Handmade matchbox advent calendar

I know it's a little late for this as it's already mid-December, but I found these pics and were eager to share. I made this last year as a project for work. Yes, work, now you must be thinking – cool job if I get to do these kind of stuff. Well I work in a retail company, where I am responsible for catalogue-retailing and I did this for our Christmas catalogue of 2012. The challenge here is that I had to get it ready by October, because this is when we send out X-mas catalogue to print and by that time I could hardly find any Christmassy wrapping paper or any other stuff of that sort, but somehow I managed. So there it is.

You’ll need: 

1. 24 match boxes
2. 24 pins for the handles
3. 2 pieces of thick cardboard (10cmx10cm) for the top and bottom
4. 3 pieces of thinner cardboard (7cmx7cm)
5. Wrapping paper (whatever you think is nice)
6. Glue
7. Embellishments for decoration
8. Candy

This is how you do it:

• Empty the match boxes, glue them together in stacks of three. Hold it firmly or let the glue dry, so it would really stick together.  Form two stories from the stacks of three boxes.

• Flue each story to a thin piece of cardboard with one piece in the middle, so it would hold in place and the glue the two together.
• Take the thick cardboard and decorate it with desired wrapping paper, then glue one to the bottom of the box, the other to the top.
• You are almost done, now take the wrapping paper and decorate the sides of the matchboxes which are left visible, but that are not drawers.
• Write numbers from 1 to 24 on the drawers, or use stickers as I did.
• Put the beads in the drawers as if they were the handles.
• Put candy in each drawer.

You are done :) I think this is a great project to do with your kinds – it’s easy, it’s simple and it’s fun :)