Christmas Advent Calendars

Happy December! It is now socially appropriate to be excited about Christmas haha but let's be real, we've been excited over here for at least two weeks now! Something I have been wanting to incorporate into our Christmas family traditions is an advent calendar. As a child, most years we would get one of those cardboard calendars, usually in the shape of a Christmasey house, and we would pop open a window for each day leading up to Christmas and find a chocolate inside! My brother and I would take turns getting to open a window every other day. The only advent calendar Nic and I have done together since we have been married was one similar to my childhood. I don't know if as a kid, chocolate was chocolate and I didn't care, or if it was the fact that I bought it at the cheapest place possible (the dollar store) with the cheapest candy inside ever but either way, the chocolate was seriously TERRIBLE!!! We both spit it out and threw the whole thing away after the first day. Epic fail! You can see that post here if you want a good laugh. 

Don't get me wrong, treats are a fun part of the holidays but I wanted to do something a little more meaningful than just treats in our advent calendar this year. There are so many different types of advent calendars out there and I decided on two for our family. The first one I made ...

Since we don't have a mantle, I hung it under the TV! And yes, The Grinch has been on repeat at our house, it is a favorite! I made this calendar out of paper envelopes. I wrote the days on the outside and hung them on green and white striped twine using mini clothes pins. Then I decorated the outside with fun washi tape. Each envelope has a card with a scripture and activity on it to read and do as a family. I found the scripture calendar here. Some activity ideas I included were Christmas cookie baking and delivering to neighbors and friends, different service projects for other people, baking Christmas cookies, singing carols, watching all of our favorite Christmas movies, snow activities like sledding/snowball fight/building a snowman, and doing different Christmas crafts. There is also three m&ms inside, one little treat for each of us. That is definitely Liam's favorite part just like it was for me as a child but reading the scriptures about Jesus' birth together as a family has quickly become my new favorite part. It brings the spirit and true meaning of Christmas into our home. I love it!

I also wanted to do a Christmas book themed advent this year. I rounded up a few of our childhood favorites as well as added a new one that we will get to read on Christmas morning after Liam opens his stocking.

Liam's favorite part of this advent ... knocking the books down!!!

This really is the MOST wonderful time of the year!!! XO