Handmade Advent Calendar

We've been getting in the Christmas spirit at our house. The Christmas tree is up, I even have some presents underneath it... the kids have each decorated their own Christmas trees (because mom won't let them touch hers!) ... and every room has some kind of Christmas decoration in it. I don't decorate for Halloween, I really don't even decorate for fall, so this is my chance to really go all out. The tree goes up the day after Thanksgiving and stays up until the 1st of January. I love Christmas! I love that I get to make it fun for the kids and that my husband and I are the ones who are giving them memories that they will cherish forever. I want them to always remember their Christmases as a child.

The one thing I never did as a child was have an advent calendar but I think it is such a fun idea. We've had them given to our kids in years past, but they've always had just candy in them. I wanted something that would be a little more meaningful than just a candy filled calendar.

This year I made my own.

It may not look like the "traditional" type of advent calendar, where all the numbers are lined up in order, but for me the purpose is to make family memories, to remind the children of the reason we celebrate Christmas... not necessarily to count down the days until the big toy opening frenzy.

Here's what I did. I purchased 25 heart and star shaped paper mache boxes and covered them with Christmas paper and glittery pipe cleaners and then punched a scallop circle and added the numbers to the front.


I then punched a tiny hole in the top of the bottom half of the box and inserted copper wire, added some beads and finished the top of the wire with a swirl so it could be hung on a mini Christmas tree like an ornament.

And placed inside each box, I will not only have a small treat for my children, but also each box will have something for us to do as a family that will create some very special family memories. Some ideas are: go ice skating, go look at Christmas lights, make a visit to Santa, make smores and sip hot chocolate by the fire, make popcorn and watch the movie Elf, read the story of Jesus' birth, purchase a toy for a needy child or family, make a gingerbread house, make a Happy Birthday Jesus card / cake, and so on.

It's really adorable sitting on my entry table and the best part is, I can pack it away and bring it out year after year, fill it with candy again and new things to do to make lots more family memories!