Countdown to Christmas

I’m not quite sure what came over me but this year I decided to make my own advent calendar; you know, one of those calendars that counts the days until we celebrate Christmas.

I could have bought the popular kind picturing Santa and filled with cheap waxy chocolate

…or I could have dusted off the one in the Christmas cupboard… or I could have bought a cool hand crafted one from a local store…I could have even enlisted some help thru a d.i.y. workshop or on-line video… but instead I decided to go out on a limb and make one on my own.

I scavenged around the house for some papers, packages, ribbons, boxes, clothes pins, little bags, twine etc, I clipped some holly & evergreen and I let my creativity run wild.

I did the best with what I had and here is the result.

It’s not perfect, it’s not ‘pintrest-able’, (heck, it’s not even fully loaded yet…shhhh… don’t tell my kids:) but it was made with love and the kids are anticipating discovering the treasures, notes, ideas and surprises hidden inside.

So yes, I made this advent calendar but now to fill it…hmmm….I’m thinking treats like chocolates, candy canes, nuts and then papers inside listing scripture or a story suggestion to sit and read together, an activity to do that day like decorating the Christmas tree, putting together gingerbread houses, skating, Christmas light road trip, movie night, tickets to The Nutcracker, baking Christmas cookies, going caroling, manning a Salvation Army Christmas etc.

Do you have any other ideas for our advent calendar as we countdown to Christmas?