Beer Can Advent Calendar

Step 1: Gather Some Poster Tubes and Beer

First off, I just want to credit that my inspiration came from an image posted in the comments of another Instrucable on another Beer Advent Calendar. Theirs was beautiful but came with no instructions so I documented as I recreated it for myself to share.

My partner collects posters and I've been looking for a way to use these poster tubes for over a year. I was excited for this project.

Step 1-
Go shopping for beer and then gather your tubes. The amount of tubes and size of them will depend on the beers you choose. You'll need 24 beer and tube sections in all.

Step 2: Measure and Cut Your Tubes

I bought tall cans of craft beers so to measure the length of tube needed, I rested a marker on top one of my tallest beers and rotated the tube to leave a line the full way round.

Scissors will leave you struggling to cut these tubes. I used a saw and it may have been a bit of overkill. It's probably in your best interest to use a craft knife to cut these tubes. My tubes started at different lengths, some tubes gave me 2 sections while others gave me 3.

Step 3: Glue and Clamp

Fastening the tubes so that they would be strong enough to hold tall beer cans is the part of this project I spent the most time considering. I ended up using a wood glue that promised to hold more weight than necessary for the project. The wood glue called for clamps. I didn't have any on hand but I did have those heavy duty paper clips. I put clips on either end of the tubing while the glue dried. I tried to do entire rows at once and did my best to make sure the bottom was as flat as possible by lining them on the ground before clamping.

While I did fasten the horizontal rows of tubes, I didn't fasten all the tubes together as I figure it'll make for easier storage between seasons.

Step 4: Cover Your Tubes

I used wrapping paper and Modge Podge to decorate my tubes.

Step 5: Fill With Beers and Add Your Numbers

I found these little Xmas mits on clothespins that were numbered at the Dollar Store. I decided to use these to just make things easier on myself. I cut circles into kids craft foam for the front on each tube and attached the numbered clothespins to them.