Don’t you hate it when you come up with an idea completely organically then later find out it’s been done a thousand times? I came up with the idea for an advent calendar made out of a muffin tin and was really excited about it. I thought “Sweet, finally something where I wasn’t inspired by anything I saw online! I’m so original…I’m going to be a Pinterest sensation!” Then I went onto Pinterest to double-check my originality and saw that muffin tin advent calendars are pretty popular. Dang. But I decided to make one anyway, because 1) I wanted one and 2) if I had never seen one then chances are many of y’all haven’t either.
So the idea of a muffin tin advent calendar came to me one day last week when I was attempting to entertain Elijah with a jar of buttons and all our muffin tins (this works great by the way, as long as your kid is old enough not to put them in his mouth).
I was playing with him and putting one button in each hole and counting as I went. It turns out that mini muffin tins have 24 holes, and I thought “A-HA! That’s how many I need for an advent calendar!” Then I realized it was already December 4th and I had missed the advent boat. Then I looked over at the regular muffin tin and saw that that one has 12 holes…perfect for a twelve day procrastinators advent.
I made this just out of random paper and scraps I had lying around. I had some silver paper, red cardstock and some (way too thin) green wrapping paper. Oh, and a piece of paper that looked like wood and printer paper.
I can work with that.
So I did some measuring and made the whole thing with my Silhouette CAMEO, magnets, and Mod Podge.
There’s really not much to explain here, you just cut out squares (or circles) that are slightly larger than the muffin opening and Modge Podge whatever you want to the front. Just double-check your measurements before you get too far…I started to cut out my shapes assuming that I correctly remembered the measurements of my squares. Turns out I assumed wrong….you know what they say about assumptions, right?
 To hold the cover over the tin I just used small adhesive magnets on each corner (I cut each pre-cut square into fourths).
You can fill the tins with whatever you want, I filled mine with scripture. I printed out the Christmas story from Luke, cut it down so that there were a few verses for each tin, and then rolled them up and dropped them in.
I think I’m going to add a piece of candy or something fun to each day as well. My kids are toddlers and aren’t all that interested in listening to bible verses…unless of course they are munching on a delicious Reeses peanut butter cup.
And here we have it. I wasn’t really sure I was going to like it while I was making it, but I think it turned out pretty well considering it’s made from scraps.
I kinda wish I would have thought ahead so that I didn’t end up with all the snowflakes on the left side, but it is what it is. You probably wouldn’t have even noticed if I didn’t just point it out.
Love this idea…thanks for all that you share…I enjoy it all so much!
This is so cute! It really looks amazing.. maybe you should be making scrapbook greeting cards and selling them. :) I did see this idea on Pinterest, but yours is way cuter! I might have to look into a CAMEO now…
Oh my! Where did you get that wood grain scrapbook paper? LOVE IT! This turned out way too cute.
I got that scrapbook paper from a bag that has been stuffed n the back of my closet for years, lol. But seriously I have no idea…if I had to guess I’d say Michaels or Hobby Lobby though, since that’s usually where I shop.
This is my favorite advent calendar to date. What a great idea.
Thanks to Pinterest I know that I have absolutely no unique creative ideas but it does push me to really think outside the box (and the box’s box!) but I gotta say sometimes I question my motives & the big guy upstairs puts me right back into my place. :)
Adorable! I have never seen it before either – so consider yourself the originator of the idea in my eyes! Haha
OK, so I heard of this idea, but I’ve never actually taken the time to look at how the whole thing works. It’s briliant! I love how it looks like one big flat picture on the front but then, surprise(!), there are little spots behind each square. I just have to make one of these next year. Pinning!
VERY CUTE, AND I LOVE YUR E ASSISTANT….I GET IT WHEN YOU SAY I HAVE A ORIGINGAL IDEA…I HAVE SEEN IT WITH BEDSPRINGS…I DID A TREE LAST YEAR, NO PIC NO BLOG, DID D BEAUTY WITH ROSARYS SAME THING, RECENTLY DID A PINE CONE TREE FOR TABLE SETTINGS….ahhhhhhhhh
THE ONLY THING THAT IS ORIGINAL. I HAVE NOT SEEN ONE OF MY PAPER GARLANDS NOT LIKE MINE
LOVED THE POST AND 2ND ONE TODAY….ARE YOU HAPPY WITH YOUR SILHOUETTE CAMEO….I DO LOTS OF SUBWAY
I love the idea of little pine cone trees, sounds easy and cute! I am loving my Silhouette…I haven’t done I ton of stuff with it yet but subway art is definitely on my to-do list.
I love the idea of the magnets! That way you can use it again and again!
WHAT a cute idea! Let’s just pretend you thought of it! I love it!
Oh, seriously! I would NEVER have noticed… but now that you mention it..haha!
What a great idea! I find that all my great ideas are not so original ALL the time… oh well!
You are right I too hadn’t thought of this, but I did spot on on Pinterest before seeing yours. I have to say I like yours quite a bit more than the one I saw on Pinterest if that’s any consolation.
Yep, I’ll totally pin this junk. We’re doing a jesse tree this year for advent (which I also started after Dec 1), but I love the simplicity of this.
Ok, I’ll admit it…I have no idea what a jesse tree is. Off to Google…
This is just wonderful. I love it(and I think the snowflakes down the left look great.)
I hate it when I come up with “The Most Brilliant Creative Original Idea EVER” and then find out it’s been around since the 60’s! Your muffin tin calendar is by far my favorite though!
This is so awesome. I love this idea and how easy.
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