Married At First Sight star Alyssa Barmonde shares clever and affordable Christmas hacks

Alyssa Barmonde may be called a villain on Married At First Sight, but when it comes to Christmas, she’s anything but a Grinch.

The reality star mother-of-one, 37, has been busier than a North Pole elf getting her abode ready for Christmas and has shared some very handy festive hacks.

In her Instagram Story on Christmas Eve, Alyssa posted a very budget-conscious hack that would be perfect for Christmas 2025.

In a rather environmentally conscious way, the video showed Alyssa filling the plastic container of an empty Advent calendar with some homemade chocolate.

As Rocking Around The Christmas Tree played in the background, Alyssa was seen first squirting oil into the Christmas-themed molds.

She then began filling one of the Advent calendar molds with her own red-dyed chocolate mixture.

“Pro tip: get out your advent calendar and fill it with your own chocolate,” Alyssa captioned the cheap and cheerful Christmas hack.

The savvy MAFS bride also shared an unusual Christmas tip on Instagram earlier this month.

Alyssa shared a short clip showing how she created a custom platform for the popular Elf On A Shelf Christmas toys.

For fans with a shelf problem, Alyssa has made a quirky reindeer from rolls of toilet paper and paper towels.

She used toilet paper rolls for the legs, while the paper towel roll was used for the body.

A third roll of toilet paper was used for the neck and a final roll served as the reindeer’s head, complete with hand-drawn eyes and mouth and a very shiny nose.

“Simple Elf On A Shelf idea with the stuff you already have,” she captioned the video.

‘Don’t think about the moments of frustration and the fact that you’re already over it. “I promise I love you very much because you keep my CHYALD under control.”

Alyssa filled the plastic container of an empty Advent calendar with some homemade chocolate

While Rocking Around The Christmas Tree played in the background, Alyssa was the first to be seen squirting oil into the Christmas molds

Alyssa rose to fame on the 2023 season of Married At First Sight, where she was linked to TV husband Duncan James.

During the second half of the season, she was portrayed negatively, with edited scenes focusing on her emotional outbursts, Duncan’s abuse, and constantly using “I have a kid” as an excuse for her bad behavior.

However, the ex-Mormon insisted that this portrayal was one-sided and unfair, arguing that many of her clashes with Duncan, from whom she split in final vows, lacked proper on-screen context.

Alyssa fled Australia after ‘coincidentally’ losing her job amid the fallout from her villainous edit.

A source close to Alyssa told Ny Breaking Australia that she was planning a trip abroad because she had been “unhappy since the show aired” and just needed to relax.

“She kind of just wants to move on and forget she was ever on the show.” It’s been completely unfair. What we saw on television was not her,” the source said.

Alyssa was also fired from her job as an executive assistant for a Sydney company, a position she had held for seven years.

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph in April 2023, Alyssa pointed out the “coincidence” that she was fired just two weeks after the MAFS finale aired.

Alyssa also shared a short clip showing how she created a custom platform for the popular Elf On A Shelf Christmas toys

For fans who don’t need a shelf, Alyssa has created a quirky reindeer made from rolls of toilet paper and paper towels

She confessed that she went through a “really dark… few months” while the show was airing and had to stop watching after the couples’ retreat because “I could see what the editing was.”

Alyssa revealed she was harassed by viewers who tracked down her mobile number and work accounts and received ‘the meanest messages’.

She asked Channel Nine’s publicity department to give her access to her Instagram account so she could dispute the show’s editing story, but they denied the request until the season had aired in Britain.

“They are protecting the show and the story they created, instead of giving me my own voice,” she claimed.

Alyssa said she felt hurt and betrayed by producers after watching the series and seeing that all the problems in her relationship with Duncan were due to her single parent status.