Avoiding store-bought advent calendars~


While I love the idea of advent calendars, I am not a fan of the store-bought/fake chocolate (especially the licensed character) versions. I needed something easy to make myself, stuff with toys, and a few treats, that both my girls could open each day leading up to Christmas. 



I decided to collect some random packaging that I had in my supplies, label them with numbers, and collect goodies to place inside. There are toys, a few treats, and some fun things like coupons for a baking party or movie night. 



Our mantle has a collection of black and white family photos. I collected the boxes and placed them along the mantle and it doubles as decor as the colors go with our other holiday decorations in browns and greens. 


Easy, inexpensive, and most of all, not filled with artificial chocolate.


This would be easy to make in any color theme, style of packaging, and even tie the boxes together to hang down a wall or banister. What does your advent calendar look like this year?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is a great idea. I've seen something similar in an Usborne Christmas idea book for kids, but never tried it. Very clever to adapt with what you had on hand.

I too hate the licensed character chocolate advent calendars - they are completely meaningless and crappy chocolate, as you say.

Advent calendars of my childhood were simply scenes with little windows you opened and showed either a scene from the Nativity or something related to the picture on the calendar.

My girls have outgrown the pocket calendar we used for more than a decade - I did chocolate one year, and after that, we used all the pieces from the Playmobile Nativity set and put two in the pocket for the day, perhaps a bench and a bucket, perhaps Mary and a shepherds crook, etc. Day by day, they built the scene, building anticipation along the way. We did this for years, it never really got old, and they never missed the chocolate.

Kimberley said...

I love the idea with the playmobile set- that's so great. Luckily at 2 and 4 they are fairly easy to please. I go all out with baking and gingerbread houses but ran our of time for something really complicated for this. But thanks for the ideas :)

 
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