Kick start your Christmas festivities this year by making this fun DIY advent calendar.

All you need are a few supplies and a bit of crochet knowledge to make the decorations for the gift bags.

Christmas isn’t Christmas without an advent calendar and this one is the perfect festive addition to your home. 

*Don’t forget to pin and share*

Advent Calendar

Like most people, we love a good countdown to Christmas day and making an advent calendar is such a great way to celebrate each day of the season. 

I make one every year for my husband, looking for little gifts and treats to put in each gift bag.

This year the bags have been decorated with mini pom poms, mini crochet Christmas trees, crochet stars and mini crochet Santa hats.

*Scroll down for the free DIY/Crochet patterns*

Christmas Calendar

The Christmas calendar was made with a few simple supplies that I had in the house and others that I collected from a local craft store, which included;

• A wooden wreath
• Brown paper bags
• Mini wooden pegs
• Twine
• Red and white striped string
• Wire
• A hole punch
• Little wooden decorations
• Small pom maker / Clover 3/4 inch
• Lights – with battery

I also used some greenery from outside to add to the wreath for a festive look.

How To Make An Advent Calendar

I started by making all of the little Christmas decorations for the bags, making 6 of each.

I then filled the bags with goodies and tied them closed, ready to be attached to the wreath.

The numbers I used for the bags were from Wonen Voor Jou – a free printable that was super easy to print out and use. 

Mini Crochet Christmas Trees Pattern

I made mini crochet Christmas trees to hang with small wooden cut out Christmas decorations. 

I bought the little wooden circles from a local craft shop.

They feature cutouts of trees, reindeer and snowflakes.

The free crochet pattern is below.

Mini Crochet Stars Pattern

I also added mini crochet stars to some of the bags.

Made from twine and red and white string, they have a rustic vibe.

The free crochet pattern is below.

Mini Crochet Santa Hat

I also made mini crochet Santa hats, that were attached to the bags by threading twine through the top.

They were so easy to make and would be great to use a Christmas tree decorations also.

The free crochet pattern is below.

Adding Greenery

I also attached the greenery onto the wreath using wire – as you can see in the photo above.

just a couple of pieces of wire – to keep the wreath in place will do, the wire is for jewellery making and I had it left over from another wreath project.

The wreath looks good on its own or to be even more festive, you could add little lights.

I added some battery operated lights and they look really festive!

I had so much fun making this advent calendar and I think you will too!

If you don’t want to make the crochet Christmas decorations that hang on the bags you could always replace them with store bought decorations or if you have any leftover from your tree. 

Take a look at the how-to below and see what you need to get started.

Yield: Advent Calendar

DIY Advent Calendar

Print

Make an advent calendar this year with a handmade vibe, featuring crochet decorations and pom poms on every gift bag.

Materials

• A wooden wreath
• Brown paper bags
• Mini wooden pegs
• Little wooden decorations
• Twine
• Red and white striped string
• Any light (03) yarn in the following colours;
• Red
• White
• Green
• Brown

Tools

• A hole punch
• Small pom maker - Clover 3/4 inch
• Lights - with battery
• Greenery from the garden - for the wreath
• Wire
• Crochet hook size 4mm (US G/6)
• Scissors
• Darning needle
• Tape measure

Instructions

Mini Crochet Christmas Tree (Make 6)

• With green yarn and the 4mm (US G/6) hook
• Ch 8, plus 1, turn,
• 8 sc
• At the end of row 2 (turning) ch, turn and then sc in the second stitch of the hook
• Rep until you get to the top of the tree.

Tree Trunk

• In brown yarn
• Skip 2 ch, then sc into the next 4 sts
• Ch 1, turn,
• Sc into the 4 sts,
• Cut yarn and secure.

Crochet Stars (Make 6 in twine and 6 in red and white string)

• With twine and the 4mm (US G/6) hook
• Ch 3
• Hdc 9 into the first ch. Join with a sl st.
• Ch 3, sl st into 2nd ch from hook, hdc into next ch.
• Sk next st in the circle, sl st into the next st, this forms a star peak.
• Rep this step above, until you have 5 peaks.
• The last sl st will be worked in the beginning st.
• Rep these steps for 6 stars in red and white string.

Mini Crochet Santa Hat Pattern

• In red yarn and the 4mm (US G/6) hook
• Ch 2, 6 sc in 2nd ch from hook
• 2 sc in each st around
• *sc in the next 5 sts, 2 sc in next st* rep from * to * twice
• Sc in the next 2 sts, *2 sc in next st, sc in next 2 sts* rep from * to * until the end of the round.
• Rnd 5-10 - sc in each st around
• Change to white yarn - sc in each st for 2 rounds.
• Cut yarn and secure. Weave in any loose ends.
• Add a white pom pom to the top of the Santa hat.

Mini Pom Poms

• With red, white and green yarn - make 6 sets of 3 mini poms in each colour.
• Trim each one and tie three colours together with the red and white string, ready to be threaded onto a gift bag.

Making The Advent Calendar

1. Start by making the crochet decorations/pom poms if you are using them.
2. Put the treats into the gift bags and punch a hole in one corner, then thread a decoration through the hole and tie. This should keep the bag closed. If not, you may need to add a little tape.
3. Repeat the step above until you have all 24 gift bags filled and ready
4. Add the decorations, by threading twine if needed through and then knotting into place. (You should have 6 sets of each decoration).
5. Print out the numbers and cut them out, attach to each bag using a mini wooden peg.
6. Attach a length of twine to the wooden wreath and hang it - then you can start attaching the bags.
7. Punch a hole in the top of the bag and cut a length of string - feed it through the hold and tie to the wreath.
8. Repeat the step above until you have about 6 bags hanging from the wreath.
9. Then start to hang more bags from each of the bags already tied to the wreath.
10. The bags are tied together, hanging down from each other, overlapping.
11. Repeat this until you have all of the bags attached and displayed how you want them to be.
12. Add greenery to the top of the wreath, by cutting some wire and wrapping it around the greenery twice (or as many times as needed).
13. If you want to add lights - wrap the lights into the greenery and hide the battery pack at the back of the wreath.
14. Hang on the wall and enjoy opening each bag with your loved ones every day throughout December!

Notes

If you want to use store bought decorations or leftovers from your tree, they will be fine to use!

Recommended Products

• 
  Bulk Buy: Darice Grapevine Wreath 12" Bulk GPV12 (3-Pack)
• 
  LOKIPA 328 Feet Natural Jute Twine for Arts and Crafts Jute Rope Christmas Gift Packing String for Gardening String Natural Rustic String Gift wrap Twine
• 
  100 Natural Kraft Merchandise Bags, 5x7-1/2, No Gusset by WCI
• 
  Tenn Well Red and White Twine, 656 Feet 200m Cotton Bakers Twine Perfect For Baking, Butchers, Crafts and Christmas Gift Wrapping
• 
  ANJAYLIA LED Fairy String Lights, 10Ft/3M 30leds Firefly String Lights Garden Home Party Wedding Festival Decorations Crafting Battery Operated Lights(Warm White)
• 
  Artistic Wire-Colored Wire, 24 Gauge 10 Yards/Pkg, Natural Non-Tarnish Silver

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If you enjoyed making the advent calendar, I’d love to see yours on Instagram, be sure to tag me @handylittleme.

If you are on Facebook, stop over to the handylittleme Facebook page and share a photo!  I’d love to see your work!

Happy Knitting! xoxo