We were surprised by how little Lily actual knows about the meaning of Christmas so I've been thinking about doing an advent calendar for the kids this year with tiny homemade gifts, candy and "meaning of Christmas" letters inside, then showcasing some of the tiny projects on Grosgrain. So I've been looking for advent inspiration. There's a bountiful supply out there. Here are 10 of my favs. Any of you have a favorite advent calendar you'd like to share?
I like the idea of hiding them in the tree for the kids to find each day.
I also liked dedicating an entire wall to it. And using felt or fleece.
Making a row of stockings and draping at end of bed.
Cards with notes of things to do that day.
Pennant Style
Mason jars filled with items with days on tags.
Yarn wrapped brown paper packages hanging on a pin board.
Okay, these are just the cutest and most eye catching but I don't think I'd have the patience to make 25 of them;)
Boxes in the shape of a tree with numbered stickers.
Wrapped coffee cans.
Like not spending money? 
14 {comments}:
Here's what I did with the Allsorts pockets - http://www.flickr.com/photos/54482836@N03/5050926341/
Oh I love it - I am a huge Advent fan and am working on several projects to share later ; )
We're big fans of advent around here too! Last year I made my daughter a set that we display in a bowl (http://milkybeer.blogspot.com/2010/12/advent-bags-forever.html) Digging through to find the day's number is her favourite part!
So many lovely ideas! I've been meaning to make an Advent calendar for my two children for ages and finally got around to it!
This is it...
http://www.sewtogether.com.au/1/post/2011/11/tutorial-pocket-advent-bunting.html
I love advent. My mom made me a calender every year for the last 27 (!) years... no matter if I was home, in boarding school, in my year abroad or at university!
http://www.sarah-johanna.com/category/adventskalender/
there are my blog post from my adventcalender week last year!
Hope this isn't the 3rd comment from me... My internet kinda lost me when I tried to comment ... Sorry!
I love the tree one, so cute.I made one for my kids that more about Christmas experiences each day rather than chocolate (though I'll probably cave and do that too!)
http://myhandcraftedhome.blogspot.com/2011/11/experiences-advent-calendar.html
And it was so cheap and hardly took any time at all! Exactly what I like!
We haven't done an advent yet--we might this year. :) All of those are very, very cute! Our three-year-old looks forward to putting the 'candle' (battery operated) in the window to let the Christ child know that there's room in our inn, and always wants to play with the nativity scene. Last year, we explained that Christmas was celebrating Jesus' birthday, and she decided that she got presents because it was His party and walked around singing her version of "Happy Birthday".
This year, we're getting her a Little People nativity so that she can play with it, and we're doing the usual--the wise men and the shepherds move a little closer every day until Christmas Eve.
We had a number of them until we found this one, which I adore. It's a little book for each day, each book telling another piece of the First Christmas story. We read them together and then hang them on our tree (they have little loops), further integrating the "true meaning" into our celebration. Now that my kids are getting older, they take turns reading them to the younger one. Love the comradery and the daily reminder of what it's all about. http://www.amazon.com/Story-Christmas-Book-Advent-Calendar/dp/1563055473/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321397796&sr=8-1
I love all of these and have been wanting to make one for my children this year as well. But the problem is, so many of them take so much money and time and with the holidays being such a busy time, I just didn't want to do one that would take me forever or cost me a lot. I found some really cute ones on a blog by a lady name Kelly. Her blog is simplykellyb.blogspot.com. Such adorable stuff that can be done for way cheap as well. (Yay!) I ended up making the sour cream packet one all with things I already had around the house. Bonus, she also posts ideas for Halloween ones each year too!
We have alittle wooden house with 25 doors. each dya the girls open a door. Some days there are riddles to find out where the treats are hidden in the house. Sometimes the door holds a gift in it. And sometimes the door holds a note announcing the activity for the day (such as cutting down the christmas tree!).
I love your ideas. Anyone of them will be wonderful.
xo
We don't do a traditional advent "calendar" but I have purchased a whole bunch of Christmas books (used book stores, through Scholastic, etc, where I could get most of them for $1 or less) and every year I wrap up the same stack of books and we re-read them all. I picked ones with messages I really liked and our kids have fun getting to open something every day. Since they're little, they don't remember the books from last year.
I LOVE advent calendars and finally made one for my kiddos last year, using a few vintage pieces from my own childhood version. I started making it last year mid-November but the time crunch made it even more fun to work on! Here's the post:
http://inahappynest.blogspot.com/2010/12/mission-accomplished.html
So many lovely ideas! I've been meaning to make an Advent calendar for my two children for ages and finally got around to it!
Sulbactomax
I have no kids but there are kids in our unit block. On the first of December we hang up long pieces of woollen yarn in the window that our neighbours walk past and peg up a new Christmas picture into the threads each day until the window is full on Christmas Eve.
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