A Sweet DIY Advent Calendar

With Christmas right around the corner, what better way to count down the days to Santa’s arrival than with an advent calendar? Gone are the days of just chocolate-filled calendars stuffed with the same old sweets year after year. Now, we can mix it up and celebrate the holidays with The Sugar Board by making them extra sweet. Whether you’re looking to create an advent calendar of your own or want to leave it to the pros and purchase one, Santa.com and our friends at The Sugar Board have you covered.

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To create your own Advent Calendar… first, you’ll need supplies.  This version uses burlap bags, numbered stickers or blank sticker sheets, a basket, twine, clothespins, clear cellophane bags with twist-ties, pre-numbered stickers, and of course, most importantly, CANDY!

Starting with the bags. We love these adorable festive burlap and hemp bag sets that you can customize. If you’re looking to keep it simple or decorate your own bag,  there are plenty of plain treat bag options as well. Next, you will need numbered stickers for the bags. For the stickers, you can use premade numbered stickers or get creative with markers, crayons, and colored pencils. Put a number on each bag and decide if you want to do a full 24-day Advent Calendar,  12 Days of Christmas calendar, or make your countdown your own by choosing any number of days.

Once your bags are numbered, it’s time to stuff them! This is the fun part as you can fill the bags with toys, candies, trinkets, and everything in between. Of course, we think you can never go wrong with candy and it’s an endless array of choices. This candy spread contains a variety of the Sugar Board’s PICK-N-MIX options, including Sour gummy worms, gumballs, swirled fish, sour sticks, gummy sharks, crunchy rainbow berries, sour punch belts, giant gummy bears, swirly pop gummies, and gummy building blocks.

If you prefer to source your own candies, pop into your local supermarket,  pharmacy, or online retailer for a large selection of whatever catches your eye. Just make sure you have a different selection for each bag in your Advent Calendar so that each day you open something new and delicious. 

Once you have your candy, be sure to bag them up and keep them fresh! Grab your cellophane bags (make sure when you purchase them that you check the measurements of the burlap bags so that they fit correctly inside). Fill each bag with the candy selection of your choosing and then seal them up. If your bags are not self-sealing you can use twist-ties, tape,  or even an  Impulse Heat Sealer to really lock in the freshness. Heat sealing creates an airtight seal on the bag that will last months.

After your cellophane bags are stuffed, add them to the burlap baggies and tie the bags up, so no snoops can get a peek! Then, add the burlap bags to your basket, along with string and clothespins if you choose to hang them above your fireplace or string them on your Christmas Tree. For added holiday spirit, try attaching a sparkly bow to create the perfect gift!

If the DIY route is not your thing, leave it to the sweetest professionals around! The Sugar Board can create a memorable and fun Christmas countdown for you and your family. They handcraft a 12 Days of Christmas calendar and stuff each bag full of the best, yummiest, most unique, and freshest candies, sourced from around the world and made just for you.

The Sugar Board's Advent Calendars and candy boards are holiday themed and full of gummy snowflakes, snowmen, gingerbread men, Christmas trees, and of course gummy Santas and so much more! The Sugar Board ships throughout the USA as well as locally delivers to the Suncoast of Florida. While visiting, check out the other sweet options of goodies they offer. We highly recommend their jam-packed candy boards of various sizes and themes, all made on food-grade reusable chalkboards. The Sugar Board even has a PICK-N-MIX Shop with the most unique candies around as well as candy bouquets, candy kabob batons, boxes, and more! All perfect additions to your holiday treat spreads, Christmas gift lists, Secret Santa presents, or stocking stuffers! Let the Sugar Board sweeten your holidays!