Beer Crate Advent Calendar

In Germany we celebrate Christmas on the 24th of December. Traditionally you have an Advent calendar with 24 treats for each of those days. A beer crate of 0.33l beers contains 24 bottles.

Coincidence? I think not!

Make an alternative Advent calender featuring 24 drinks instead of sweets.

Materials needed:

• A beer crate holding 24 bottles
• Any 24 bottles that fit
• A bit of cardboard
• Marker
• Ruler
• Adhesive tape
• Hobby knife / scissors

Pick up a beer crate holding 24 bottles and buy any 24 delicious drinks, making sure that they fit into the slots of your crate.

I went for a good mixture of drinks, both alcoholic beverages as well as soft drinks and juices.

As I didn't mind the 'self-made' look, I picked up some old cardboard boxes for making the cover.

Using the flipped beer crate as a pattern, cut a piece of cardboard to size, to use as a cover.

Using a ruler, divide the cover into 24 equally sized squares. These should map to the slots in the crate and will act as the 'doors' of the calendar.

Cut openings into each square with a hobby knife, three sides are cut completely, the fourth side will form the hinge. This works better if you slightly slice the cardboard at the attached side. Leave a border of about 5 mm, making sure the doors are large enough, so that the bottles can fit through them.

Using a marker, label each door with numbers.

My beer crate had some holes in the sides for decoration well as to allow carrying. As I didn't want to allow peaks into the inside, these holes were covered with some more cardboard. This also gives you a great canvas for decorating the Advent calendar with some exquisite self-made art :)

Fill the crate with your drinks and tape the cover to the top of the crate.

Done! Enjoy (or enjoy gifting) a beer crate Advent calendar!