Advent Calendar: Simple & Fast

Happy Monday, everyone!!! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We enjoyed every minute of it and were so thankful for family, food, and togetherness. Having the children off from school for a week was actually a major treat. We clocked plenty of pajama time and soaked up the snuggles. It’s definitely beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here! We were holding out until after Thanksgiving to begin decorating since we hosted. The second Friday rolled around, while others were out shopping, we hit the ground running with decking our halls. It was so much fun as the children are truly at a magical age. They were overjoyed at the return of Candy Cane, our elf, and had such a genuine spirit about helping decorate this year. We always look forward to the Advent season and all that it represents. Each day the kiddos read about an activity we will do as a family. This year, I was so inspired by an idea I found through Pinterest. It could not have been easier and I was so grateful for this inspiring idea from The Creek Line House. Here is my take on it. …       This could not have been easier and did not take much time at all. While out at Home Depot, I picked up a particle board shelf from the lumbar department. I had them cut it to be 51” { I measured how tall eight bags would be plus room to write a message}. The shelf was already 15” which is exactly what I wanted. Once home, I gave it two coats of chalkboard spray paint. … After the paint dried, I watched a little football and used a hot glue gun to glue three rows of clothespins. The clothespins and mini bags are from Hobby Lobby. Gluing these didn’t take more than ten minutes. CAUTION: Two of my clothespins fell off and I used super glue. The rest have stayed on, but just a word of warning. Not sure why those babies fell off, but they did.   I also added a message with chalk and tied a simple bow to add some color. We are going with a very traditional Christmas this year full of plaid, red, and rustic touches. This all pulled that theme together nicely. The bow is attached with a bit of hot glue.   Beyond writing the numbers, there was nothing left to do but attach the bags. The very first bag {#24} had us go and visit Santa. It was a great way to kick off the Christmas season. Melted my heart when Grady asked Santa for a bell from his sleigh. That’s all he wants. Sweetness.   He also keeps kidding that he will open number one. I told him that is fine, but that whatever is inside will disappear the second he opens it. {Perhaps it is also because I haven’t filled all of them yet!!!}. If you have never done this before, the possibilities are endless. We just really love it as it keeps our focus on family and being together during this hectic time. Here are some ideas of what I fill the bags with: Visit Santa Read Christmas stories under the tree with hot cocoa Take a walk to look at Christmas Lights Deliver fresh homemade cookies to the neighbors Take gift donations to church for families in need Build gingerbread houses with grammy and papa and the cousins Make a crazy pair of Christmas socks Read Christmas stories in bed with flashlights … ………………………a piece of cake We have been doing an advent calendar for years now. The one below is a chocolate cake version that we had blast with. I wrote an article about our tradition for House of Fifty. The chocolate cake pieces were from the wedding aisle at Michaels. The kids loved opening a “piece of cake” each morning!   … … What about you? Do you take part in a countdown to Christmas? Do you keep it simple? I always love hearing what traditions keep your families spending time together. By the way, have you seen the crazy good deals from Silhouette? You can go here and use the code THOUGHTFUL if you are hoping Santa hooks you up with one!