I sat down to do some menu planning this morning and it hit me like a ton of bricks… Christmas is just five weeks away tomorrow.
FIVE WEEKS!?!?!?
Every year I vow that I won’t let Christmas sneak up on me and yet every year it does. The first day of Advent is less than two weeks away! There is still time to make an advent calendar thought, and here is some inspiration for making gorgeous advent calendars!
1. Advent bags
Last year my Mum made each of the kids a set of little advent bags and filled them with a treat or Christmas activity. She is nothing if not over the top my Mum! This year she is making Noey a set too and the kids are very excited about hanging them up and counting down to Christmas!
2. Advent Tree
Despite this blogger claiming her advent calendar was last minute and thrown together, this little tree advent calendar at Wisecraft is fabulous! So simple, yet so effective!
3. Snap Lock Bag Advent.
If you are after something really quick and easy, yet effective, this advent ‘tree’ made from snap lock bags stuck to the wall is awesome. Unfortunately my high school German is no longer good enough to search Living At Home.de and find the actual post where this image was originally found, but if anyone can link me up, please do so! Thanks to Jen for translating and finding the correct link to this at Living At Home.de
4. Simple Wrapped Advent Gifts
Oh Happy Day used a fabulous sectioned framed to display small advent gifts. Or you could put them in a basket, on a shelf or the mantel place or even in a bowl.
5. Toilet Paper Roll Advent.
Maya Made makes the most beautiful toilet paper roll advents out there. Check out these from 2008, 2009 and 2010 and I’m hoping there will be a new version this year too!
Got any links to awesome advent calendar ideas? Please share!
I spent over a year stitching an advent calendar and now we use it every year. I wrap up little gifts and we get in lots of practice saying ‘thankyou’ in the lead up to Christmas Day.
http://www.stuffwiththing.com/2010/11/advent-calendar-goodness/
4 WEEKS?!
Is that all we’ve got?
Crikey, I’ve got no time to make one but those ones you’ve posted about have given me an idea :)
Thanks heaps for the Jellyfish puppets – my 5 year old just had a blast making them.
Here’s the link to the German website:
http://www.livingathome.de/essen_geniessen/specials/weihnachten/adventskalender-basteln/?seite=11
thanks heaps for the link! :)
On Dec first our children receive a small photo album on their advent calendar. Then for each child I put a photo in an envelope for each day of advent. The photos are of things our kids did over the past year or of people special to them. By the time Christmas day arrives the children each have a lovely album of memories. All you really need is a photo album, envelopes and photos.
Oh that is an awesome idea! I might just have to steal that for next year! thanks so much for sharing!
That is so clever. I love it :) What a great tradition!
Fabulous ideas! I like advent bags filled with a Christmas activity…
Thank you for the lovely comment on my blog. It made my day!
ooohhh… i really like the 3rd one! so cool!
We just brought in our Christmas decorations and got started (We had already begun makin some Christmas crafts last week though!).
I don’t feel like it’s decorating early, because otherwise the weeks FLY by and there isn’t much time to enjoy them. And we love our decorations!
We have a wooden advent calendar that we use every year, but I am still so inspired by all the handmade ones I see around the web. I think I would like to do that when our daughter is a bit older.
Here are a few that I found on pinterest that I love:
christmas cones: http://pinterest.com/pin/136937644889338612/
felt advent: http://pinterest.com/pin/136937644889338615/
santa advent: http://pinterest.com/pin/136937644889255677/
I have another one for you that I am making. You use little craft pegs and peg children socks onto xmas ribbon. We even have number stickers to stick on. very easy and kids can help!
I love Maya Made’s toilet roll calendars.
I’m planing on making my quick and easy leaf calendar again this year http://www.littleecofootprints.com/2010/11/green-eco-nature-advent-calender-tutorial.html