Christmas is not a million miles away, and honestly, the build up is what I love most. The lights, the markets, the decorations, all of it.
And, if I can mix that festive feeling with a good bargain, I am a very happy bunny.
Last year, while wandering through a Christmas market, I spotted a gorgeous advent calendar made of tiny boxes. It stuck in my mind. A few nights later, while feeding my doggies, I looked at their food tins and thought these are a nice size and sturdy little things, it would be a shame not to reuse them.
With four doggies in the house, we get through plenty of tins, so the idea snowballed from there.
The tins are a great size for smallish gifts, twice the size of a baked bean tin, and they are strong enough to hold anything you want to stash inside. So I began saving them, gave each one a good clean, and once I had collected twenty six tins, the real fun started.
I wanted the calendar to look like a Christmas tree. So, I laid out six tins for the bottom row, then five for the next, then four, then three, then two, then one at the top. There were three tins left over, so I added them to the base for a bit of extra shape.
Then I grabbed two more tins and stuck them together with silicone to make a tree trunk.
After a quick coat of spray paint and a sprinkle of glitter, the whole thing really started to come together.
All that was left was to make the doors. I cut them out of green cardboard and used green cable ties as tiny handles. I have to admit that I cheated with some door number stickers off Amazon.
Next, the fun bit, filling the tins with presents. Once the tins were filled with little surprises, I glued on the doors.
And just like that, the advent calendar Christmas tree was ready, made entirely from doggy tins, a bit of glue, a splash of glitter and a whole lot of festiveness!
Christmas Tree….Great ideas using ,”bits and pieces ” .