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A Thoughtful Place

A Thoughtful Place is a California based lifestyle blog about design, fashion, gatherings and the occasional from the heart post.

Advent Calendar: Simple & Fast

December 2, 2013 by Courtney 18 Comments

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. adventcalendar …   adventcountdown     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. adventchalkboard … 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. adventboard   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. adventbag   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. stripedpajamas   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!!!}. advent 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!  CakeCloseUp … CakeFull … CakeSliceCloseUp2 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!

Filed Under: children, Christmas, Do it yourself, holiday, Uncategorized

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Comments

  1. A Silver Snapshot says

    December 2, 2013 at 12:20 pm

    Wow, love this holiday DIY so much! Totally just pinned it to Pinterest. Happy Monday!

    ♥Silver♥
    A Silver Snapshot
    asilversnapshot@hotmail.com

    Reply
    • Courtney {a thoughtful place} says

      December 2, 2013 at 8:50 pm

      Thank you so much! Fun time of year for sure.

      Reply
  2. Meghan says

    December 2, 2013 at 1:23 pm

    So cute! I'm stockpiling ideas for when Noah is older and both of these are both being saved! This year we are doing a book a night. Noah, who's 1, loves unwrapping things and he gets to play with the paper while we read the book before bed.

    Reply
    • Courtney {a thoughtful place} says

      December 2, 2013 at 8:50 pm

      I love the book idea. . .that is perfect. That really is one of our favorite advent activities.

      Reply
  3. Simply LKJ says

    December 2, 2013 at 2:18 pm

    Love it Courtney! Now that the girls are older and not with us all month long, we do the 12 Days of Christmas. I do it for my 95 year old MIL as well. It gives them a little something to open and look forward to the last couple weeks of the season.

    Reply
    • Courtney {a thoughtful place} says

      December 2, 2013 at 8:51 pm

      You are adorable. And how cute to do the 12 days of Christmas. Clever, girl.

      Reply
  4. Courtenay@Creek Line House says

    December 2, 2013 at 3:18 pm

    Oh my goodness! I LOVE it! You can never have enough chalkboard painted items, in my humble opinion. Thanks for mentioning me in your post too! I'm going to share this one with my readers!

    Reply
    • Courtney {a thoughtful place} says

      December 2, 2013 at 8:51 pm

      THANK YOU!!! Thank you for the inspiration. Merry Christmas!

      Reply
  5. Simply Modern Home says

    December 2, 2013 at 3:54 pm

    Love it!!! And your little one looks so adorable in his Christmas jammies! 🙂

    Reply
    • Courtney {a thoughtful place} says

      December 2, 2013 at 8:51 pm

      Awe thanks. Those Christmas pajamas get me every time. Love them.

      Reply
  6. Jill B says

    December 2, 2013 at 6:19 pm

    This is so cute! and I'm jealous of the cute pjs… Everywhere is sold out already 🙁

    Reply
    • Courtney {a thoughtful place} says

      December 2, 2013 at 8:52 pm

      Do you have a hannah anderson near you?

      Reply
  7. Bethany DeVore says

    December 2, 2013 at 8:59 pm

    so cute and simple!

    Reply
  8. {Hi Sugarplum!} says

    December 2, 2013 at 10:23 pm

    so so cute!! sooooo….we open the number that coordinates with the date…do you open them from 25 down to 1? So like you can see how many days are left before Christmas? Have we been opening them backwards all these years?!?!?

    Reply
  9. everydayMOM says

    December 2, 2013 at 11:46 pm

    Love it! I created our Advent calendar this weekend, too! It is very similar to yours, and I also got my supplies from Hobby Lobby. Check it out if you're interested! 🙂 Thanks for the ideas.

    Reply
  10. Allison says

    December 3, 2013 at 1:52 am

    When does your magazine come out? I want a subscription! You do everything beautifully and with such class. Your little guy sure is a cutie in his Christmas pjs. Love the simplicity of your Advent calendar. I actually do one for my hubby! Love the plaid fabric on the pillow on your bench!! Is that a JoAnn's fabric?

    Reply
  11. Chelsea Price says

    December 3, 2013 at 9:33 pm

    Of gosh this is genius! Love these Christmas crafts!

    Reply
  12. Marissa and Alisa {All In Good Twine} says

    December 4, 2013 at 5:25 am

    Hi Courtney! This is so cute! I guess great minds think alike. We posted an advent calendar idea yesterday too! By the way, where did you get that adorable gray pillow?

    Reply

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