Lego Advent Calendar - DIY

So the last few years I have purchased a Lego advent calendar (you know the ones: Lego City, Lego Friends, and Star Wars) for $30-40.  I think they are so lame because they make only little tiny things that don't really belong to any set, and they don't really build on each other.

This year I have decided to make my own Lego advent calendar out of a Lego we actually want to build.  Lego releases a new installment of their winter village each year, so I purchased a Lego Creator Santa's Workshop. 

I then divided the set into 24 things to build.  I bought a small gift box kit from Michael's called Recollections Make It Christmas Boxes Kit. It came with 14 boxes to make and also the mini glitter bows that are attached to the presents.  I found some other boxes that were the sizes I needed at Walmart to bring the total to 24.

I was inspired by this advent calendar by Oh Happy Day! I saw on Pinterest, but I knew my boxes had to be large enough to hold lots of Legos.

They provided a free template to their fun flags, so I snagged that too. 

I also purchased a few trees from Walmart from 75¢ to $1.  I then tried to position my boxes so that each consecutive day would be ready to open without tearing the whole display apart and began gluing.  I glued the boxes shut for those curious hands that will undoubtedly peek and shake.

The kids are aching to begin this fun tradition.