Posted on by wherethejourneytakesme

crEAting Christmas ~ crafting the Advent days

I have been pondering over the ‘Advent’ part of Christmas in my head for a while now.  Over the years I have done various things including these tiny old-fashioned advent calendars that contained no sweets at all just a different little Christmas picture each day when the window was opened.  Advent CalendarsIt was opening this Advent calendar that reminded me most of the anticipation I felt as a child and the delight of revealing a glowing candle or a decorated Christmas tree picture on peeling back the little doors – I thought they were the most wonderful and magical part of Christmas and I could hardly wait each day to see what the Christmas picture was going to be.

A truly simple pleasure.

Then one sleepless night recently I thought about all I wanted to do in the days before Christmas;  all the things that generated the same excitement for me – which ideally is a mixture of simple Christmas pleasures, a few trips out and about to one or two festive towns and villages, and of course lots of crafts.  To pace myself I hit upon the idea of using the daily advent as a way to ‘timetable’ the things that are both important and pleasurable for me to do.

For the calendar itself I decided upon some simple craft card (from a tiny pad I bought from The Range for £1) and stamped numbers on them in white or gold from 1 to 25.  On the back I stuck a little ‘surprise’ activity of something pleasurable and Christmassy to do or make that day.  Then placed them all on my photo stand. Of course the activities couldn’t be a complete random surprise as I have had to work around days when we are in Scotland and my mum visits and other commitments – I also had to make sure I had all the bits ready to make the crafts – so a little planning had to be done. And so DH doesn’t feel left out I have individually wrapped some Amoretti biscuits as a little daily treat in some greaseproof paper decorated with a gold pen.

With all that in place, but not actually posted on my blog, imagine my surprise when I got home late last night and read Gillian’s post from Tales from a happy house (see my blog list at the side) where she has had an almost identical idea – and her little envelopes are so lovely.  (If you are reading this Gillian I have left you a comment).

We are heading off to Scotland tomorrow and my Advent trail will begin from there on Saturday (I hope we have an internet connection) and each day I will do a quick post revealing the activity for the day and a few photos.

I hope you will join in and let me know of your pleasurable Christmas activities as we go along.  Of course there is a chance that ‘events’ might steer me off course a little – you know how it is with the Christmas build up –  but fingers crossed.

Welcome to my recent new followers – I try to post most days – apologies for lack of post and comments yesterday I went out to the pub last night!  A lovely pre-Christmas gathering of old friends round a warm log fire.

15 Replies to “crEAting Christmas ~ crafting the Advent days”

    1. Hi Jill – I am looking forward to having a ‘program’ to follow rather than trying to set myself up with too much to do and doing the wrong thing at the wrong time. And as I have already forgotten what is on the back of each card it will be a surprise!

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  2. That’s a really lovely idea, Vivien. I might try that for myself with ideas for little treats such as painting my nails or going out for coffee. Lily, however, would be most put out if she didn’t discover a little chocolate every morning. X

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    1. I should really have built in more little treats like painting my nails, having a long bubble bath etc – but I seem to run out of days! We are in Scotland for a few and then mum is having a 5 day visit this time whilst my sister is away – that is quite a big junk when I know I won’t get very much done other than having trips out. x

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    1. I had fun making the Advent calendar but it did turn out to be a bit of a military operation because of all our commitments – there is a lot I found I have had to let go of doing – so it was worthwhile exercise doing this just to find out that my expectations actually exceeded the available time.
      Hope you enjoy your advent journey too even if it is a note in your diary and that you will keep us updated of all your Christmas pleasurables.

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  7. Very creative ‘calendar’,and in the end, a great way to organize your advent season and make sure you weren’t over-committed. Enjoy your time in Scotland. Hope the weather cooperates.

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    1. We have arrived to a massive police hunt for a couple in our village who are missing – their car was found on the coast road beach this morning – no sign of the two people or two dogs in the car. We were lucky we chose today and not yesterday to come up. All calm here at present.

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