IKEA Inspired Advent Calendar

IKEA!

I love Scandinavian style at Christmas, and IKEA has a wonderful assortment every year. The only tricky part? You have to get to the stores early before the good items sell out.

I made a point of visiting the store at the beginning of the month to stock up on some holiday items like paper napkins, gift bags, wrapping paper and such.

I also managed to grab some of these lovely Advent candles before they were gone!

I found this fun display and had to take a closer look!

These little bags come in a box of 24, with matching number stickers. A Make-Your-Own Advent calendar! What a great idea!

I decided to pick this up and use this to create a special gift for my mother-in-law. She also celebrates a birthday in the month of December, and I thought this would be a fun way to let her know we are thinking of her, even when we are not there.

We are going to visit family over Thanksgiving, so this will be a great opportunity to drop off a box filled with 24 presents.

What did I fill the bags with, you may wonder?

I decided to put an assortment of silly, useful, practical and thoughtful gifts. Not all of them fit inside of these little bags, so I will have to tie the bag onto those larger packages.

Here are some fun items I included in the bags:

*hand lotion
*car fresheners
*dish soap and Scrub Daddy
*Christmas socks
*dish towels
*holiday hand towels
*holiday CD
*chocolates
*Tic Tacs
*chicken soup base with a small bag of orzo
*beef soup base with a small bag of barley
*shower scrubby and shower gel
*chapstick
*books and devotionals
*gift cards for restaurants
*gift cards for Speedway gas station
*gift cards for the grocery store
*assorted holiday coffees and teas
*battery-operated twinkle lights

You could also include:

*Christmas cards and thank you cards with postage stamps
*candles
*plug-in air fresheners
*small perfumes
*bottled herbs and spices
*frosting and sprinkles for holiday cookies
*Christmas ornaments
*photos in  frames
*photo brag books
*Scotch tape and package labels
*cookie cutters
*vitamins and portable tissues
*cough drops
*game books and new pencils

I've been stitching a new holiday door knob hanger to include as one of the 24 presents. It's nearly complete! Hopefully, I can show you the finished project tomorrow.

Has anyone else done a make-your-own Advent calendar? If so, I'd still love to hear ideas of what to put inside!

Blessings, cafe friends!