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Two Christmases ago, I wanted to make an advent calendar that we could refill and reuse each year. I scoured the internet and couldn’t find anything I loved, so what did I do? I just kept obsessing over it until I figured it out, basically. A friend from high school’s grandma (who everyone calls Mawmaw) owns a shop in our little town, and so I figured I’d start there. She always has the coolest, most eclectic things in her shop. I walked in, said hello, caught up a bit on life, and then told her what my latest project was. She said she knew exactly what I could use! She had just recently found a bunch of old window frames with a bunch of chipped paint on them, so she stapled chicken wire on the back of them, and had some mini clothespins from the dollar store stuck on the chicken wire. Now, I know I’m not really selling this idea here with my words, so please find a picture below.
See? Isn’t that adorable?! I was sold and immediately reached in my wallet, but alas, Mawmaw wouldn’t let me pay for it, even though I would’ve paid $20 instead of the $7 she was asking. I’m thankful for her because now everytime I see the advent calendar hanging up, I think of her and the amazing, influential, generous person she is.
The next part was trying to figure out what kind of bags I would use. I toyed with the idea of sewing fabric bags, but that sounded like zero fun, so then I looked through my old paper crafting supplies. I had found this sizzix die to cut out little paper envelopes, and I made 25 of them one night in the living room with my mom. My kids were hard on those envelopes that year, so sadly only 5 of them made it out alive. So I knew I had to do something different for the future. I hopped on amazon, and found exactly what I needed. Little paper bags that came in a 100 pack. That way each year when 1 or 2 bags inevitably get ripped, I will have back up to replace them.
Now, I will say, I’ve got my eyes set on something like this or this, to purchase maybe next year or when it goes on clearance this year after christmas time. I just think the shabby chic look isn’t entirely my style anymore. And when that happens, I know I’ll pass it along to someone else, just like Mawmaw would want me to do.
Okay, so we’ve made the advent calendar with whatever we could find around the house. Maybe for you it’s a string across the windowsill, with little baggies clipped on with mini clothespins. Maybe it’s a shoe organizer on the back of a door. Maybe it’s mini stockings with numbers on them, hanging on the Christmas tree. Whatever the case is… now what do we fill them with??
Here are some suggestions:
- The Nativity Story – broken up into verses each day. I have used this one in the past for a quick printable that is simple enough for my younger children to understand. I think when my kids get older I’ll use this one.
- Pieces of chocolate – in every other or every 3 days, or every day if you’re THAT kind of mom (I’m THAT kind of mom – I use the unreal chocolate bars, HU bars, or azure chocolate chips in a little foil pack)
- Activities! – You can either create your own “Christmas bucket list” together as a family, and write it down on this template I’ve created for you here, or just write them down on some paper, cut it out and stick them in the bags, totally doesn’t need to be overly complicated! (I’ve also included a template with all of my activities printed on them, check below!)
- Books – I like to include relevant books to add to our collection of Christmas books. This year I discovered Usborne, so I bought a bunch of their paint with water books, activity books, sticker books and more!
- Gifts – Gifts can be little things like erasers, pencils, little notebooks, etc. But I like practical gifts and I know the eraser would end up in the trash not being used as an eraser. I like to give things like chapstick (since we need it for the cold months anyways), make up (Here is a clean brand we use for the kids), nail polish, hair clips, etc. I would follow your child’s interests here! I also like to wrap some of the activities we will be doing and gift them on that day of advent, such as, gingerbread house kit, matching family pajamas (to be gifted the first day of advent, so we can wear them all month!). Even wrapping things that aren’t actually new would be exciting- unwrapping a “build a snowman kit” with just things from around the house, buttons, carrot, scarf, etc. for the kids to figure out what to do with.
If you need a little help getting some ideas for a Christmas bucket list, pinterest is full of them, but here are a few of our favorites:
- Make a gingerbread house
- Build a snowman
- Make maple syrup snow candy
- Drive around and look at Christmas lights
- Bake cookies
- Buy a Christmas gift for a child in need (we currently aid in feeding children in Costa Rica where my husband grew up, and are looking to buy them gifts this year- you can send money to https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/blessingninos if you’re interested in helping!)
- Make ornaments
- Go on a winter hike
- Make play dough
- Watch a Christmas movie in matching family PJ’s
- Do a random act of kindness
- Make a nature ornament
- Sing Christmas carols
- Decorate an evergreen tree outside with popcorn garland and fruit and peanut butter ornaments for the squirrels and birds. (and read this book for inspiration)
- Drink hot chocolate
- Have a picnic by the Christmas tree
- Have a tea party by the Christmas tree
- Make and send Christmas cards
- Make the house smell like Christmas
- Outdoor book reading
- Have a PJ day
- Snow painting (take cups or muffin tins with water and food coloring outside with paintbrushes)
- Make or buy and wrap Christmas gifts for their friends, cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, etc.
- Have a christmas music dance party
Now, would you like a pro tip for keeping this organized for future years to come? So you’re able to spend less time messing with the advent calendar and more time spending time with the ones you love? (The answer is yes)
Each day that you take off the envelope, stocking, bag, whatever from the board, string, tree, whatever, have a gallon sized ziplock bag, or better yet a designated stasher bag that you put it into after you’ve completed that day. Here’s the trick though– keep the bible verse in the little bag, but put the activity into the bigger ziploc bag. Then put each day after that into the bag the same way, behind the previous number. That way your bags are already in order, and have the matching bible verse it in for next year. That way, when you go to fill them next year with candy, gifts, and activities, they will be ready to go. One year I tried leaving the activities in there, but I was never prepared for that day’s activities because I had no idea what activity I put in it! Which leads to my final point; when you put the activity into the advent calendar bag for the day MARK IT ON YOUR CALENDAR. I either jot it down in my phone, or on our family dry erase board- it works because the kids don’t read my calendar.
That was an extremely thorough blog post on Advent calendars, and I hope it was helpful without taking up too much of your time! I hope you all enjoy doing this with your families this year and please share your pictures of your finished advent calendars on Instagram and tag me @slowlivingrealist or comment below with anything you would add or change, or are looking forward to doing with your families!