snowy village advent calendar

Every year, I love to create a different advent calendar, and this year, I was inspired by the beautiful scenic vistas of some truly creative calendars {see my picks here}, with that almost storybook feel.

I had originally wanted to use some little cardboard boxes, but unable to find any suitable, I decided to use some sweet little cupcake wrappers I've had forever and a day, and can't, for the life of me, offer up to a soggy batter.

For decoration, I used some plastic cupcake toppers I bought on Etsy a few years ago--little deer and trees--so utterly sweet. Some balance on teensy doily mountain tops. Simply snip a small doily from the edge to the centre, curl it around to create a wide cone and stickytape closed. I taped these mountain tops to each inverted cupcake wrapper, and also added white disks of 'snow' to some (above).

The numbers were made by printing out these little flags from Oh Happy Day, and pasting them to miniature straws. You could glue them to toothpicks.

The mountains in the back were made from brown and white paper, curled around, taped and trimmed to sit flat. Very easy.

The garland at the top, which mimics clouds, was simply strung on fishing line and tied to two pieces of dowel. I inserted these into the sides of the basket, but you could anchor them in lumps of plasticine.

To fill in some spaces, I added some little cardboard picks, too--with retro girls in Christmas hats.

The result is a whimsical little scene that makes me want to pack my picture book collection in a little red wagon, and move on in.

When adding the treats to each cup, I simply popped in the chocolates or candy canes, then taped a circle of paper over the top {this is a trimmed doily but you could use card}.

To make the white blossoms, all you need are some small white cupcake wrappers and a glue stick. You'll need seven for each one. Unfold one to make a circle. Fold the rest into quarters, securing with a dab of glue towards the pointed end.

Swipe a dab of glue near the pointed end, and press each triangle to the centre of the open wrapper, below.

Add the last two wrappers, ensuring they overlap, then fluff them all up to create the bloom. Glue to your inverted cupcake wrapper.

And enjoy the fluffiness! You can use upended cups or vases or little cake stands to raise several packages high--this gives a mountainous look.

This was such a lovely, easy creation--just a bit of gluing and poking of sticks! You could use any kind of tray for your display, or simply lay it out on a table top.

I hope you find the time to make a gorgeous advent calendar this year!