Baby Sock Advent Calendar

I've become quite the fan of advent calendars over the years. I think this may be partially due to the fact that I'm a chocoholic and love finding ways to deliver one or more chocolates to myself with minimal guilt throughout the holiday season. Last year, I made an advent calendar out of a 24 muffin tin and kept mini Reese's peanut butter cup hidden in each muffin slot. This year, I first had the idea of using mini-stockings to make an advent calendar on a string but when my original vision proved too expensive, I swapped out stockings for kids' socks in Christmas colors. And I think this is going to become a new tradition for me - creating a new advent calendar each holiday season.

The Baby Sock Advent Calendar could not be more simple or affordable to make. All you really need are 25 holiday themed baby socks (although a blue snowflake scheme could be beautiful too), 25 clothespins, and a rope or sturdy string of some sort. I decorated the tops of my clothespins with numbers for each day leading up to Christmas but you could number each sock individually if you'd like. And if you're having trouble finding socks (most of the ones I came across in the baby department had "Baby's First Christmas" written all over them), stop in your nearest dollar store - that's where I was able to find most of the socks you see in these pictures.

The process itself is exceedingly simple. Just hang the string wherever you please, attach the socks using the clothespins, and pop an advent treat in each sock to be removed on the appropriate date (mine will probably be filled with Tootsie Rolls this year). It's super simple to install and remove at the end of the season, and it is a truly versatile project because all the different materials can be personalized however you'd prefer. Experiment with different sizes, styles, and colors of string, paint your clothespins or keep them plain but adorned with festive numbers, and think outside the box when it comes to your sock scheme.

I kept my socks pretty traditional, sticking to reds, greens, and whites. I didn't spruce up the clothespins themselves too much, but I did glue 1.5 square inch pieces of shimmery silver cardstock to the top of each clothespin. Then I found festive numbers, both from stickers I had in stock and cut outs from old magazines, to label each cardstock-topped clothespin. These were used to attach the socks to some holiday-themed ribbon I had lying around and ta-da, an advent calendar to call my own.

Any other advent calendar ideas I should keep in mind for next Christmas?