advent calendars

These are a few ornaments from my great aunt's handmade Advent calendar.  A few years ago, I tried to make my family a copy of it.  I promptly stopped after making the tree and three ornaments.  They were lacking in every way.  So I  will proudly display Aunt Joan's version until one of my brothers tries to steal it in the night.  

So I am going to use two Advent calendars this year.  Is that a bit overkill?  If I'm asking the answer is probably yes.  I literally threw this calendar together.  It consists of the felt tree I made a few years ago when I could not live up to Aunt Joan's craftiness and felted circles with a paper circle listing a fun craft or activity for the day.  Done and done.

Here is our list:
1.  Make salt dough ornaments
2.  Decorate ornaments
3.  Pick out and decorate Christmas tree
4.  Open an early present!  (Shh - it's a wooden heirloom creche that I the girls can set up/play with)
5.  Make coffee filter snowflakes
6.  Make a jingle bell sleigh (box + Christmas ribbon with jingle bells hot glued to it = lots of fun)
7.  Make snowflake designs with q-tips
8.  Make Christmas trees from styrofoam cones, felt circles, and pins
9.  Bake sugar cookies
10.  Go to Phipps and dance with the fairies (Pittsburgh Ballet comes to Phipps, dresses up like Sugar Plum Fairies and teaches a dance/movement class)
11.  Bake gingerbread men
12.  Make a wrapping paper station - load up art room with tape, old wrapping paper, and bows so Abby can wrap up toys for pretend play
13.  Make gingerbread baby houses
14.  Make peppermint playdough with red and white glitter
15.  Create a winter sensory bin - pine cones, nuts, coffee beans
16.  Decorate a contact paper Christmas Tree
17.  Make easy gingerbread houses
18.  Sew mittens from felted sweaters
19.  Play The Mitten Game
20.  Paint winter scenes using q-tips
21.  Sew Christmas bags - instead of wrapping presents with paper
22.  Create tissue paper stars with contact paper
23.  Drive around to see the Christmas lights
24.  Make cinnamon rolls
25.  Merry Christmas!

One day I will put numbers on the front of the ornaments, but this works for now.

Eek - I am so excited for December 1st!