The Advent Calendars…Continued

Only a few days into December, and the advent calendars are done and done.  I am not sure who is more excited about them, me or Avery.

Here they are…

 Christmas Book Advent Calendar

This was actually a very easy project, it just took a loooong time to wrap everything up.  The idea is to find and wrap 24 Christmas books, and then open one each night leading up to Christmas.  Since we don’t have 24 Christmas books, I just used other non-holiday books from our collection that don’t get read very often.  If we had access to a library here, I would have checked out some Christmas books, or maybe gone to a thrift store to score some good deals.  Unfortunately there aren’t many thrift stores or libraries in Honduras.  We read a few books before bed every night anyway, but getting to unwrap a book to read makes it extra special.  It also helps us to read all of the fun Christmas books we have, instead of reading the same books over and over again.  And if we add a new Christmas or Holiday book every year, by the time she graduates from college we will be set.

Some of our favorite Christmas books:
The Polar Express, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, Room for a Little One, The Night Before Christmas, Gingerbread Baby, Counting Christmas

*Click here to read more about our Christmas book Advent calendar and for a list of great Christmas books for kids*

Christmas Activities Advent Calendar

This was the easiest to make, but the most difficult to actually do each day.  Thinking of fun activities and projects is what I do best, so no problems there.  But finding time to actually do all of my ideas has been a bit more challenging.  I had to make sure that the activities for weekdays were less time-intensive.  Some of the activities that I thought of for this year:

pop popcorn and watch a christmas movie together
make christmas cookies
make gingerbread houses
sing Christmas Carols
write a letter to Santa
write a Christmas card
color a special Christmas picture
make a present for teachers
breakfast for dinner
Christmas photo
Christmas crafts

When we are back in the U.S. I would love to add things like driving around to look at Christmas Lights, and going to see Santa Claus.  Maybe next year…

*If you would like to see the activities on our 2012 list, click here.*

 Numbered Bags Advent Calendar

Inspired by cute numbered bags I saw for sale here and here, I made 25 little numbered bags that will each hold an ornament for the tree.  These could also hold a little gift or treat each day, but since I am not a big fan of little toys that only get played with for a few minutes then thrown out, and I definitely don’t want candy around (am I a bah humbug or what?) we put ornaments in our bags.  Each day we put the ornament from the bag onto the tree.  Maybe one year I will let her have a treat or two mixed in with the ornaments.

These three DIY advent calendars, along with our PBKids Santa Advent Calendar from last year, are keeping us busy.  I have to keep reminding myself that whenever I see a new advent calendar that I want to make to add to the collection. (Which is basically multiple times daily…thanks a lot Pinterest!)  The Elf on a Shelf may make a guest appearance a little later in December, but since that won’t take me any work to make, she will be a welcome addition.  (we want a girl elf, obv!)