Hello ladies
Advent calendars have come a long way since I was a kid! We used to enjoy opening the tiny little doors on the paper calendar that hung on the refrig. I have a 2 yr old son now and would like to start the tradition of an advent calendar. And after a search on Etsy.com I have found alot of options!! I want to keep this a simple process and yet fun for him. I don't want to give a gift everyday since in addition to Christmas, my son's b'day is in Dec. I would love to hear what others do and any pros/cons of the different types of calendars. Any creative ideas are appreciated...but I am not interested in a huge craft project! In fact, I am happy to buy something that we will keep for years and years. Thanks in advance.
We have the cutest advent calendar we bought from Disney. It hangs on the wall and you just move the velcro thing one day closer. It doesn't give anything. We have a really neat one for Halloween that we got from Disney too. We didn't want to do the whole give a thing each day but we wanted them to enjoy the countdown.
We keep it simple. We have the kind with little cardboard drawers. They are just the right size that I can squeeze two small treats in the drawers for my kiddos. On Christmas Eve when they open the drawers there is a note directing them someplace. They usually get an ornament for the tree on Christmas eve.
I found one at a book Store one time that each day was a little book with a short story, they had little stings attached to them so you could hang them like ornaments. Our daughter has always adored books, so it was perfect..
Here it is ! http://www.chinaberry.com/p/The-Story-of-Christmas-Story-...
One year my MIl gave our daughter a cloth one with the little pockets and they each had a Bible character that went with the Christmas story.
http://www.vermontchristmasco.com/category/fabric-advent-...
The I have purchase just the little paper ones (she loved them), and then passed them on the next year to other friends children..
Then I found the ones that have 1 piece of chocolate in each window and gave her that one for a few years.
She misses them now that she is in college, I could mail it to her, but she would miss the last week unless she brought it home..
Maybe I will look for one she can do online! I am glad you brought this up..
My grade school sold them. Each door had a small piece of chocolate behind it, as well as a scripture passage to go look up in the Bible.
I wanted to get the Fisher Price advent last year and havent,, If it is still available I will get it this year. it was nice, big, hung on a door or wall, with lots of fabric pockets with figures from the nativity. It looks well worth the cost and would last year after year.
My mother made one for me out of 24 little socks (that my sons had worn). She strung them along a piece of ribbon, attaching them with really cute mini silver pegs. I hung it along a wall and popped a wrapped chocolate in each sock. If you want to avoid the candy you could place a little note or Christmas picture cut from old Christmas cards etc into each sock. It makes a beautiful decoration.
We've just always done the chocolate filled ones you can get at the grocery store... sorry!
Target usually has some very attractive wooden advent calendars. In past years they have been shaped like a church (with a steeple) or just a brown box with woodsy themes accents, or a few others... They have little maybe 1 inch boxes with doors for the days. I keep thinking I will get one, but never can decide on a location to put it, since it must sit on something, not hang. But they look very nice.
They are the perfect size for putting a small folded up note, or a single piece of candy (peppermint, york, chocolate bell, etc)....
The pricing has ranged from $15-$30.
I bought a wooden one a few years ago so I could put my own little treat in each day. I am happy with it.
Chinaberry has a couple of wood heirloom advent calendars that look fun; I bought a couple of really nice wood pieces from them a couple of years back, but not the advent calendars. This papercraft one is not expensive and looks cute.
http://www.chinaberry.com/p/Eric-Carles-Dream-Snow-Advent...
I did make one once for a sister (still haven't made one for myself). It was a hanging felt creation, with a felt tree and a pocket for each day. There was an ornament in each one the kids could hang on a tree. We also did one for another sister who lived far away, and instead of a gift, we (big extended family) each wrote her a love note, inspirational quote, etc., and these paper messages went in each sock (the actual calendar we purchased; it sounds like the one described below).
Last, we have friends who wrapped up all their christmas books (a few new, and many from years prior = 24 books) and their kids got to open a story each night, and they read it as a family. Have fun at this exciting time!
I'd highly recommend the Playmobil or Lego Advent calendars. My kids (at the time age 3 and 6) got a Lego one last year for xmas and they absolutely LOVED it. They fought over who was going to build the small toy (maybe 2-3 pieces total to put together) each day. In fact, I've recommended that their aunt get them another one this year so they each have their own calendar. You can find them on Amazon. The Playmobil calendars, I believe, have larger pieces, so might be better for a 2 year old... and I think they are a bit cheaper than the Lego ones.
I have the same memory of opening the tiny paper doors. My advent calendar had The Christmas Story in it and I always had fun reading each day (being read to early on) and eventually memorizing it. It took a few years but my mom and I were able to find a great advent calendar for my daughter at a Christian Bookstore. We also have a wooden one that my MIL painted for her and we put Hershey Kisses in that, but I also wanted her to have one that was actually about Christmas and helped her to learn the true meaning of Christmas.
Good luck and good for you for keeping the tradition alive!
This has been a great one for us - we read each story and then hang it on the tree. They have several other types on their website as well.
http://www.chinaberry.com/p/The-Story-of-Christmas-Story-...
little late on response here.....
we have a reusable one. but rather than a "present" or chocolate, we write on a piece of paper something special that will happen each day:
an extra story at bedtime
an extra hug from mom and dad
tv time
go out to dinner
dancing in the living room
make christmas cookies
wrap presents
you get the idea...many times it is something that we would do at some point in december anyway but the kids get very excited seeing what their special treat will be that day. for a 2-yr old, I'd draw pictures w/words - might as well help that reading along!
CostPlus, if there is one near you, usually has really nice German Advent calendars for not too much. I also prefer to not use one with chocolate or toys -- my son already gets a ton of gifts, and I'm trying to teach him that the Christmas isn't just about getting stuff.
Also, my family is Scandinavian, and we use Advent candles -- different from the Advent wreath candles -- they are countdown candles with the numbers on the candle -- you burn a number each night, which is fun to do in addition to opening up a day on the calendar. My son loves to blow out the candle every night. I bought a batch in bulk from Amazon last year, and Scandinavian specialty shops usually carry them.
I found one that we can reuse year after year. I put a treat (small toy or candy) only in five day intervals so on the 1st, 5th, 10th ect. On the other days we either do something special like read a Christmas themed book, watch a Christmas movie, go look at Christmas lights or there is a quarter in there that he has to put in his piggy bank, that sort of thing. My son is almost three and he really loves to open the little doors and see what he gets to do that day.
I'm looking for one also, so I'll be following this closely. Thanks for posting this! We also light an Advent wreath. :)
This is not a craft project, but last year we had an amazing advent calendar on our computer. Jacquie Lawson, who makes beautiful e-cards, had an advent calendar for download last year. It was a winter village scene and each day a different house or other part of the village would light up and come to life. I'm sure there was a small fee altho I don't know how much since my mom sent it to us. I actually found a youtube video of the whole calendar - it's long since each day is about a minute of activity - but it'll give you an idea of what it's like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1stWog-A6w
I'm German and so is my entire family, so Advent calendars are a tradition with us for as long as I can remember =o ) Ours have a door for each day of December that has a piece of chocolate in it....YUM!
If you just wait until Dec 1st to purshase the little chocolate ones they are usually always 50% at that point - thats what we do
