DIY Advent Calendar

I just completed our advent calendar and while it's pretty simple, I love it and it looks adorable hanging in our kitchen. There are so many to choose from on the internet, but I went with things that I had on hand. The girls had gone to bed so I can't wait to see their reactions in the morning.

What you'll need:
Craft Tags
Christmas-themed scrapbook paper, I used two different patterns, but the more the merrier
marker
small clothespins
festive ribbon
double-sided tape
list of 25 activities typed up

All I did was fold the craft tags in half. Cut the scrapbook paper up into squares to fit on the front and the back of the tag and stuck them down - I used what I had which was photo mounting tape. I typed out the list of 25 activities and then cut those out and taped to the inside of the tag. Now once we open a tag and plan for our activity, I'll turn it inside out so the other side of the tag shows with the different scrapbook paper. I only did this because I ended up finding a very cute paper that had ornaments so in the end it will sort of look like we hung ornaments from the ribbon in the kitchen. You could totally skip the second piece of scrapbook paper and hang as usual with the number showing.

I had fun coming up with our list of activities too and almost got the girls involved, maybe next year. I had a feeling some of their requests might have been a little extravagant and this way it's a nice surprise for them also. Here's our list:

Open Christmas Pajamas
Decorate Christmas Tree
Bake cookies with their Nonna's (not at the same time)
Go to New York City! (a tradition of ours now for 9 years!)
Bake Christmas Cookies for our Friends
Watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Have Hot Chocolate with Marshmallows Tea Party
Make Fudge
Bake a Christmas Cake
Sofia’s Christmas Program At School!
Decorate a Christmas Ornament
Color a Christmas Picture
Take a drive to see the lights in the neighborhood
Decorate a door in the house
Make Christmas Cards for our families
Paint our toenails RED  - can't wait to see if Anthony joins us on this one
Bake Sugar Cookies with lots of SPRINKLES!
Make a donation to Purple Heart - the girls are going to help bag the things up for me
Go to the library & check out a new Christmas Book
Get Teachers' Christmas Presents together
First Day of Winter! Bundle up and take a walk in the cold!
Make peppermint bark
Dress up for a Christmas Party
Christmas Eve! Mass & then Dinner with Family!
Christmas Day! Family, food & fun!