DIY Pet Advent Calendar

This shop featuring my DIY Pet Advent Calendar has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #ToPetsWithLove #CollectiveBias This post includes some affiliate links that earn me a small commission if you purchase.

I’m one of those curmudgeons who doesn’t want to hear about Christmas until after Thanksgiving. Usually. I’m being a total hypocrite this year, but you’ll understand why. To me, Christmas is all about love and joy and sharing that love and joy with everyone around you. It’s been a rough month, and I need some love and joy in my life right about now.

I’m guessing you might, too.

Since I work from home, I spend all day with my cats, and they’ve noticed my mood. Roar keeps crawling under the covers and cuddling up with me. Meow and Roar both jump on my lap and “help” me work all day long, especially when I’m stressed. They even know when I’m in a mood and can’t have them sitting across my arms and will instead perch on the couch just next to me but not quite touching me. They’re smart like that.

Needless to say, I do my best to show my love to them, too. I feed them the best food I can, give them fresh water in a clean bowl daily, and yes, they get their share of pets and cuddles from me.

Around the holidays, I share love with gifts for everyone. While my cats don’t “get” presents, I wanted something fun to perk up my mood as much as theirs. I love making gifts, and I’ve already decided that there are a lot of people this year who will be getting jars of my homemade espresso hot fudge sauce and jars of my homemade marshmallow fluff. Homemade gifts rock!

That’s when inspiration hit. I decided to create a DIY pet advent calendar was born.

So a DIY pet advent calendar? Yup, absolutely. An advent calendar has always been one of my favorite things to use to welcome the coming season. I can’t include chocolate for my cats, but that doesn’t mean they can’t enjoy the fun of opening one day’s treats at a time.

I scooped up the other items I’d need to make the DIY pet advent calendar, then I scooted on home. This is one Christmas decoration I couldn’t wait to make. And I’m pretty sure that if you’re a cat lover, you’ll want to make one, too. I created a free printable for each of the days of advent so yours will be even easier to put together than mine was!

How to Make a DIY Pet Advent Calendar

All you need is:

• 16×20″ picture frame
• 24 one ounce twist top metal tins (you don’t want your cats opening their treat early!)
• Printed date sheets
• 1.75″ hole punch
• Spray adhesive
• Glue dots
• As many or few “extra special” treats as you want to include
• Cat treats – or dog treats if you make this for a canine friend

Start by printing the two printables that have days 1-24 labeled on them. (Isn’t Roar a good model?)

Trim the edge slightly as needed to allow the first date to slide into your hole punch window. Ensure it’s lined up and pop it through, then repeat for days 2-24.

Clean the tops of your twist top tins to ensure they have no residue or dust on them, and dry thoroughly.

Find a safe surface in a well-ventilated area (I used an old piece of cardboard I keep around for crafting), and place all 24 circles upside down on the surface. You don’t want to accidentally set a new circle where you’ve sprayed previously and risk it sticking to the cardboard!

Spray your first circle with the spray adhesive, and quickly center it right side up onto the top of a metal tin. Repeat for the remaining circles, spraying and adhering to the tin right away rather than spraying all and then trying to adhere them one by one.

Let your spray adhesive dry thoroughly per canister instructions. If you choose, you could lightly go over the top of your decoupage glue to give it a shiny finish that will repel water better, but I left mine without it. I didn’t want to mar the finish of the tins.

Once your adhesive has dried, open each tin and place 3-5 treats inside each tin. You can give 2 treats per pound of body weight, up to 10 treats max per day. I also added sheets in a couple tins to note the days Roar and Meow will also get some wet food, and of course the 24th was one of those days!

If your cats are anything like mine, they’ll swarm you as soon a they hear the sound of you picking up the bag.

Go ahead and give them a treat. Or two. Because…why not? It’s the season of giving, right?

Close up each tin again, and pull out the frame you plan to use for your DIY pet advent calendar. Determine the arrangement that works best for you.

I used a 16×20 inch frame with my one ounce tins (that are about 1.75″ diameter each). You can create rows, random designs, or a tree like I did. Part of the fun for me usually is to hunt for the correct day rather than going in a line, but choose to design your DIY pet advent calendar however you choose to.

Once your design is set, pick up your tins one at a time and adhere a glue dot to the bottom of the tin.

Replace it in the exact place it started, being sure that the tin faces up. This is also why I added the treats first, so there’s no need to open and close and try to match up the numbers after gluing them on!

Once your DIY pet advent calendar is fully assembled, step back to admire your work. Place it somewhere you will remember to open it daily. To be honest, I think it turned out really cute. I plan to use it as part of my holiday decor, but after Thanksgiving when I pull it out, of course!

Like this idea? Check out my oh so fun tutorial on how to make your own cat toys – use those pesky socks that never match up again – or this easy DIY cat treat toy that my cats absolutely adore. And don’t forget to sign up for my weekly newsletter so you don’t miss any other fun crafts or recipes!

Have you ever seen a DIY pet advent calendar? Would you make one?

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