Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Easy Homemade Advent Calendar

So I ended up making the easiest homemade advent 'calendar' in the history of homemade advent calendars, and I am SUPER excited to start tomorrow! This is something I really wanted to start doing for Briony this year and while I suspect we may someday upgrade to a fancier + prettier system, I'm loving the SPIRIT of this one (and really, isn't that the most important thing?).

I found a colourful festive paperboard box that we already had in our house. Every morning at breakfast, Briony will get to open the box and there will be a note that describes something we'll do together as a family that day. No treats. Just quality time and memories. The few tiny presents I've included are all things for us to do together (and all less than $1.50... thank you again, Dollarama). All the notecards, stickers, markers, and packaging stuff were things we had on hand. I spent *very* little money making it, and I'm excited to see how it turns out!

The best part is that - because my health can be so very unpredictable - this plan is super adaptable. I can choose our activity the night before (or even the morning of) based on how I'm feeling. We've included a mix of high-energy and super-low-energy ideas, and I even kept a few blank cards on hand in case we come up with new ideas as we go. Of course, this would work well for ANY family because of schedules and weather and kids' moods and a million other perfectly normal variables.

Here's a sneak peek...












*You can check out a similar - but prettier - idea here (I copied some of the wording).

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8 Comments:

At November 30, 2010 11:29 PM, Blogger Unknown said...

that looks awesome! dibs on Jingle bells! No...snowman...no...I want to do them all!!
And yet, feel guilty at even considering stealing any of them while you are away.

 
At December 01, 2010 7:25 AM, Blogger Domestic Bloggess said...

Love it!

 
At December 01, 2010 11:21 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

What an incredibly awesome idea! WOW! I am so super impressed and yet so saddened at myself for not being this great of a parent! You are an incredible mother and person from what I read, your daughter is truly blessed and loved as I am sure you are in return. Have a great time in NY! You deserve it!

Andrea

 
At December 01, 2010 3:44 PM, Anonymous Marilyn said...

Kudos to such a great Mom:)

 
At December 01, 2010 11:41 PM, Blogger Sara Beth said...

I've always loved your printing, Lindsay. You should be a font.

 
At December 02, 2010 12:19 AM, Blogger Lindsay said...

Katie - Glad you got to participate on Day One :)

Nicole - Thank you. Means a lot coming from the Queen of Advent Calendars ;)

Andrea - You are WAY too kind. But thank you. And we will definitely have a great trip!

Marilyn - Thanks :)

Sara - Random Fact About Lindsay: It very nearly was a font. My writing was used on a ton of billboards around Winnipeg 2-3 years ago, and I was just handwriting them every time we made new boards for the campaign. The designers started panicking as my mat leave approached, so we planned to create a font. But the client ended up cancelling the campaign early so it never happened.

 
At December 04, 2010 10:34 AM, Blogger Allison Friesen said...

Great idea. Now I wish I hadn't bought one of those cheesy chocolate ones from Walmart!

 
At December 05, 2010 9:42 AM, Anonymous erin said...

What a great idea!

 

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