Advent

 Looking up Advent, I found all these words: arrival, coming, approach, dawn, looming, birth, origin, emergence. Advent means all these things. I had meant to write this post yesterday, but life got in the way. When my children were little, we had several Advent calendars. They were not from a religious need, but more a way get them to quit asking how many days until Christmas. I haven't regularly used one for years.

This year, after seeing the one my daughter bought for herself with goodies in it, I decided I needed one too. I received a post card from a chocolatier advertising their gourmet chocolates Advent calendar. Now this is not an advertisement, but this thing is so neat, I just wanted to share it.

This company is in the city where I grew up, Kansas City. My sister-in-law sent us a box of chocolates from them for Christmas last year, but alas, she sent them to California after we had left. It seemed crazy to have my sister forward them to us, so we told her to keep them and enjoy them. Y'all these are some seriously fancy chocolates.

Here is the interior of this seriously sturdy box, with all its little trap doors full of chocolates.

This first on is lemon in white chocolate. Very lemon-y and so shiny and pretty. Each little door will tell you the flavor of the chocolate. This is going to be fun! And just the right size for a bit of after dinner sweet.

So, even if you don't celebrate Advent, a countdown to Christmas calendar can be a very good thing.

Have a great Friday!

Super Simple Advent Calendar

I got out all of my Christmas stuff yesterday, in anticipation of decorating. I found the Advent calendar that my children used when they were young. I was a thirty something mama with 2 young children. I worked with a woman who's youngest was in eighth grade. She had grand children. While we worked together, in a school cafeteria, she made this for my children. When I saw it, I thought it would be good to share it. I have made a couple for my grand children and it's super simple.

It is made from a single piece of felt, cut 36 1/2 inches long by 1 3/4 inches wide. This one is cut with pinking shears to give it a bit of a fancy edge.

Today, if I was making it, I would use my pinking blade on my rotary cutter for easy cutting.

This is the little poem at the top. My friend typed it up and cut it with her pinking shears, and she attached it with brads. I did not have brads when I made mine for my grandchildren, but you can attach it however you like.

You need some yarn for the bows. The top one is green, and you loop it through the jingle bell and knot it. Every fifth bow from the top down is also green. My friend used a hole punch to make holes for the yarn, but you can just sew it through with a needle as well. Then, knot the yarn so it won't come out, and tie it into a bow.

This is the top back. Just make a simple sleeve, glued, stitched or however, and thread a double strand of yarn through it for the hanger.

Tie all the bows and you're ready to go. This one is over 30 years old and still going strong. My daughters each have one for their kids. It's so simple to make and I hope you make one for your children or grand children. I kept the original at my house, and I untie the bows each night. And remember all the fun things about having this in my home at the holidays.
Talk to you soon.