Christmas is just around the corner! Our streets are starting to fill up with lights and decorations, and we're sure many of you have already started preparing for this special time of the year.

Here at Hotels VIVA we've also got down to work, and this year we've created an Advent calendar with some enjoyable ideas for the month of December that will pave the way for the Christmas festivities.

But before that, we'd like to share some ideas with you so that you can continue this beautiful tradition.

What’s an Advent calendar?

Let's start at the beginning. An Advent calendar is a type of countdown to help children see how many days are left until Christmas Day, a special date full of joy and excitement. 

It normally runs from the 1st of December to the 24th, and there are 24 doors (or windows) to open and discover a surprise inside. 

The idea for this calendar comes from a 19^th-century German tradition in which children lit a candle on every day of the Advent period.

In the 1920s, the first Advent calendar was printed, with a small piece of chocolate behind each little door of the waiting period.

Since then, Advent calendars have become very popular and they usually contain a small gift behind each door, but there are even some that suggest a good deed for the day, such as donating toys, going to visit relatives, giving up your seat on public transport, starting a piggy bank for a good cause etc.  

Ideas for your own homemade Advent calendar

Making our own Advent calendar is one of the most delightful activities to prepare for Christmas as a family.

Here are some ideas:

An Advent calendar with decorated paper

Making a colourful Advent calendar is very straightforward - you only need a bit of imagination. 

In this case, we suggest you use some clothes hangers, small clothes pegs, and envelopes that you can make yourself out of wrapping paper. 

And you can use fun stickers for the numbers.

An Advent calendar with Christmas trees

Another idea to make your own DIY Advent calendar is to make little Christmas trees.

You simply need cardboard, a white marker pen, toothpicks, and a cork base.

First of all, cut out 24 Christmas tree shapes. Paint some little designs on them and put the number on one side.

Then glue each one to a toothpick and stick them in the cork base.

On the unpainted side, you can choose the gift or action for each day.

Advent calendar with fabric bags

This is a popular idea for a homemade Advent calendar.

All you have to do is to cut small pieces of fabric and put a small gift into each one.

Then tie them up with some thread or a coloured ribbon as if they were a little bag.

Number them from 1 to 24, and that's it!

Advent calendar with toilet roll middles

DIY often goes hand in hand with recycling, and this Advent calendar is no exception.

To start with, you'll need some toilet or kitchen roll middles.

Cut 24 of them to the same size, assemble them into the shape of a Christmas tree and staple them together.

Then line the sides of the tree with wrapping paper and cut out two shapes - one for the base and the other for the covering.

Glue the tree to the base, and, in each of the cylinders, place a little chocolate, a candy, or a small toy.

Put the paper covering on, and add some stickers to show the 24 days of Advent.

Afterwards, just tear open the paper in the respective cylinder and collect the prize!

An Advent Calendar with socks

Would you like to make a simple, original Advent calendar? All you have to do is reuse some old socks and put a gift inside.

Of course, you'll have to put a sticker with the corresponding day of the month on the sock.

The question is: will you be able to find 24 odd socks? In many houses this isn't a problem at all!

Our Advent calendar

The Hotels VIVA Advent calendar is an original and unusual alternative to this Christmas tradition.

We have selected 24 Christmassy activities to make the countdown much more enjoyable: from decorating the house to writing Christmas cards, watching a Christmas film, reading a Christmas story, taking family photos around the tree, singing a carol, dancing, or baking a cake.

All you have to do is cut, paste, and discover what’s behind each of the doors!