Advent Calendars

Children get so excited at the thought of Christmas and you can extend their excitement by giving them an advent calendar to help them count down the days until Christmas day.Advent Calendars aren’t a new idea, they’re a long time Christmas tradition although the different types of advent calendars available now are quite different to the original advent calendars.

In the lead up to December parents are bombarded by hoards of different advent calendars with different licensed images on them from Barbie to the characters from Cars and inside each of these calendars are little chocolates.The first advent calendar I brought my daughter contained chocolate and because Christmas for us is held in the middle of summer they were a little melted.Keep them in the fridge was hubby’s solution, but this meant that we didn’t remember to open a door every day and really defeated the object.

I really wanted one that I could add things to myself and it took me a while to find one……………I should’ve looked online because now we have our own advent calendar I have discovered lots of different ones available online that would’ve been even better!

We have a fabric advent calendar that hangs on my daughter’s door ready for her to open each of the numbered ‘Santa Sacks’ when she gets up every morning in December.She loves the idea because she never knows what she’s going to get – it could be a temporary tattoo, a coin, a funky pen, a cool pin – the list is endless.

Of course another alternative to buying an advent calendar is to make your own and when I look at our one I realize how easy it would have been to make mine (isn’t that always the way!).I’ve had a look for some instructions so that I could get the best links for you –

Advent Calendar Sewing Project
This advent calendar is not meant to be a Martha Stewart piece of Christmas perfection but rather a heartfelt heirloom made by yourself and kids.

How to Make an Advent Calendar
How to Make an Advent Calendar. Children will love to help make this Advent calendar - and enjoy the candy cane treat each pocket holds!

Creative Countdown Calendar for Christmas
This is instructions for a gorgeous fabric advent calendar that is sure to delight the whole family when it's completed.

Christmas in July Advent Calendar
This is a cute advent calendar that is made like a small quilt which the pockets in the different quilt blocks.

One of my friend’s has a wooden advent calendar and this is really what I would probably have preferred to have gotten in retrospect.Some of the wooden advent calendars contain little ornaments with them and others are left bare for you to add your own little gifts which is what I love doing.

Like the wooden Christmas tree advent calendar here her advent calendar has little ornaments which she hangs on the ‘tree’ part of the calendar…… or rather her children take it in turns to hang them.She then has a chocolate advent calendar for both of her children so that they get something every day!

I am sure there are lots of talented people who could make their own wooden advent calendars and so I’ve found a few instructions for you (should you need them that is).

Advent Calendar
I've been looking around for an Advent Calendar for my kids, but couldn't find one that really suited my tastes and price. There are some very nice ones

How to Make a Wooden Advent Calendar with Pictures
How to Make a Wooden Advent Calendar With Pictures. Advent is the traditional countdown from December 1 until December 24 and it is often used to teach children the Christmas story.

Christmas Woodworking Project - Advent Calendar
Count down the days till Christmas with this fun and festive Advent Calendar!

Handmade Christmas Tree Advent Calendar
We made this wooden Advent calendar for our kids. This time my crafty partner was my husband, whom cut all the pieces for me. You probably could make it out of

The Lego advent calendars are great because they give your child something to build which takes a little time and then something to play with.It basically gives you time to cross a couple of things off of your December to do list (or to grab a cup of coffee in peace).

If you’re planning on using an advent calendar that you’re going to have to fill yourself then you want to put little things aside throughout the year towards it.One of the things I do is if I have any party favours left over from birthday parties I put them into the advent calendar box – yes I have a box hidden away where I store things for the advent calendars.

There are lots of ideas for things to put in them such as –

Color Changing Nail Polish
My daughters latest nail polish obsession is color changing nail polish, if you havent heard of this nail polish then youre missing out on lots of fun.

Christmas Tree Ornaments for Children
I love buying a different Christmas ornament each year to hang on our tree and if you have children it's a great way of acknowledging their likes that year

The Temporary Tattoo Collection
Temporary tattoos are fantastic for using in a number of ways. You can add a temporary tattoo somewhere on your body for when you're going clubbing, you can

Other ideas include marbles, pens or pencils, erasers, coins, candy, hair bands, lip gloss/balm, jewelry, stickers etc.