day 163: christmas spirit advent calendar

the hanging of the advent calendar!

day 163 and i am making another advent calendar today.  this advent calendar is all about counting down to christmas and making sure each day brings the whole family something to celebrate during december.  for me this is particularly important for those members of my family who work each day and sometimes miss out on all the fun preparations the kids and i do during the day!

i got this great idea of a "doing" advent calendar from pinterest (of course) and their are plenty of versions and ideas making the rounds and several i pinned to my christmas is coming board.  the ideas i particularly liked were from all things simple and the crafting chicks.  i can't use the winter activities but it did make me think of a few summer activities we could do as a family instead.  below is a list of the things we are going to do during december (and i made sure they were well matched to the book advent countdown as well!):

• EVERYBODY write to santa (this will be done after dinner as a family, it's actually already a family tradition we have done for years, the kids think the adult letters to santa are hilarious)
• make something for two friends and drop it off to them
• make eggnog loaf and decorate the tree (we always do this as a family as everyone has their own ornaments to hang as we each get a new one on christmas eve)
• watch it's a wonderful life
• make a hot chocolate bar
• fish and chips at the beach
• go to franklin road to see the christmas lights
• make christmas tarts
• enjoy the santa parade
• do some baking together and gift to the neighbours
• build a gingerbread house
• make pancakes for breakfast
• drive around to see the local christmas lights
• play a game of petanque
• get your santa hats we are off to the parade
• roast marshmellows on the brazier
• make a christmas pizza in the pizza oven
• go to the new release christmas movie
• watch a christmas movie of DAD's choice!
• watch a christmas movie of GRANNY's choice!
• decorate gingerbread men
• go to dunkin donut's for a christmas donut
• go to the garden store and plant something red in the garden
• make a holiday gift for the postman from all the family

i loved the garland advent calendar the crafting chicks came up with for their countdown and decided to use that idea of their's as well.

you need small envelopes, pattern paper, mini pegs, and
some ribbon

and from right to left this is what i did to make each
day's envelope tag!  

i had some help hanging it up in our classrom!

outcome: well the garland looks great, the activities are sorted, now we just need to wait and see if it has the desired effect of giving everyone a big dose of christmas spirit through the holidays.  most days these activities will take place after dinner so the whole family will be their to participate.  i am really hoping this will spread goodwill and cheer to not only those i live with but also our family and friends ... until the 25th though, this creation is definitely pending!

my sincere thanks to the crafting chicks and all things simple for their wonderful advent ideas, it certainly lifted my christmas spirit just reading them!