Advent Time

Each year the girls usually get some commercial brand advent calendar with little squares of chocolate inside. For some reason these have always bugged me. I mean Christmas is not about Barbie, or Cars, or Bratz or whoever it is that they plaster all over the calendars. I have spent past Christmases contemplating making an advent calendar for the girls, and this year I finally got off my butt and did something about it.

It's not a traditional calendar though full of toys or chocolates..this calendar is full of fun and promises and things to do.

I covered 25 matchboxes with some of the gorgeous Basic Grey Dasher range...I added some red ribbon and made tags with the day on them to attatch to the boxes. I cut little tickets from my Sizzix machine and on them I have written little things for them to do.

1. Lets make chocolate milkshakes for afternoon tea.

2. Put up the Christmas Tree

3. Fold origami for the Christmas tree

4. Write a letter to Santa.

5. Make a Christmas card for someone special

6. Have a bubble bath

7. Wrap a present for the giving tree

8. Today is the last day of school

9. Paint your toenails

10. Camp out in the lounge room

11. Make popcorn and watch a movie

12. Bake cookies for morning tea

13. We are going to the pool this afternoon

14. Have a crazy hair day

15. Lets go to the movies after lunch

16. Work on your scrapbooks

17. Lets go look at the Christmas lights

18. Make some puppets

19. Have an indoor picnic for lunch

20. Make cards for grandma and grandad

21. We are going to the park early this morning

22. Have a campout in the lounge room

23. Give yourself a makeover

24. Pack to go to grandma and grandads

25. It Christmas Day! Open your presents, have fun, eat lots and get an early night sleep tomrrow you are going to grandma and grandads!

Most of these things they will be able to do by themselves. I wanted just a few outings that are easy to organize and low cost hence the movies and the pool. I plan on taking pictures of all the things they do and then make an advent mini album in the new year.

The girls opened the first one this morning...and once they realised what was inside them they were very excited and can't wait to see what each day is going to bring them.