Tuesday, November 30

My Favorite Christmas Tradition -- The Advent Calendar

One More Day -- Yay!! That is, one more day until we start my favorite holiday tradition -- The Advent Calendar.

One of my sweetest memories from childhood was the advent calendars that we would buy every year when visiting my aunt in Florida for Thanksgiving. There was an amazing Christmas shop there open year round in a wonderful, old house. It was a treat for the eyes, especially for us kids!

These kinds of stores are everywhere these days, but back in the 70's it was an anomally and a real special treat. Surrounded by Christmas trees in all shapes and sizes and colors and of course, all of the thousands of ornaments and holiday candies, I was in complete awe. But my favorite things were always the advent calendars. And the funny thing was, they were nothing more than cardboard with a printed Christmas scene. No prizes, no candy, just little perforated cardboard doors that you would punch out each day of December counting down to the BIG one. It amazes me to this day how much enjoyment I got out of waiting day to day to see what little picture was behind that door!

I have always made advent calendars a part of my own children's Christmas traditions, but it usually took form in "the easy way out"..... the Dollar Tree cardboard advents with a small piece of chocolate each day for a prize. And then last year I decided to create something really special for them, something that I hoped would last for many years to come. I wanted an advent that was large enough to hold some small prizes, and I also wanted to handmake something so that they knew it really came from Mommy's heart..... just for them.

This is what I came up with.


I took various paper machie' holiday forms from Hobby Lobby like drums, gingerbread houses, ornaments, boxes, books, etc and covered them with felt and other decorations. I also used some pre-made felt stockings that I added feather boas, ribbons, ric-rac, and other fun things to.

Here are some close ups. I bought most of the felt decorations like snowflakes, the nativity, the Christmas tree, etc. I traced the numbers onto felt and cut those out myself. I also made all of the windows, doors and crosses for the church.



I bought the snowman felt piece but added the number 19 that I cut out of felt and the ruffled ribbons at the top of the stocking myself.

For the gingerbread house, I used a lacey trim, some felt and small felt balls that I hot glued on to the house. I found some very small candy cane ornaments at Hobby Lobby which were actually small Christmas tree ornaments. I cut off the little hanger at the top and glued them around the door of the house.



I strung all of the pieces onto a ribbon and added tied pieces of ribbon in between each advent piece. Every night before the next advent day, I fill the day's advent piece with small prizes, pieces of candy or a note with a fun activity for the day. I can't tell you how excited my children get over this! It was worth every moment of time that I put into it.

Which leads me to the next little tidbit of information for you..... It took about a month last year to make -- it's not for the faint of heart! But it is a cherished holiday tradition and I hope a piece that will be used even when my own kids have their children.

Just look at how happy they are! And it makes the morning routine a little easier, too. I make them do all of their "getting ready" activities first before they can run over to the advent..... amazing how quickly they can get things done when there's a little motivation!







I hope you will all create your own advents this year, whether elaborate or simple, it's a wonderful way to celebrate the season each and every day.

Linked to: Some What Simple, House of Hepworths, The Shabby Chic Cottage, Beyond the Picket Fence, Life as Lori, Blue Cricket Design, Me and My Bucket, Domestically Speaking, Just a GirlSkip to my Lou, Tater Tots and Jello, CRAFT, Todays Creative Blog, Under the Table and Dreaming, Between Naps on the Porch, The Tidy Mom, Craftomaniac,, The Idea Room, Tip Junkie, Making the World Cuter, The Shabby Nest, Fingerprints on the Fridge
Photobucket




Photobucket

38 comments:

how i met your father blog said...

what a gorgeous piece!! wow!

Cindy said...

Every year I hope and sort of plan to make an advent calendar. Still didn't get to it this year. I guess I've still got a day. Your's is great. So festive.

Lisa said...

LOVE THIS !!! GOING TO ATTEMPT TO MAKE A SMALLER VERSION TODAY :)

marilyn said...

awesome!

Anderson Family said...

The most amazing advent calendar I have ever seen, what a treasure for your kids!!

Anderson Family said...

The most amazing advent calendar I have ever seen, what a treasure for your kids!!

Heather, TJ, Brock, and Jillian said...

LOVE it! Sharing on my facebook page, Pirates-n-Princesses!!
Thanks!
Heather

The Schlipf Family said...

This is the cutest thing EVER!!!! I'm going to Michael's and Hobby Lobby tomorrow. I'll be making each day......the night before. Let's see if I can get it done by Christmas. :)

Lisa Cash said...

Wow - this looks great! It's beautiful.

Stephanie Lynn @Under the Table and Dreaming said...

Amanda - this is so adorable! Thanks so much for linking to the party - I greatly appreciate it! I featured these today - stop by and grab a featured button if you like. Hope you have a lovely week! ~ Stephanie Lynn

Life In The Thrifty Lane said...

What a great idea! It looks gorgeous. Going to try it next year for sure!

Anonymous said...

Wow, that looks fantastic!

Richelle said...

Cute!

Emily Thompson said...

SO cute! I'm hosting an advent link party and would love for you to join!
http://nap-timecreations.blogspot.com/2011/12/december-1st-beginning-of-advent.html

Sassy Sites! said...

You always make the CUTEST things! I love this advent calendar! I'm going to have to check my Hobby Lobby for some of these cute lil' forms. :) Thanks for linking up at Sassy Sites today!

The Prudent Pantry said...

This is really cute! I love advent calendars and yours is really special.

I would love it if you would share this at my new 12 Days of Christmas in July linky party. You can link up here:

http://theprudentpantryblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/twelve-days-of-christmas-in-july-linky.html

I can’t wait to get organized for a peaceful and frugal holiday season!

Stringer Bell said...

At myassignmenthelp, all our writers take the similarity issue or in other words, plagiarism issue very seriously and as for such reason we make sure that all our projects are delivered with less than 20% similarity. So if you need case study help, marketing assignment help, matlab assignments, spss assignments, finance assignments, accounting assignments, or need assignment help with any other subject then feel free to order your assignments through our website.

Monnika Jacob said...

I love looking at Christmas lights. Our city has awesome families that do PhD dissertation writing services light shows with music at their houses.

RoseSlot2020 said...

เล่นง่ายได้เยอะ เครดิตฟรี โจ๊กเกอร์123 slot online ที่นี่คลิก
https://www.slot4u.com/joker123

Techilife said...

I think this is one of the best blog for me because this is really helpful for me. Thanks for sharing this valuable information for free...

Disable Background App

jerry said...

The US (United States) seized two large caches of Iranian arms, including 171 surface-to-air missiles and eight anti-tank missiles in the Arabian Sea. The arms were reportedly intended for the Houthi militia in Yemen. The Houthi militia is a Zaydi Shiite movement that has been fighting Yemen’s Sunni-majority government since 2004. Read this complete news at The Arab Post.

شركة المثالية بولز said...

يتمتع كل فرد من أفراد الأسرة بالسباحة والرش داخل المسبح في أيام الصيف الحارة. يعد الحفاظ على نظافة مياه حمام السباحة أمرًا مهمًا حتى تكون أنت وعائلتك في مأمن من الجراثيم والبكتيريا والفيروسات.
إذا لم تكن قد اعتنيت بأحواض السباحة من قبل ، فقد تبدو المهام صعبة بعض الشيء في البداية.
من خلال الحفاظ على نظافة حمام السباحة الخاص بك وإجراء الصيانة الدورية عليه ، يمكنك الحفاظ على المياه متوازنة وصافية للاستمتاع طوال الموسم.

شركة تنظيف مسابح بالدمام


تعتبر مشكلة تسرب المياه مشكلة مهمة ، فإذا أهمل ذلك سوف يسبب الكثير من الضرر سواء كان مادياً أواً.
إصابات ، تسرب المياه
العيوب في المجرى المائي هي التي تسبب التجمع حول الأنابيب سواء في الأكواع أو الصنابير أو خزانات المياه أو حمامات السباحة ، إذا أدى الإهمال إلى تآكل الخرسانة وانهيار المبنى مما قد يتسبب في خسارة مادية أو خسارة في الأرواح.
شركة كشف تسربات المياة بالدمام

bro jack said...

Fantastic Blog Ever.

BookMyEssay offers top notch Thesis Writing Help Online services to students at pocket friendly prices.

izspa.net said...

The distinction is made because of the stimulating effects of light pressure, as opposed to the
positive physiologic nuru massage in hyderabad
changes from the application of moderate pressure

Ben said...

I truly value this post because it's such a well-done piece. You offer information that is helpful. It really gave me some new information, and I do agree that reading blogs can help us lear Now its time to avail party bus dc for more information.

rennasweety said...

Pain scales are very useful when applying body to body massage centres in hyderabaddeep tissue massage techniques

spa69 said...

I would highly recommend body to body spa near me here staff was friendly and professional, and they provided a wide range of massage techniques to choose from. The prices were reasonable, and the facility was clean and well-maintained.

leenamonica said...

The introduction curiously boasts b to b massage centre near me
that “traditional Chinese massage is one of the most ancient massage therapies

nancysweety said...

Sports massage focuses on the fact body to body spa near me that the body needs complete relaxation.

nadnight said...

body to body massage centres in bangalore goal is to release blockages along these energy pathways to restore balance and promote overall well-being.

Ramya Spa said...

Take a break demands of everyday life and treat yourself to a blissful massage with beautiful massage therapist visit our spa site body massage spa near me.

Gary sobers said...

I truly appreciate your effort you have put in this article. I really must endorse your ideas you have presented in this article. Now its time to avail Interior Painting Services in Fort Worth Tx for more information.

shanjanaarora said...

Massage therapy has been shown to be female to male massage centres near me beneficial in promoting better sleep quality and addressing sleep-related challenges.

izspa.net said...

Cultural Immersion: Experiencing Lao massage can provide a unique opportunity to connect with the local culture and its healing hyderabad body to body massage centres traditions.

lishasingh said...

Injury can result in muscles becoming restricted b2b massage near meand tissue elasticity to decrease. During a jaw massage, blood circulation is improved. Improving blood circulation increases the temperature of muscular tissues

rennasweety said...

It provides a serene atmosphere and changes the mental frame. people WHO have undergone surgery or the other medical treatment female to male spa near me aren’t counseled to require the Balinese massage.

nancysweety said...

only after you master them solo are you encouraged body to body massage centre to take them to the next level with another human.

joispa said...
This comment has been removed by the author.