advent calendar

In the countdown to the big day, this tree-shaped advent calendar can act as a spot for beautiful Christmas cards

You will need

+ Mitre saw (or get your timber store to cut the slats to the lengths as described below)

+ Protractor

+ 2 x 195cm x 2.7cm-thick timber slats

+ 1 x 126.5cm x 2.7cm-thick timber slat

+ 2 x 34cm x 2.7cm-thick timber slats

+ 1 x 18cm x 2.7cm-thick timber slat

+ Drill with a 5mm drill bit

+ Wood glue

+ 40mm screws

+ 20 metres of gold-coloured elastic cord

+ Scissors

+ Gold A4 paper

+ Paper glue

+ 25 triangle paper bags (create your own by cutting square paper bags in half)

+ Sweets

+ 24 gold-coloured clothes pegs

+ Baubles

1. Saw the two 195cm timber slats with one end at a 160º angle at a 7cm diagonal and on the other end, at a 15º angle on the inside edge – these two lengths will form the tree sides. Saw the 126.5cm slat with a 15º angle on both ends, again on the inside – this length forms the bottom of the tree.

2. Saw the 34cm slats at a 15º angle on both ends, so the angled ends are parallel with each other – these lengths form the sides of the pot. Saw both ends of the 18cm length at a 15º angle on the outside edges to form the base.

3. Lay the frame out on the floor to check that everything is correct. Drill a hole every 8cm on both of the longest slats from the outside towards the inside of the tree shape. Repeat this process on the bottom length of the tree, only skip the holes where the pot will be.

4. Put wood glue on the joints and screw the tree together. When the glue is dry, start randomly threading through the holes with the elastic cord from one side of the tree to the other. Tie a knot at the end.

5. Cut the gold paper into 5cm-long strips so the numbers are around the same height. Cut out the numbers from 1 to 24 and glue them onto the paper bags with paper glue. Fill each bag with a few sweets, secure it and then peg each bag onto the tree with baubles.