I do love my creative crafts, so I’ve pulled together a list of what I think are some of the Best Craft Advent Calendars available for 2026. There’s a brilliant mix available this year, covering everything from pottery, painting and papercraft to sewing, yarn, embroidery and cross stitch. Some are packed with materials and creative supplies to add to your craft stash, while others include complete projects to make throughout December.
I’ve included a mixture of calendars I’ve bought myself, calendars I’ve previously unboxed, and others that caught my eye because they offer something a little different.
Whether you’re looking for a creative treat for yourself, hoping to discover a new hobby, or buying a gift for a crafty friend, hopefully there’s something here to inspire you.
Why Choose a Craft Advent Calendar?
Craft Advent Calendars are a lovely alternative to more traditional chocolate or beauty calendars, especially if you enjoy making things and, like me, you’ve slightly overdone the Stationery Advent Calendars!
Depending on the Craft Calendar, you might find complete projects, specialist materials, tools, art supplies, patterns or little creative surprises to use throughout the year.
They can be a great way to:
- try a new craft without buying everything separately
- discover new materials, brands and techniques
- build up your craft stash
- enjoy a little creative time each day in December
- find inspiration for future projects
Most of the calendars featured here are aimed at adults and older teens, although the level of experience needed varies considerably.
Some are very beginner-friendly, while others are aimed more at experienced cra
More Gift Ideas To Inspire You
If you love this post you’ll probably love the following; Best Stationery Advent Calendars 2026, The Best Stationery Gifts For Students, and Cool Gifts For Students
Pott’d Craft Advent Calendar
The 2026 Pott’d Advent Calendar theme is a cute Gingerbread Bakery, that includes 24 days of festive craft projects inspired by tiny bakery treats and Christmas decorations.
Rather than simply opening a new craft supply each day, you’ll be making a collection of little decorations and keepsakes using a mix of painting, air-dry clay, polymer clay and foam dough.
Inside the calendar you’ll find
- 7 paintable projects
- 3 air-dry clay creations
- 6 polymer clay miniatures
- 6 foam-dough decorations
- 2 display stands to assemble and decorate
Plus, it also includes the tools, paints and accessories needed for the projects, along with video guides to help you through each make.
I’ve ordered this calendar and can’t wait for it to arrive, so keep an eye on this page for my unboxing video, which will be up in the next few weeks.
You can find out more about the 2026 Pott’d Advent Calendar and Pre-order yours here.
Bothy Threads Cross Stitch Advent Calendar
The 2026 Bothy Threads Advent Calendar includes 25 days of cross stitch treats, with five exclusive full kits from artists including Wrendale Designs, Ink And Snail, Angie Spurgeon, Julie Oldham and Emma Ball, plus three Christmas decoration kits designed by Love Lucy Illustrations.
There are also stitching accessories and smaller gifts throughout the calendar, including needles, a thread holder and exclusive needle minders.
I opened both the Bothy Threads and Caterpillar Cross Stitch Advent Calendars last year, and of the two I preferred the Bothy Threads calendar. I liked the overall mix of contents more, and the style of the cross stitch designs appealed to me more as well.
I only filmed Shorts for each day rather than one full unboxing, so I’ve embedded the playlist below if you want to see what last year’s calendar was like.
You can find the 2026 Bothy Threads Advent Calendar here.
Both Threads 2025 Cross Stitch Advent Calendar Unboxing
Grabie Advent Calendar 2026
The 2026 Grabie Advent Calendar has a fun Nutcracker theme, with two festive guards called Carmi and Indie forming part of the 3D calendar design. It feels quite young, playful compared with some of the other calendars in this roundup, so I think it would particularly appeal to older children, teens and adults who enjoy colourful, mixed-media crafts.
This year Grabie has changed to a 12-day countdown, but the contents look much more substantial, with 5 complete DIY craft projects and several full-size art sets rather than lots of smaller individual items.
Inside you’ll find things like a Dual Tone Alcohol Marker Coloring Kit, a portable pocket watercolor kit with 100% cotton paper, and a 12-piece Dual-Tone Brush Acrylic Marker Set, along with the other materials needed for the different projects.
I like that the calendar itself has been designed as a piece of festive décor. The double-layered Nutcracker structure means you can sit it on a desk, shelf or mantel while you work your way through the 12 days.
The Grabie calendar has quite a young, playful feel compared with some of the other calendars in this roundup, so I think it would particularly appeal to older children, teens and adults who enjoy colourful, mixed-media crafts.
I’ve got this one coming as well, so I’ll be adding an unboxing video, photos and my thoughts once it arrives.
You can find out more about the 2026 Grabie Advent Calendar and order yours here.
Golden Hinde Embroidery Materials Advent Calendar 2026
The 2026 Golden Hinde Advent Collection has three different embroidery advent calendars to choose from, all aimed at stitchers who enjoy beautiful materials, specialist tools and building up their embroidery stash. Rather than giving you a set design to work through, the calendars provide a collection of fabrics, threads, goldwork materials and other specialist supplies that you can use however you like in your own embroidery projects.
You can choose from:
- 24 Days of Fabric – £70, with 20 pieces of silk dupion and 4 backing fabrics
- 12-Day Embroidery Essentials – £99, with a mix of embroidery tools, goldwork threads, wires and fabrics
- 24-Day Mixed Stash Advent Calendar – £130, with fabrics, threads, tools, wires, embellishments and other embroidery goodies
All three come packed in a reusable Golden Hinde purple tote bag rather than a traditional cardboard calendar.
I’ve gone for the 24-Day Mixed Stash Advent Calendar, as I liked the idea of getting a little bit of everything rather than knowing it would all be fabric or tools. The contents are worth £199, so I’m really interested to see what the mix is like when it arrives.
Golden Hinde is particularly well known for its goldwork embroidery and materials. I treated myself to a few Golden Hinde pieces a few months ago and they were so much fun to open, with lots of shiny threads, wires and interesting materials, so I’m really looking forward to opening their Advent Calendar.
I’ll be adding an unboxing video, photos and my thoughts once mine arrives.
But in the meantime, you can check out their calendars (and maybe buy one) here. Just be aware the site is incredably slow to load so hang in there!
Pen Store Advent Calendar 2026
The 2026 Pen Store Advent Calendar is a great choice if your creativity leans more towards drawing, painting and experimenting with different art materials.
Inside are 24 surprises including markers, brush pens, coloured pencils, oil pastels, watercolour, gouache, acrylic paint, mixed-media paper and even DAS modelling material, so there’s plenty to play with across lots of different techniques.
There are some really good quality brands in the mix too, including Copic, Posca, Pentel, Schmincke, Sennelier, Hahnemühle and Staedtler, and everything comes packed inside a sturdy reusable storage box.
I’ve ordered this one, so I’ll be adding an unboxing video, photos and my thoughts once I’ve opened it.
You can find out more about the 2026 Pen Store Advent Calendar and order yours here.
Caterpillar Cross Stitch Advent Calendar 2026
The 2026 Caterpillar Cross Stitch Advent Calendar contains 24 cross stitch gifts, including 3 new hoop-sized patterns, 3 mini cross stitch projects, needle minders, Zweigart fabrics, DMC threads, needles and other stitching supplies.
There’s also an extra Brilliant Baubles pattern revealed across the backs of the 24 individual boxes, which is a fun idea, plus access to downloadable PDFs, guides, tutorials and tips for everything inside. And the calendar comes in a reusable keepsake box, so once December is over you can use it to store your cross stitch supplies.
I opened a Caterpillar Cross Stitch Advent Calendar last year, so I’m also including my unboxing below if you want a better idea of the style and quality of the contents. It’s great value for money and sets you up with a fabulous selection of Cross Stitch Patterns to do over Christmas and way inot the New Year
You can also add optional accessory packs if you want the hoops, project bag and supplies needed for some of the projects, but the main calendar already contains a really good mix of patterns, materials and stitching accessories.
You can find the 2026 Caterpillar Cross Stitch Advent Calendar here.
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