My daughter still loves to receive a customized Advent calendar every year and I have to confess that it is more and more difficult to find a new idea.

I finally chose the theme of the Nutcracker which I had never illustrated before. I read the story, which I didn’t know well, and I chose to represent Clara dancing with the nutcracker in her hand.

To make this calendar, I took the idea of a unique box like the previous years. Each evening, I will slip a small gift or a chocolate.

I used materials that I had at home, except for the box that I bought at Søstrene Grene. I drew Clara on Procreate and then printed her on heavy paper.

I made little gift packages.

I then went through my forty boxes of Christmas decorations to find a tree and small items. The tree is decorated with pom poms and pipe cleaners.

For the floor I printed a parquet pattern found on the internet.

The bottom part of the box is the nutcracker head. I cut the elements out of colored paper with my Silhouette cutting machine.

And here is the finished box!

I don’t have any files to share because I did everything by feel. and a bit on the run

Do you like it? Do you make a homemade calendar or do you take one from a store?

See you soon!