers out there. Take a look and see if anything appeals to you and your creative inner-self.

However, first of all let me tell you about my Creative Sewing Challenge. I created it to help me keep my beloved hobby on the agenda when life gets busy, and since launching, hundreds of lovely sewers throughout the world have joined me. You get a fabulous prompt sent to your inbox at the start of the month, and a collection of ideas linked to the theme. The idea is to sew something – anything – in response. Its free, fun and open to anyone. Sign up below or find out more here.

For a simple but effective wall hanging, try this Canvas Advent Calendar tutorial from We All Sew…

…or this Easy-To-Sew Tutorial from Simply Sewing.

You might want to try investing in a pre-printed panel such as this Merriment Advent Calendar by Gingiber for Moda (tutorial from Sew Lux Fabric)…

…or I have always admired this Scandi Red Panel designed by Makeower UK.

If you want to avoid gifts or chocolate being part of your calendar, why not try something a little more interactive like this Felt Wall Hanging by Craft Whatever…

…or this Felt Nativity Advent Calendar by The Craft Patch, which tells the story of Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem.

This Quilted Advent Calendar by Modern Handcraft is a lovely example of how you can play about with alternative colours…

…or for another modern approach to an advent wall hanging try this tutorial by The Sweet Escape.

For a stocking themed calendar, my personal favourite is perhaps this lovely Mini Stocking Tutorial by Night Owl Quilting…

…or you could try making up 24 of my very own Mini Elf Stockings and hanging them on some string.

Whatever you go for, I hope you have fun, and I hope it brings you much joy for years to come.

Don’t forget, you can join the Creative Sewing Challenge any time, and here’s a handy pin for later. Have a wonderful Christmas everyone.