Easy Last-Minute Advent Calendar

Yes, it might be the First of December, but it's not too late to create a Countdown to Christmas for your children.  I put mine together in about 20 minutes yesterday afternoon, and it couldn't be easier.  Here's what I came up with:

I used treat bags (and, because I ran out with four left to go, a few zip-locs with their zippers cut off, shhh!) and just taped them shut.  On the front I stuck on my cute embellished numbers.

Admittedly, these did take longer to make, but you wouldn't have to get fancy with this step. Beth Proudfoot made some adorable printable tags which you can find here.  Or print out numbers and let your children color them, that would be fun and cute!

A couple of candies in each bag, a basket embellished with ribbon, and voila!  We're countin' down to Christmas!

Now, I have an admission to make.  I started making these cute little tags for a different project.  Have you seen those muffin-tin Advent Calendars out there in bloggy land?  They are way cute, and here's what mine looked like:

Only problem was, my magnets didn't work.  They would stick, but not enough to hold candy in when I hung the thing up.  After way too much time trying to "make it work," (thanks, Tim Gunn) I realized I could just...let it go.  Do something else.  Lately my mantra for crafting has been: As Easy As Possible.  When something gets kinda hard or feeling forced, I just stop.  And the great thing is that it's still possible to salvage what I've done and come up with something easier, faster, and maybe almost as cute.  I wanted to share my little failed experiment with you so that the next time you hit a roadblock maybe you can remember: As Easy As Possible. And make something else work!