advent tree

ever since bee was 2 we have had some sort of advent calendar. we are not religious but find this tradition to be a nice addition to the simple christmas that we want to provide, as well as a good way to promote the type of holiday traditions we like. we want it to be amazing and magical for the kids, but also without the materialism that is all around us. 

last year i hatched a plan to do an advent calendar that is more about family fun than candy or prizes. we made a calendar out of toilet paper tubes, and put a "fortune" in each tube, each day. the fortunes were anything from "paint mom or dad's nails" to "go looking for christmas lights tonight" or a real material prize. bee loved it and we loved the way that it encouraged us to make special moments happen throughout the season.

this year we did the same sort of thing with the fortunes. we tried to make them inclusive of the whole family, including henny. 

the toilet paper tube set up didn't hold up too well, so i made a new system that seems like it may be a keeper for years to come. i made muslin pouches and cinched them up with ribbon. we hung them on a branch that bee and D found around the yard.

i printed out a nice font and traced the numbers with fabric markers. we put the fortunes in the baggies, and coordinated them with the calendar. we won't be "baking cookies for the neighbors", for example, unless it's a weekend or one of D's days off. any time that the kids get a material prize, they will find a fortune that tells them where to look for it. 

i'm pretty psyched about this new advent calendar. we have already been dreaming of future holiday seasons.... finding the branch, filling and emptying it and finally burning it in the fire on christmas morning.