Advent Calendars
What is one thing that gets you into the Christmas spirit? Do you have something that helps you count down the days to Christmas? A Christmas clock perhaps? A calendar that you move a star each day to the important BIG day? What about an Advent calendar? Have you ever had one of those?
On the forth day of Christmas my true love gave to me… four calling birds….. Traditional Christmas song
When and why did these Advent Calendars come about? According to www.doinghistoryinpublic.org, advent calendars were created by the Germans back in the 19th century. Advent is a 4-week event counting down the days until Jesus’ anticipated arrival – within the church calendar. The calendars (or rather keeping track of advent) started out at first by simple candles buring each day then by daily marking the walls with a line. By the late 1800’s, wooden devotional images were placed out each day and into the early 1900’s, a calendar was first created which has now erupted into a mass marketing creation including chocolate, toys, and trinkets.
When our kids were small, we loved getting them advent calendars, but because they had a dairy allergy, we didn’t usually get them those yummy chocolate ones. (even though I secretly loved them). For a short while, they had Lego or Lego Friends advent calendars. I remember the year our son had one that included Yoda. On Christmas Eve – he would open ‘Santa’ Yoda, a day he just couldn’t wait for.
When they began to outgrow the Lego, my husband built these amazing Advent Christmas trees and I found tiny red stockings to hand on them. We began to use our own creativity and filled them ourselves. Some stockings had chocolate, some had a small item (like lip gloss), some had an admiration about what we loved about them, and some even had a clue to a bigger item hidden in our home that wouldn’t fit in those tiny stockings. They loved when we would set up the trees and woke each morning with anticipation as to what the day would bring.
Sidenote – even though our children are all grown – we have kept those trees for when they have their own children (or for Grandma and Grandpa’s house – although, I think my husband may have to make more if we are blessed with more than 2 grandchildren).
Even today, we still find cute advent calendars for our grown children (and even ourselves). In recent years, we have had the yummy Lindt chocolate ones (yes, I still love those chocolate ones) and even had cool Harry Potter or Friends ones.
This year, we all have fun and interesting ways to count down our Christmas spirit days.
Our daughter has a beauty one.
Our son has a survival one with cool gadgets.
My husband has a Christmas Vacation one – which he was so excited to open.
And, for myself – an amazing book one where each day, I open a new chapter of this simply fantastic Christmas story. What a creative and fitting advent my husband found. I absolutely love Christmas and tying in a Christmas story where each day leading to Christmas I get the pleasure of getting immersed into a fantastic Christmas story, well… that is simply the jackpot for me.
Sidenote: My amazing husband surprised me yet again with a second Advent Calendar. A Nespresso Coffee countdown. So now, for my own magical Christmas countdown, I get the pleasure of a Christmas story all while sipping a new delicious Nespresso coffee. Oh, how my heart is full.
So, how do you count down the days for Christmas? If you have a fun and interesting way, click the link below. I love being creative and finding new ways to incorporate fun into my life, but for this year, I just can’t wait to find out what happens in chapter 5 – tomorrow, and I can’t wait to see how this book wraps up (no pun intended).
Happy Advent…..
