Condo Blues: How to Make a Wine Advent Calendar

Sunday, November 15, 2020

How to Make a Wine Advent Calendar

I like the concept of wine and beer Advent calendars for adults but the contents inside is often lower shelf booze - meh. Not to mention, the good wine and novelty Advent calendars sell out almost immediately when they are put on the store shelf.

What to do? What to do?

Make a quick and easy gnome Advent calendar using a Christmas tree!

how to make a quick and easy Advent Christmas tree calendar

Save this Advent calendar idea to your Pinterest boards for later! Share it with your friends!

 

How to Make a Christmas Tree Advent Count Down Calendar

I went into this project with the disadvantage of having very little space to put a tabletop Advent calendar and knowing that using bottles as the daily prize would make it too heavy to hang on a wall. Luckily Christmas trees are made for hanging heavy's ornaments as long as you distribute the weight evenly around the tree. 

We often put up a hand me down 4 foot Christmas tree similar to this one from my single days as an extra “fun” Christmas tree. This year, I’m laying heavy into my Danish heritage and decorating the fun tree with a Christmas gnome theme after a Treat Yo’ Self Day at IKEA buying the Scandinavian Christmas decorations I wanted and that were sold out by the time I got to the store last year. (Disclosure: I am including affiliate links for your convenience.)

I was going to sew my own Advent treat bags until I saw the Advent treat bags feature a nisse (what we call gnomes. They also go by the name tomte) carrying his Christmas treat of rice porridge with an opportunistic cat close by.  It is tradition to leave a bowl of rice porridge with a pat of butter on top on Christmas Eve for the gnomes who live the your  attic and protect the family. And since this year has been all things wild and crazy I want to invite as many nisser (the plural of nisse) as possible to watch over the family!

how to make a gnome Christmas Advent countdown calendar
Hanging my gnomies!

You can make this Advent Calendar on your big family Christmas tree or use a separate tree.  You can fill the bags with mini beer, wine, and liquor bottles or candy treats. If you do a Word of the Year or Gratitude jar like this one,  you could fill your Advent calendar with those memories,  or activities, or wherever your imagination takes you!

  

You will need:

 

Christmas tree

24 4x4 inch bags –  You can find similar Advent calendar bags here or make your own!

 

24 mini bottles of your favorite wine or alcohol – I am using a mixture of mini wine, liquor, champagne, and mixed drinks

 

Step by Step How to Make it Tutorial:

 

1. Assemble/fluff your Christmas tree.

 

2. Put one bottle in each of the 24 bags.

how to make a liquor advent calendar
My bags hold one bottle each. I bought 2 bottles of each type of libation. The plan is to enjoy the drink together after we open its mate.   

3. Hang the bags on the Christmas tree. This got a little tricky because my tree is against a wall which means I hang almost every ornament on the front of the tree. Too many of the heavier bottles (margarita, wine, and champagne) on the front of the tree made it start to tip over. I solved this problem by weighing down the back of the Christmas tree stand with a couple of microwave rice heating pads (they look like this) like sandbags and hanging the heavier bottles on the back and sides of the tree as well as putting some underneath the tree. 

DIY Advent calendar countdown Christmas tree
The gnome tree topper is actually an IKEA table decoration

4. Count down the days to Christmas by opening the treat in each numbered bag on the corresponding December day and enjoy responsibly!

 Since this is a family Advent calendar tree, it’s not all wine, champagne, and liqueur prizes. I have several bags with a card saying “Treat for Lacey” and some of her favorite activities to include her in the holiday fun. Of course Lacey doesn’t know the meaning of Christmas in Human World  but in Dog World, she knows that once the Christmas tree and stockings go up eventually the Pack Leaders will distribute the spoils that will hopefully be new tennis balls to hide throughout the house or a toy to kill the squeaker and destuff.

Christmas dog collar
Every.Single.Time. I take a nap when Lisa decorates the house for Christmas I wake up in Christmas collar! 

Looking for more DIY Advent Calendar Ideas? Check out the following options – and more – below!

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2 comments :

April J Harris said...

What a fun idea! Thank you for sharing and for being a part of the Hearth and Soul Link Party Community!

Life as a LEO Wife said...

How cute! Such a great idea. Thanks for sharing on Happiness is Homemade. Be sure to come by Thursday & share this on Traffic Jam Weekend. I love it!

Niki - Life as a LEO Wife

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