Hello and welcome (back) to the blog for another eco-friendly craft Friday. The holiday season is here and if you have little ones you might have an Advent calendar to countdown to Christmas. Often Advent calendar are the store bought ones, where the child opens the little windows to reveal a chocolate. Another common version is a wall hanging calendar that has twenty-four pockets for hiding little surprises for each day of the countdown. Today we bring you a fast and easy take on this classic Christmas tradition that is eco friendly and resourceful as it uses up socks that are too small or have lost their mate. It’s never too late to put one up and this is a great way to keep them from peeking under the tree. This fabulous Christmas craft comes by way of Martha Stewart kids crafts.

Tools and Materials
- 24 socks
- Ribbon
- Number stickers
- Round stickers
- Pushpins
- Mini clothespins

Calendar How To
Gather 24 socks – singles or 12 pairs – in colors that go well together (vary the sizes, if you like). Lay them out in the order you want to hang them, leaving space in between.
Cut the ribbon to the desired length; to find how long it should be measure across the row of socks and add 12 inches (ours was 72 inches). Use number stickers to label each sock. If one has a busy pattern, place the number on top of a solid round sticker so that it’s easier to read. Tack the ends of the ribbon to a railing or mantle; if you like, you can fasten the ribbon in several places to make a few swags. Use mini clothespins to clip the socks to the ribbon; overlap them if you need to save space. Tuck a gift inside each. If the item is heavy, use a larger clothespin to secure the sock.

The twenty-four socks would (obviously) work best if they were all holiday-themed socks or coordinating socks but any lightly-worn sock will do. This is a fun craft because you can hang it from anywhere – from the mantle for a cute take on stockings hung by chimney with care or over each child’s bed. Stuff each sock with a small age appropriate gift such as an organic lip balm, eco-friendly toy car, toxin-free crayons or any little (preferably eco-friendly) trinket will suffice. As each day passes, the child can take down the sock and enjoy the little surprise inside and will know that is one less day to Christmas. This is a fun tradition that you can carry on every year, so while the tiny toy may brighten their day, the memories will last a lifetime.  Happy Holidays.

All images courtesy of  www.marthastewart.com