More from our Christmas gift guide<\/strong><\/p>

Gift wrapping Christmas presents with natural materials<\/a><\/li>
Children’s gardening Christmas presents<\/a><\/li>
Subscriptions and garden memberships for Christmas<\/a><\/li> <\/ul> <\/div> <\/div>
How to make your own floral Advent calendar<\/h2>

Floral advent calendar \u00a9 Andrew Montgomery – \u00a9 Andrew Montgomery <\/figcaption> <\/figure>
Press your chosen advent calendar flowers<\/h3>

Cut your chosen specimens to lengths of around 8cm so that each one will fit on a luggage label.<\/li>
Then carefully clean with a small brush or fine tweezers to remove debris, such as insects or pollen, and spread out on a drying sheet or piece of white blotting paper. It\u2019s best to take your cue from nature, and allow each one to fall naturally into place, simply intervening to spread out petals or show the best side of a leaf.<\/li>
Cover with a second drying sheet and press in a hobby press, or between the pages of a heavy, hardback book. This should take between ten to 17 days, although for best results you should allow three weeks.<\/li> <\/ul>
$\"Making$
Making a floral advent calendar \u00a9 Andrew Montgomery <\/figcaption> <\/figure>

Once all your specimens are dry, mount the best ones on to luggage labels (numbered one to 24) with gummed linen tape.<\/li> <\/ul>
$\"Making$
Making a floral advent calendar \u00a9 Andrew Montgomery <\/figcaption> <\/figure>

Shuffle the labels so they are in a random order and then add your Christmas Advent calendar message \u2013 such as \u2018We Wish You a Merry Christmas\u2019 \u2013 to the back of the labels using Lexicon cards.<\/li> <\/ul>
$\"\"$
Making a floral advent calendar \u00a9 Andrew Montgomery <\/figcaption> <\/figure>

Attach the labels, so they spell out your message, on to evenly spaced nails on a wooden backing board, then turn each flower side up, so that as you turn a tag each day in Advent your message is gradually revealed. Far more personal than any shop-bought Advent calendar, and a lovely seasonal reminder of the beauty of nature.<\/li> <\/ul>
$\"\"$
Making a floral advent calendar \u00a9 Andrew Montgomery <\/figcaption> <\/figure>
Visit theherbariumproject.com<\/a> for news of forthcoming exhibitions, books, workshops, events, and to purchase limited-edition artworks and books.<\/p>
$\"\"$
Making a floral advent calendar \u00a9\u00a0Andrew Montgomery <\/figcaption> <\/figure>
For more gift ideas and inspiration, head to our Christmas hub<\/a><\/h3> <\/body><\/html>\n
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