Punch Out Advent Calendar

Punching out cups to get goodies is such a fun activity for anyone really. I know my daughter has always enjoyed this activity when it has come up at various functions and with Christmas time coming, i thought it would be fun to use the concept for an advent calendar or Christmas countdown! Now, I know this isn't a new idea, but I wanted to do it, so I thought I'd share how quick and easy it can be! You can easily get the supplies and put this together in an afternoon. it is also pretty inexpensive and can probably be done with supplies you already have.

I hope you find joy with this fun and simple project that can make each day in December just a little more exciting!

What's also nice, is if you make the base, very basic and reusable, you can reuse it for other occasions like Birthday Parties or Truck or Treat events.

Instructable 398

The supplies can vary and you can find many around the house, but here is what I used for the punch out advent calendar.

1. Foam board or other base - make sure it is big enough for the cups you use. Originally, I was going to shape the cups like a tree but the cups were too big or the base was too small so I ended up going with rows.
2. 24 or 25 Cups - make sure the fist that is going to punch it can fit into it. You'll likely need larger ones. You only need 24 since most calendars have that many but I decided to go with 25 to make 5 even rows. Also, you might need spares. I broke the very first one I did pushing too hard on it, so spares are always nice.
3. Rubber Bands - need to be big enough to go around the cup but you want it taught to hold the tissue paper tight.
4. Tissue Paper - probably can just use some from old gifts if you save everything like me, though white can be pretty see through, colors can help with that.
5. Hot Glue Gun - to glue the cups to your board if you are going that route. I went through a couple sticks.
6. Scissors - for cutting tissue paper, or you can tear it.
7. Marker - for marking the days, or you can have it be random!
8. Decorations for the Title - I used construction paper, printed paper, and markers, but you might also want paints or other crafts supplies
9. Goodies - whatever you want to put in the cups! I used a mishmash of leftover Halloween candy, little goodies I've picked up at garage sales and saved, and cheaper items I found at the store.

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If you know the size of your board and the size of the cups, you can preplan the layout. Since my board wasn't really big enough for a design, I went with simple rows. If you have enough space you can go with a seasonal design like a tree, but think about if you want to use this board for other occasions (Birthdays, Halloween Truck or Treat, school activities, etc). If so, you might just want to do rows.

You don't have to be super specific with this, but if you want to make sure they will fit, do at least a little measuring (I made sure the center cup would be centered) and glue from the inside out.

Make sure there is enough room between cups if you are adding the tissue paper after. About a half inch or so of space should be enough.

Glue them all down carefully. With my first one, for some reason I thought I should push it down really hard and my cheap cup just crumpled and broke so I had to take it off and do a new one. Not a lot of pressure should be necessary to get them to stick with the hot glue.

It can help to cut all your tissue paper ahead of time. Use a cup to measure and leave at least on inch on each side. The less paper you have, the more you'll struggle to get the rubber band around the tissue paper on the cup and it will try to escape.

Might want to test one out to see how it goes, and it's fun so why not!

Plan out your cups!

I decided my numbering would be chaotic rather than in order so I put all my gifts everywhere. It can help to take a picture when you are done so you remember what is in each cup for each day. Some of my gifts are a little bigger so I plan to warn my kid on some of the bigger item days to not punch too hard.

I actually had a couple goodies that were too big to the cups so I put slips of paper in those with the name and I'll just give them to my kid on the day. I know it's not as exciting, but I only did it for three of them.

Add the tissue paper to each cup. Do any color pattern you want!

I found it worked easiest to carefully scrunch the tissue paper on/around the cup, then hold the rubber band open with for fingers, like a square, and fit it around the cup and paper.

Repeat on all the cups.

Next, add the numbers. I looked back at the picture of what goodie was in each cup and decided what order I wanted them in.

You can do this any way you want with whatever materials you need! I decided to print off a paper, color it, and then make it pop with some construction paper background.

One thing to keep in mind is if you want to reuse this for the next Christmas or other occasions.

I wanted to leave it open, so I made the title paper separate, and then taped it on with blue painters tape so it will be easy to remove and reuse. I'll add pictures for other occasions if I update it.

Get ready to have a, hopefully, very excited kid!

This should be a fun way to start each day in December.