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Do you love counting down to Christmas? I do! I did as a child and even now as an adult, I get so excited as the doors open or the teddy bear moves closer to Christmas Eve. The teddy bear Christmas countdown calendar is from my childhood and I love seeing my kids use it. This year I’m starting a new tradition of an advent calendar with bags and something special inside for each day of advent.

Welcome to the 5th annual 12 Days of Holiday Ideas event, hosted by Shirley of Intelligent Domestications  and  Erlene of My Pinterventures Between Nov. 11th and December 6th there will be hundreds of new ideas shared by over 55 Co-host bloggers! 

Go Here to see our kick-off collection of Holiday ideas as well as all of this years talented participating DIY and Foodie Blogs. Download this years November and December calendars with all of the topics and dates so you can make plans to watch for ideas!

This page contains affiliate links at no extra cost to you. Please see my full disclosure here. Thank you to Burlap Fabric for gifting me these adorable burlap bags to use.

Now I always think to myself- what do you put inside the bags for each day of advent? I found this idea overwhelming and difficult for the longest time, but once I really thought about, it was totally doable. Every week, will have a school event, a surprise, craft, family fun, and reading Christmas books so that only leaves a few days to fit in each week. Last year I made a candy cane and burlap Christmas countdown garland.

Ideas for What to Put in Advent Calendars

-school events
-family outings for Christmas
-a surprise each week
-crafts
-reading a special book day
-bake cookies
-getting the Christmas tree
-decorating outside
-hanging wreaths
-putting candy canes on the Christmas tree
-decorating their bedrooms
-hanging lights
-winter fun

Supplies for Burlap Bags Advent Calendar

24 Burlap Bags
Cricut Lumberjack Pattered Iron on
White Card Stock
Buffalo Plaid Ribbon 3/8 inch
Cricut Maker
Cricut EasyPress Mini

This homemade advent calendar is super easy to make and fun! I did make all of my pieces with my Cricut Maker and used my Cricut EasyPress Mini. If you don’t have these, you can still make these cute tags for your advent calendar. Use a tag punch, buy tags, use stickers or adhesive vinyl.

Honestly, this is not how I saw my bags. My original plan was to heat press the designs onto the burlap bags, but according to Cricut settings you can not heat press patterned iron on onto burlap. Next time I will double check my idea before buying supplies and making a plan.

Since I had the Cricut Lumberjack Patterned Iron On already cut, I came up with a new plan. I think the bags turned out adorable and this is how I came up with a new plan.

Let’s Create a Homemade Advent Calendar with Bags

I chose 6 designs that my kids love about Christmas. A snowman, reindeer, Christmas tree, sleigh, stocking and a present. I cut 4 of each design using the buffalo check patterned iron on from Cricut.com

When cutting iron on make sure the shiny side or in this case the patterned side is down on the mat and make sure to click mirror image on. If you need more tips or how to’s about iron on, this is my full tutorial on using Cricut Iron On Vinyl.

Next cut out 24 gift tags in white card stock.

Once all your pieces are cut and weeded (for the iron on designs) let’s get ready to use our Cricut EasyPress Mini. I had so much fun using iron on vinyl on these tags. I see many more projects like this in my future.

Cricut EasyPress Mini Heat Guide for Card Stock and Patterned Iron On:
1) Preheat the card stock tags for 5 seconds using the Cricut EasyPress Mat
2) Use on Low for 25 seconds with constant movement with light pressure
3) Cold Peel the iron on

Place your design in the center of the tag and use your mini press to apply it. I used the timer on my phone since the mini doesn’t have a timer.

For adding the tags to the bags, I cut the 3/8 Buffalo Check Ribbon about 6.5 inches long to tie or glue around the bag. Glue dots worked perfectly for adding the ribbon to the bag.

Buffalo Check Christmas Advent Calendar

Add in your special events for each day and you have a new Buffalo Check Homemade Christmas Advent Calendar with burlap bags. It’s super easy. For the special events, I’m going to write the special of the day on a piece of Christmas scrapbook paper and put it inside the bag.

These bags look so cute next to my Buffalo Check Christmas Tree in a basket. Everyday I’m going to put a bag on the tray for them to open, then the empty bags will go in a different basket so we can count down to Christmas. I can’t wait to see the joy on the kids faces everyday when they open the bags.