DIY- Advent Calendar

Advent calendars were never really a thing in my family. We had different traditions like going to midnight mass on Christmas Eve or baking cut out cookies and decorating them inappropriately.

But when I joined the McNidder family, advent calendars became something I looked forward to each December.

This is the cross stitch that David's grandfather made for their family. Towards the end of November, Davids mum would tie little chocolates to each of the 25 rings on the cross stitch. David got to eat all the odd numbered chocolates (because his birthday is an odd number) and his brother got to eat all the even numbered ones.

Above you can see what it looks like when it is filled with chocolates and when it is empty.

I got to thinking, I have no idea where to buy an advent calendar in the states. They are probably somewhere, but since the accident I thought, why go searching for one when I can make one?

So I searched Pinterest and found these awesome advent calendar gift tags from http://simpleasthatblog.com/2014/11/free-printable-advent-calendar-christmas-countdown-tags.html. I think she got it from someone else, and will link back once I find out!

So I printed these babies out and went to look for some gifts.

I found the perfect box in my garage from our wedding and decided to repurpose it for this project.

Then I wrapped all the gifts in newspaper and used some plain string and ribbon to tie them all up. I used the tags that I printed and a hole punch to punch a hole so I could put the numbers on each package.

I can't actually tell you what I put in my homemade advent calendar because my husband hasn't opened all the presents yet, but will update after it all gets opened!!

I CAN tell you that it's a mixture of activities and gifts-so hopefully my husband will enjoy all of them!

Not the most amazing photos, but it's the thought that counts right!? Those tags really are amazing!

David- I hope you enjoy your personalised advent calendar and love all the things I picked out. I love you loads and cannot wait to spend many more Christmases with you. xxx

Till next time!

tory xx