Grab your free Advent Calendar with a twist!

Bible verse cards to print and make your own Clothespin Advent Calendar. Try this free advent calendar and free advent wreath ideas in your home.

Families from all over the world follow this tradition in their own unique ways.

Every Christmas as we study different Christmas traditions of families from around the world, we follow our own traditions with Advent wreaths and calendars in our preparation for the celebration of baby Jesus.

If you would like to learn more about these kinds of world traditions, including different celebrations of Advent and different advent calendars and wreaths, you would be interested in my unit study Learning Fun with Christmas Traditions from Around the World. 
 

In this study, along with other traditions, crafts, activities, recipes, carols, and stories, are examples of Advent wreaths and calendars that you can make or use in your Christmas celebration.

In this post, you will find some pictures below of some of the ones included in this study and ones that we have used in our home.

Different Ideas for Advent Wreaths and Calendars:

• The Traditional Advent Wreath
  • I found an Advent wreath at Michaels with the greenery and candle holders built in as one piece with the traditional three purple and one pink candle.
    
    
  • We light the first purple candle on the fourth Sunday evening before Christmas and read a devotion and say a prayer as a family to reflect on our preparation and celebration of the birth of Jesus.
    
    
    • This helps us keep our focus on the true meaning behind the season. (In the unit study, it is interesting to read about how other families from around the world emphasize this as part of their preparation for Christmas as well.)
      
      
  • Another purple candle as well as the first one are lit on the third Sunday evening before Christmas with a devotion and prayer. This continues with the last purple candle on the second Sunday before and with the pink candle on the Sunday before Christmas. Some families place a thick white candle in the center of the wreath and light all of the candles and this center one on Christmas Day.
    
    
  • Advent devotions (or readings for Catholics) with prayers for each Sunday can be found online (or your church may supply a booklet). I have a couple of suggestions in the unit study.

• Handmade Advent Wreath from Construction Paper
  • This is an Advent wreath we made from templates I created. There are holly leaves and berries and candle templates supplied in the unit study for you to make your own wreath with a paper plate, construction paper, and glue. My guys loved this!

• Advent Calendar
  • This Advent calendar is also one we made for our Christmas Traditions Around the World unit study to follow the tradition of children from a number of different countries from which the Advent calendar originated.
    
    
    • There are pictures with a Christmas theme behind each numbered door. Behind the last door on the 24th (as is tradition) there is a picture of baby Jesus in a manger.
      
      
    • The templates to make this Advent calendar are also included in the unit study.

• Advent Calendar Clothesline
  • This Advent calendar clothesline is the newest tradition to my family. I came across a number of versions of this Advent calendar and fell in love with this idea and decided to make my own version.
    
    
  • I found brown craft bags in the scrapbooking aisle of Walmart along with some Christmas themed stickers. You can find these at Michaels or Hobby Lobby too.
    
    
  • The numbers for each bag are stickers I found at Michaels. I love them because they look like pieces of cut logs.
    
    
  • The washi tape for the border of the bottom of the craft bags is cut to size and purchased from the Dollar Tree. You can find this at Michaels or Hobby Lobby, if Dollar Tree no longer has it in your area.
    
    
  • The mini clothespins with tiny wooden Christmas pieces holding each bag to the twine clothesline were from Michaels. But, I saw some plain mini ones in the craft aisle at Walmart as well.
    
    
  • I used some red grosgrain ribbon from a spool from Walmart to decorate the twine clothesline where I held it in place on the wall with push pin thumbtacks.
    
    
  • Inside each bag is a Bible verse telling the story of the birth of Jesus. I created those using a template for business cards in Word.
    
    
  • I also put a small piece of chocolate for each of my boys inside each bag.
    
    
  • On each day, starting with December 1st through December 24th, they take the Bible verse card out of the bag, read it, and pin it on the outside of the bag. And, of course, eat the chocolate. It has been a big hit!

I have included the Bible verse cards for you as a gift if you wish to print them and make your own version of an Advent calendar or clothesline.

Visit this page to enter your email information to receive this free downloadable gift to help you celebrate the Advent season!

Enjoy! I would love to hear or see pictures if you decide to create your own and I will share them with permission!

Remember, if you wish to include the study of these kinds of Christmas traditions and others from around the world, my Learning Fun with Christmas Traditions from Around the World Unit Study has the templates ready for you to print and go! And it’s on sale right now!

For additional Christmas themed learning resources to make your homeschooling fun and easy, be sure to check out –

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever Literature Study – has everything you need including videos to learn elements of a story including plot and literary devices and techniques, worksheets, handouts, and more!

Free Videos and Printables to Learn Literary Devices with a Christmas Theme Twist – includes videos and printables to practice similes, metaphors, and more!

For writing and research practice and the chance for your child to write their own book, you’ll be interested in our Make Your Own ABC Book About… Christmas! – Topic ideas for each letter of the alphabet, links to various resources to use for your research and activities for learning, and different kinds of pages are provided to print and go.

Have a blessed Advent season in your preparation for your celebration of the birth of Jesus!