While many are shouting ‘too soon!’ I have to exercise great restraint not to jump head first into holiday crafting, décor, and baking come November 1st!
But it is now nearly the middle of November, so I feel it’s okay to start with the holiday crafts!
First up, my take on the Advent Calendar. The tradition actually dates back to the mid-19th century, when German Protestants made chalk marks on doors or lit candles to count the days leading up to Christmas. They’ve evolved quite a bit since then to include quite traditional variations that include religious images or stories each day leading up to Christmas, to the more secular and fun variations that offer chocolate or candy.
My take is easy to make and allows you to fill each day with whatever you wish – chocolate, candy, a thought or quote, a toy, the sky’s the limit really.
I simply used decorative twigs and branches that I found at a craft store (you could easily collect them on a walk through the forest and then spray paint them whatever color you wanted), small gift bags, a single hole punch, number stickers, and ribbon.
Arrange the branches in a container of your liking, perhaps a planter or urn, I found a large silver vase and it worked perfectly.
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