invent (and advent!) a handmade holiday tradition

by Michelle Vackar of Modern Handmade Child
It is a tradition of many families to have an advent calendar in their home. I remember as a child our advent calendar was a wreath we made at school, followed by a long strip of red felt, with 31 days for December . Every evening right after dinner we could have our treat of red & white peppermint candy. Growing up, I remember it just being so magical in our home during the holiday season and this just seemed to top if for me (isn’t it funny what we remember as we get older and look back at our childhood? And then you wonder, “Hmmm, what do our children think when it is Christmas in our home?”).

Over the past couple of years, for my daughters, we have been changing the theme of our advent calendar. Last year we did a craft a day. Each morning at breakfast, they would open the door of their advent calendar to see what lay in store for us…what new craft would we do? The craft could relate to making a handmade ornament for a family exchange, to a decoration for the home, or a treat for the birds outside, etc.

This year, we have been taking a trip around the world, where each day we have been learning about Christmas in another country. We have visited England/UK, Holland, Russia, France, etc. We have had a lot of fun where we have learned about the festivities of the season, tried new recipes, read stories that are traditional to the country and created country specific crafts.

From the days of peppermint candy advent calendars to find the number on the festive decorated candy boxes with numbers and a special treat inside special chocolate candy treat inside, the advent calendar has changed in many forms. We thought everyone might enjoy seeing the advent calendars fellow crafters have created over the years: